I need some help for finishing my part. See my post here. I'm very close to 100 % but the shrinkwrapping on my gearbox has some issues when seen from nearby.
duerer maybe you went a bit overboard with the shrinkwrapping on the gearbox; nine(!) separate Shrinkwraps?
Doesn't that defeat the purpose of shrinkwrapping? You want to make it look like it's one piece and by shrinkwrapping different parts to different Objects you are asking for trouble;)
What you might be able to do, is use this object, with all of its Modifiers and use that as a Shrinkwrap object for a duplicate of it without the Modifiers...Then place a Subsurf before (with as little subdivision levels as possible) and after the Shrinkwrap (of this duplicate gearbox) where needed and apply the Shrinkwrap (and the Subsurf that comes before it, of course).
Personally I'd get rid of all the Shrinkwrap Modifiers, do some topology cleanup and then maybe shrinkwrap part of the gearbox to a Cylinder if necessary. Most, if not all of those 'sticking-out-parts' won't need to be shrinkwrapped, I think.
I haven't look into your latest scene file yet (I will for grading) but from what I've seen, spikeyxxx may be right about going overboard. His advice to apply the shrinkwraps and cleanup topology seems like the right advice to me. I always use shrinkwraps as temporary operations rather than long-term modifiers.
Just looking at your posted images...everything looks good to me. Aside from small things like softening too-hard edges, you've achieved believability in my eyes.
You're absolutely right, spikeyxxx and @theluthier, with applying the "Shrinkwrap Modifiers" and doing the cleanup manually. The only reason why I hesitated is that the "Subsurf Modifier" has to be applied first so that I have to do the cleanup on a at least two times subdivided mesh. But if I remember correctly what you, Kent, said in the last (?) livestream, then the "Subsurf Modifiers" have to be applied anyway before doing the final rendering. The high amount of "Shrinkwrap Modifiers" is due to the fact that I connected each part separately. It's certainly better to connect all parts first without taking care of the topology, then cleaning up the mesh (all quads, removing poles wherever possible and necessary) and finishing with only one shrinkwrap operation. But this was "learning by doing" and I wouldn't have learned it without this project! A special challenge is connecting the pads at the rims of the gearbox without causing distortions or least with minor distortions that can be corrected easily with shrinkwrapping or somehow else.
Okay, applying the modfiers for the gearbox and its two side parts (which reach to the not included axle end housing) results in approximately 120.000 + 2 x 110.000 vertices which equals 340.000 vertices in total given "Subsurf Modifiers" at level 2 which is sufficient.
My rear axle is now finished. See my post here with a link to the file.
