Modelling The Scissor Lift

So we started to think about what we needed to include in our project and made a list of objects that we needed to model. I chose the scissor lift. Firstly i found a reference image that would give me enough information to help me model my scissor lift. So i did some research into how scissor lift's look, which helped me to find out what colour they can be and how they move and operate. I had a slight advantage already from working on a building site, so i had a ruff idea of what they looked like and how they worked. However the research solidified my theories. Below are some images of scissor lifts that helped me when it came to modelling and texturing.

Above was the perfect image for a reference image. This is the image that i used and found extremely helpful when modelling. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJkTKeLTX3k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGB0QJIcGCI

The images and links above show me some of the colour possibilities and how scissor lifts function.


I then began modelling and after lots of tweaking I finally had an end result that i was happy with. I then UV mapped and textured the scissor lift. Below is an image of the reference image in the scene and some images of the final scissor lift.

Above is an image of the reference image in the scene that i used to model the scissor lift.

Above is an image of the early days of modelling the scissor lift. 

The above for images are images of the finished scissor lift. 

After finishing modelling and texturing the scissor lift i then attempted to rig the scissor lift. So that it could move. However despite not knowing much about rigging i managed to rig the scissor lift as i saw best yet it did not function as a scissor lift would. I found it challenging and unfortunately could not find a solution. I asked fellow group members if they had any solutions and they couldn't suggest anything either. 

As you can see from the image above it caused a real mess. Maybe as i develop my rigging knowledge i will one day find a solution for this. However me and the team decided that we did not have enough time as there were more important things that needed to be done and the rig for the scissor lift was not vital. So we deleted the rig and just left the model. I think that we made the right choice to move on as we still had lots to do and it was not vital that the scissor lift moved in the final piece. However overall i was very happy with my scissor lift model especially as i consider my modelling ability as that of a beginner.