2021 Retrospective and Happy Holidays

Hello everyone. It's me Antony, back with another Blog.

The year is close to the end. Before we move on to the next year, let's write another Blog of 2021; hoping for the things to get better as the World continues in this fight for survival and to develop a (possible) cure for the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the eve of New Year, my family and I will stay at home due to my job at the public health center - which is good for one thing.

And, as usual when it comes to concluding this year, I will be writing a retrospective of 2021, sharing the projects I started this year.

The M3 Grease Gun. Although the project has been started in 2020, I made some adjustments on that iconic American SMG from WW2. And yeah, I kinda limited my replicas of WW2 firearms to this Blogspot - using the TonyGamingProjects to share the renders of these models because of my Call of Duty: Zombies / Left 4 Dead inspired mini-game. But, I already shared the M1 Garand at two Blogs of TonyAnima Projects.

Still, I always have some interest in these content.

The Ilyushin IL-2M3 Sturmovik received some adjustments throughout this year. Now it comes with a new canopy, landing gears, ailerons and other components. I plan to continue working on this majestic tough Soviet plane.

The B-17G Flying Fortress also received new adjustments and new components like its wings, engines, armaments, cabin and windows.

The Heinkel He 111H-1 / H-3 received new windows and components at the upper section of the fuselage.

The mighty German Panzer VI Tiger I. I started it recently while I revisited the Panzer I project. The Tiger has its dreadful 88 mm KwK 36 cannon. Now it has tracks and wheels for its suspension system and movement capacity, along some armor plates around its side armor.

Aside from WW2 planes, vehicles and firearms, I made some helmets. These are the American M1 and the British Brodie Helmet Mk II. Prior to these, I made the German Stahlhelm M1935 from WW2.

With the M1 Helmet, I appended to the Minecraft-styled characters to make a small recreation of the Omaha Beach Invasion during D-Day celebration. I included the M1 Garand, the M1911 pistol, Thompson M1A1 and the M3 Grease Gun as well. I still have the M1919 Browning LMG, but I didn't included due to the current state of the project. But I plan to include the M1918 Browning 'BAR' and the Springfield M1903A1, M1903A3 and M1903A4.

My German soldaten (soldiers in German) in action with their Karabiner 98k and MP40. I made some of them in reload pose while the others are aiming and firing their weapons.

The Colt / Browning M1911A1 Pistol. This one has been the first handgun made in Blender. I have plans of making the Pistole Parabellum P08 aka Luger P08, the Walther P38, the Tula Tokarev TT-30 / TT-33, the Nagant Revolver, the Mauser C96 and the Enfield Revolver Mk II.

The German Karabiner 98k - both in its rifle and scoped rifle version. Since it was the main rifle from the German Wehrmacht during WW2, I decided to make it along a Ziellacht scope for the German sharpshooters in case I'd include it to the mini-game.

The famous Sturmgewehr 44 - Germany's first assault rifle made during WW2. I made some adjustments on its main structure and the magazine like the grooves.

The Kaessun Agaraak - based on the Grineer Karak, American M16, the Soviet AK-47 and the German StG 44. I also made some adjustments like the pylons from the main barrel and the muzzle connector.

The Soviet PPSh-41 or simply by Pepesha or Papasha (daddy in Russian). One of my replicas I made of that iconic Soviet SMG. I found it interesting to make for the mini-game, along the Thompson, the StG 44 and the M1 Garand.

Speaking on the M1 Garand, here it is. I made some changes on its metallic colors and the wooden texture, including the texture for the Springfield 30-06 bullets.

For fun, I decided to include my firearms for my Minecraft characters to face the zombies - also made in Minecraft style. Then they ran to a safe house to get some supplies and proceeded to a Panzer I - where they could escape.

Another iconic WW2 SMG - the German Maschinenpistole 40 aka MP40 or Schmeisser by the Americans (despite that name was wrongly given since Hugo Schmeisser wasn't the designer of the MP40 due to his popularity with the MP18 - Germany's first SMG during WW1, but he designed a non-licensed version of that gun - the MP41 - which he was fined by the main company that built the MP40s).

Another iconic WW2 weapon - the Maschinengewehr 42 aka MG42, Spandal, Hitler's Buzzsaw and Lourdinha / Lurdinha. The dreadful German machine gun that caused fear into the hearts of the Allied soldiers during WW2 due to its incredible fire-rate.

The German Eisernes Kreuz (Iron Cross) - one of the famous German military medals from early ages before WW1. I made it based on the Napoleonic Wars (1803 – 1815) which hadn't the three oak leaves with 1813, nor the W from Wilhelm with the crown and 1914 and nor the Hakenkreuz (Swastika) and 1939 (nor the censored version with the three oak leaves). However in nowadays the Iron Cross lost its medal value - being replaced by the Ehrenzeichen der Bundeswehr (Badge of Honor of the German Armed Forces), few units are seen in the United States by motorcycle gangs and some groups and enthusiasts with no political ideology.

Now back to planes. I started the Republic P-47D-25-RE Thunderbolt with the Brazilian markings since I always love to see some photos of our pilots that fought in Italy to free it from Mussolini's Fascist Regime. It has the iconic Senta a Pua! drawing and the pilot's identification number and letter - with this one piloted by 2nd Lt. Rui Moreira Lima.

