Freelance 3D Artist, Designer, Animator

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Modelling a JCB Wheel and Tyre Using Cinema 4D

This wheel was created as part of a college assignment within which I was required to document the production process. What follows is an extract from that document rather than a gudied tutorial, however the steps taken should demonstrate how to create a similar wheel using any 3D software package.

Please note, this wheel is available for purchase.

Array Tool

Once the wheel shape was complete I began to make the bolts that would hold it in place. This was done by creating a simple cylinder and using the Array tool to replicate the cylinder.

Boolean Tool

Once the array of cylinders was created I used the Boolean tool to cut holes into the wheel’s surface where the bolts would fix it to the axel.

I then copied the array and reduced the size of the original cylinder a little to create the bolts. And with that the wheel was finished.

Finished

Here is the finished wheel.

Evaluation

Using a simple disk allowed me to start with a simple shape that I could easily modify. I could have used a cylinder which would have given the wheel more solid matter rather than being a flat plane.

However, using a disk meant that there was less surface area which equates to less faces and an optimised model.

By re-shaping the disk I was able to give the illusion of a thick solid metal. If the viewer was to see the wheel from the other side then the illusion would be lost, but this would never be the case as the wheel would later on be surrounded by tyres and would be mounted against the side of the Backhoe.

The array and Boolean tools were ideal for this purpose. First of all, using the array tool allowed me to space the holes out evenly and in a perfect circle.

Using the Boolean tool was also very useful as It would have a taken a great deal of work to model the holes manually.

Also, I would be able to turn off the Boolean effect later on enabling me to optimise my scene.

Tyres

Having built the wheels I then progressed on to building the tyres.

Looking through the reference images that I had collected I found many variations of the tyre tread. However, the one shown on the top left below was both the most familiar and appealing to me.

Since paying more attention to the Backhoe in real life, I found my reasoning to be reinforced as that was the tread the majority seemed to use.

To Begin the modelling process, I began with a disk and then adjusted and scaled the segments much in the same way as I did with the wheel.

I then selected the inner ring of polygons and moved them outwards to create the tyre wall.

Bridge Tool

The following images shows how the tyre wall and wheel fit together.

Once one side of the wheel was created I copied it and rotated it 180 degrees to create the other side of the tyre.

I then used the Bridge tool to create polygons between the two tyre walls.

Once I had bridge all of the polygons I moved one side inwards to create the correct thickness for the tyre.

At this point I had built a basic tyre but without any tread.

Knife Tool

To begin building the tyre tread I used the Knife tool to cut through the polygons and create extra segments. This would later on allow me to extrude the tread.

As you can see in the image below I continued using the Knife tool to cut the polygons into the shape of the tyre tread.

With the polygons selected, the image below shows the shape of the tread starting to build up.

With the main tread cut into place I began cutting in tread to fill in the gaps. You can see the difference between the left and right side in the image below.

Melt Tool

I continued all the way around the tyre cutting the polygons to shape the tread.

Once all of the cuts had been made and the shape of the tread was finished.

However, in order to achieve a uniform extrude I used the Melt tool to remove the divisions within each of the individual treads.

Extrude Tool

Once the polygons had been melted I selected the additional polygons on the tyre wall that made up the complete tread.

I then used the Extrude tool to extrude the polygons and create the tyre tread.

Once the tyre tread had been extruded I then scaled and moved some of the edges inwards to create smoother, rounder tyre.

The two images that follow show the edges that were scaled and moved.

Bevel Tool

To continue smoothing and rounded the tyre I selected the following polygons.

And used the Bevel tool to create a more nobly effect on the tyre tread and remain true to life; the tyre is made of rubber and any square edges would have worn down and rounded off.

Finished

The images below show the completed tyre and wheel.

Purchase the wheel, tyre and textures for £16 using the button below.