BINedit Advanced Tutorial

Building an advanced model: Introduction

Now that we have an understanding of how the program works, let's have a look at an advanced project.

These photographs were taken by me at the FAI 1000 motor race in November 2000 (and yes, it was wretchedly wet that year!). This is one of the support vehicles used at the race; and because I think it looks pretty good, I am going to use it as the basis for a custom monster truck for MTM2, using these photos as a guide.

The vehicle is an Australian Ford Falcon XR8 utility ('99 AU model), owned and operated by John Thompson. In the eyes of any motorsport fanatic, John leads an enviable existance - not only has he spent the past 13 years zipping between Australian V8 motor racing events in his beloved Ford ute, he is also paid to do it! John and his offsider, Lyndon Metcalf, attend 21 major V8 Supercar events every year as contractors to Shell and Konica. John's ute tows a petrol pump trailer around the country, while the Ford Explorer that Lyndon drives tows a 2.5 tonne trailer that converts into a winners podium.

You can read more about this vehicle (and much more on the Australian Ford Falcon) here.

The main portion of this tutorial will detail the making of a body model to 'replicate' this vehicle in MTM2. I will in fact be making a couple of different (related) models; starting with the basic AU Falcon ute (pictured below) and then modifying it further to create a likeness of the Tickford-engineered XRs.

The XR6 and XR8 vehicles (the number refers to the tweaked engine: a 6-cylinder or its bent 8 twin) are the high-performance, sporty derivatives of these. Note the distinctive round headlights and grille which differentiate it from the standard model:

Ford have also released the updated AUII and AUIII model Falcons. The changes are mainly cosmetic across the range, although the top-selling ute was not changed, Ford choosing to retail the distinctive 'egg-crate' grille. The styling of the XR6 and XR8 models has changed however, with a new grille and front bumper along with other alterations.

I will build a model for the standard AU Falcon ute, then modify this further to make AU, AUII and AUIII XRs. This tutorial won't teach you how to use BINedit (you should know that by now, otherwise you're reading the wrong tutorial!) but it should give you an insight into how one might make a complex model from scratch. I chose the AU Falcon mainly because I like the vehicle, and also because it has a very distinctive, sculpted shape, with its organic bulges and swells mixed with sharp lines and angles, which should be very interesting and challenging to replicate.