The P-51D-15 Mustang received a nice texture along the update for its letters around the Roundel. I may re-use the concept for the texture's resolution (4096 x 4096) to the other existing planes.

The Focke-Wulf FW 190A-8 is also looking good with this texture.

For fun, I decided to change the P-38G Lightning colors with a silvered texture. The idea was inspired in the Flying Bulls P-38 - piloted by Raimund Riedmann. Perhaps I shall make some adjustments on the P-38 - focused on its texture and the decals for the fuel ports.

Also, I made this one for fun. I included Priscilla from the Blender 2.8 saved files to Blender 2.93 / 2.95 to make Anne some company. I started Anne for a good time while I was trying to make a 3D character after Priscilla or any other Claymore character. I'm not sure I'll replace the original model with the new one nor to remake the original Claymore characters, but one thing its sure: learning new tips with the new model can be helpful in case I would animate their facial expressions.

This one was a montage I made with the Spitfire Mk V and the Italian Macchi C.202 Folgore. The Folgore has been started in this year since I found some interest in that Italian air fighter and its successor: the Macchi C.205 Veltro. The Spitfire is a Mk I version with cannons from the Mk IX. I have plans to make the Mk V after the Mk I and the Mk IX are complete.

This is the Italian Macchi C.202 Folgore. Its texture was made based on the surviving model in the United States.

And this one is the C.205 Veltro. The air intake under its nose and the cannons located at the wings in place of the Breda-SAFAT machine guns are the major differences between the two planes. However, the non-retractable landing gear remain the same.

The Japanese A6M5 Zero Model 22 - famous by its nickname: Zero. I also started it in this year. It gave me some 'small headaches' for its wings and landing gear fairings. I plan to conclude it along the other planes.

Curtiss P-40N Warhawk. The Warhawk is another interesting model I made in this year. The only thing I need to do is the Armature and make its animated actions - especially the landing/lift off animation.

The Messerschmitt Me 262 has been concluded and has a nice texture. And now I'll show you the plane on its flight mode.

Amazing, huh? I have plans to make some animations of this majestic jet fighter from WW2.

The American M3A1 Half-Track. I finally made its tracks and some adjustments on the .50 caliber Browning machine gun, among other components like the seats for the passengers and the driver.

The German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. I started it in this year after a small request of a cousin of mine of making the Stuka and print it to present him. It's looking good so far. As for printing it, my brother and I bought a new 3D printer, but I have to try a different setup to print the Stuka. But I have to formalize the request before print the German Stuka.

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 - from the T-3, E-4 and the F-3. I made some small adjustments on the last two models while the naval version of the Bf 109 had its wing stretched out. I may change its texture to be close to the original Bf 109 T-3. Same thing for the F-3. I plan to make the texture based on Marseille during the Africa campaign.

Volkswagen Kübelwagen - the militarized version of the Volkswagen Käfer (beetle in German). It's looking good with these features like the shovel, the seats, the lights and the wheels.

Number 5 Rafaela, Number 6 Miria and Number 9 Jean. I revisited the old Claymore projects- making the hairstyle for Rafaela and Miria while Jean had her hairstyle remade after some issues related to the transition from Blender 2.8 to 2.82. Probably I plan to resume my attention to them, but I'm not sure how I'm going to do so due to my spare-time being split to my job and studies.

I made a glass bottle with a small piece of clothing inside to make a Molotov cocktail for the mini-game. I can make a simple beer bottle without the piece of clothing in case I would make a bar scene.

The other props I made were a wooden box, a gasoline canister and two propane tanks (the blue one was based on the Brazilian model and the silver one was based on the American model). All were made for the mini-game. I also made a steel door and a first-aid kit, but I haven't rendered it to share it.

The new video I uploaded to my YouTube channel focused on the mini-game I mentioned in this Blog. I plan to bring more videos like this one. However, I'm kinda out of ideas to make videos due to my job, studies and games.

Well, that's it. I know it's too much to share for you, but I did my best to share my works from 2021. There are others I didn't mention or shared here. I may share some from a project I was working for a time. I'm not going to share all the renders because of the nature of the content for them. I'll share what I did.

Amy

Natalie

Meg

Anne

Paul - inspired in Paul 'Muad'Dib' Atreides

Antony with moustache

Antony

I started to make the male and female characters for a second attempt of making a human character with Blender. Like I said previously, I'm not going to share all renders of them in this Blogspot due to the nature of their content. But, I plan to include them for upcoming animations - like one I planned based on Antony's Triviality: Carry you Home - where Antony visits the grave of Suh.

Now, what I plan to do for the next year? Focus on the current projects in order to conclude some things and correct some issues at some models. I plan to make new projects, but the major idea is to focus on the existing projects and conclude some things before moving to a new project.

Well, that's it for this year, my friends. Merry Christmas everyone. Good Holidays and Happy New Year. I hope the things start to get better for the next year or be less terrible than the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope everyone is alright and stay safe. I'll be back with a new Blog in January 2022. See you next time.