XM-8 Assault Rifle

I actually modeled this a few months ago, after an interview I had with Zombie Studios in Seattle, WA. During the interview Mark Long, the CEO, asked how long I would estimate it would take me to model an object like an M-16 Assault Rifle. My response was "around one week". After the interview, and during the week I had off before I found out what their decision was, I actually put myself up to the challenge of modeling a military rifle.

I picked the XM-8 because, as the US Army's newest assault rifle (to replace the M-16), it was extremely difficult to find reference pictures and was a challenge. Using what photos I had of current production models (had plenty of prototype photos, which didn't help a whole lot other than for dimension), and using what information I could find on the rifle at the time, I modeled the basic "Assault Rifle" configuration as it has several configurations as a modular weapon.

The model itself has less than 2,000 polygons, uses 1024x1024 diffusion, bump, and specularity maps, and has dynamic parts (triggers, magazine release, safety, etc.) with pivot points correctly set. This model was created from scratch and took around 20 hours (2.5 days) of work from start to finish.