a blender modeling project
3D model of old Spanish gold and silver coins
Modeling Coins in Blender with a little help of Affinity Designer and Quixel Mixer
Creating a Highly detailed 3D model of a Coin in a blender project
Why model coins?
I have found myself intrigued by pirate fantasies lately. Which is one reason I have turned to model Old Spanish Coins. Besides that, I had an interest in improving my detailed work. As you can see, some of the coins have 1715 engraved on them. The year 1715 holds great importance. In 1715 the Spanish treasure fleet was returning from the new world to the home ports of Spain, loaded to the brim with riches.The crew must have angered the sea. She did not show her gentle side when they were making their approach.
The terrible storm that followed sent much of the fleet to its watery grave. Thus, gold and silver now rest upon the seabed. No pirate adventure is complete without sunken riches. This one is full of Gold Doubloons and Silver Dollars.
PHILIPPVS.V.DEI.GRAT -” Philip V by the grace of god”
HISPANIARVM ET INDIARVM REX – ” King of Spain and India”
Adding that extra value with details when modeling coins in Blender
As I said before, something has been lacking in my models. They had the right shape but lacked that extra detail that gave it value. Value is what we are searching for, pirates and 3d-modelers alike. But don’t rush off in all haste. Slow and steady, we will get there in one piece.
A coin is a simple shape with a detailed and complex texture. It is a perfect place to start. So I set out to create some Gold Doubloons and Silver Dollars in 3D. I had set the goal for this Blender project. Researching what old gold coins look like, I found the story about the Spanish treasure fleet.
FERNANDVS ET ELISABET DEI GR – “Ferdinand and Elisabeth, by the Grace of God”
REX ET REGINA CASTELE LEGIONIS ARA” – “King and Queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon…”
Creating a simple plugin in Blender
After creating a couple of stacks of coins, I came to a realization. It struck me how good it looks. It also struck me how very boring it was. So scripting came to my rescue. Just a few lines of code in Python, and I could make piles in no time. That is one of the many things I love with the Blender software. Another is how simple it is to turn that code into a plugin.
Check out my blender Models on SketchFab
I really do like sketchfab, its an amazing tool. No need for renders of wireframes and videos that rotate. It really helps everyone involved. If you like to see more of my work, please have a look at my portfolio on sketchfab or maybe have a look at this project where I used these coins among other things in Unreal 4.25 .
This website is updated sporadically and if you like to know what I am doing right now you can always check out my Instagram