MODELING A LAMBORGHINI HURACAN IN MAYA
(A WORK IN PROGRESS)
I'm in the middle of modeling the exterior of a Lamborghini Huracan using Maya, and I won't lie, it's been a real challenge, but also super satisfying. Making sure the topology is clean and precise has been quite time-consuming, but I've been having a blast throughout the entire process. I've been keeping a record of every major step, and I'm really excited to show off the final result when it's done!
First and Foremost these are the blueprints I used to create this model in Maya, these were incredibly helpful and a great guide for making this model. I set them up in the scene to be the same size and essentially modeled on top of them to create the exterior shell of the car.
1) STARTING WITH THE BUMPER:
I kicked off this project by diving into the front bumper. Beginning from the front wheel, I started with a simple cylinder as my foundation, this is the arch that will go over the wheel. I wanted to try and start this with a plane rather than box modeling as I felt it would be easier to not overcomplicate everything too quickly. Gradually shaped it step by step until it formed the bumper. I made sure that throughout this process I was maintaining a low poly and non-destructive workflow as I know it's easy to overcomplicate things at the beginning.
Also, I thought I'd mention throughout this work in progress I am only modeling one half of the car as I plan on mirroring towards the end which saves me doing extra work!
2) THE HOOD & GRILL COVER
Continuing from where I had left off, I performed an upward extrusion to establish the foundation for the car's hood. Additionally, I crafted the detail that spans over the front grill of the Lamborghini Huracan, employing planes and connecting them with the target weld tool instead of relying solely on extrusions. This approach felt more manageable in terms of geometry and pushed me to focus on maintaining a cleaner and more organized model. I also duplicated the wheel cover arch and created one for the back as that's where I was going to work next.
To ensure a smooth and rounded appearance, I introduced a couple of additional edge loops along the side of the car near the wheel cover arch. I was mindful of this detail from the start to achieve the desired look. Subsequently, I performed an upward extrusion to create a section of the car responsible for supporting the windshield and window.
4) FRONT DOOR & ROOF
I pressed on with my work, extending the plane from the right side of the wheel. Things started to get a bit tricky at this point, notably at the bottom of the front door, where an extrusion appeared. This happened because the actual model featured additional detailing on the side, complete with another small grill inside it. Instead of performing extra extrusions, I opted to manipulate the vertices to achieve the desired shape and add that extra detail. I also mirrored it to see how the car was looking so far and make sure there were no hidden extrusions I had missed and so far it was looking good!
I proceeded by extending the extrusion down the roof of the car, gradually progressing toward the rear portion of the vehicle, all the way over the second wheel cover arch.
5) REAR OF THE CAR
This section has proven to be the most challenging part of the car to model. I began by performing an extrusion along the right side, linking the front door panels to the back wheel area. To streamline the process, I added extra edge loops at the back of the car to align with the number of edge loops on the wheel cover arch. This allowed me to connect those vertices together before proceeding further.
This approach worked quite effectively, and I was able to make headway with the rear of the car. Subsequently, I extended to the right to create the primary bumper details using the existing geometry. I refrained from adding extra edge loops and instead worked with the ones already present near the wheel. Finally, I mirrored the model to identify and rectify any issues that may have arisen during the modeling process.
6) BACKDOOR & WINDOW DETAILS:
I figured it might be easier to convey my progress with the help of a reference image. I've highlighted in red the primary components that I've successfully recreated. 
I took a systematic approach by dividing the car into various sections, which included separating the top of the back wheel. Subsequently, I worked on modeling the interior of the car to ensure there was something behind the wheels. This step was crucial to avoid the impression that the wheels were simply floating without any supporting structure.
I dedicated some attention to the extrusion that links the side of the door to the back wheel arch. In the car model, this area serves a functional purpose, housing another grill that extends through to the back of the vehicle, rather than being solely for aesthetic reasons. To create this section, I connected the door to the back wheel cover arch and carried out extrusions both from above and below. These extrusions met at a specific point, and I used the target weld tool to merge them together. This process resulted in a hollow space inside the door that closely resembles the one in the actual car.
As for the car window this had a very similar creation process to what I did at the bottom of the door, the extruded triangular-like shape I had to make was almost the same, the tricky part was creating the extrusions in a clean and and nondestructive way that wasn't going to affect the surrounding geometry. But after trying it the same way which was extruding a couple of faces from one higher angle and then from a lower one then finally target welding these together it worked quite well! 
7) REAR & NUMBER PLATE AREA:
As I tackled the rear of the car, with a specific focus on where the license plate is located, my approach remained fairly straightforward. I initiated the process by extruding once towards the rear, essentially creating a box-shaped structure. Subsequently, I used the faces from the corners to create two points that I then connected through a target weld operation. Additionally, I made the decision to mirror the car's mesh for this part of the modeling process.
8) THE AIR VENTS:
Designing these vents proved to be quite a challenge, particularly because it was challenging to find clear references that accurately depicted their appearance in the diagram. Through some research and persistence, I managed to gain a better understanding of what I was dealing with.
I sought inspiration from other images and stumbled upon the image below with the air vent shell completely removed from the car. This allowed me to gain a much clearer understanding of the shapes I needed to recreate.
This part posed another significant challenge, and I opted to approach it by beginning with an entirely new plane as the most suitable starting point. While I did incorporate a few extrusions from the roof, I mainly started with a fresh plane, consisting of just 4 vertices and a single face. The process involved the creation of 6 edge loops and then adding an additional one right beside each of the initial 6, making a total of 12 edge loops. Next, I selected the 6 faces situated in between these edge loops and extruded them downward at an angle to ensure the vents took the correct shape and direction. I then fine-tuned the remaining vertices on top to shape the outer contours of each of the 6 vents.
I repeated this process twice because the first time, I made the mistake of extruding directly from the car without using a separate plane. This resulted in messy and confusing geometry. However, I learned from my mistake, and on the second attempt, I used a separate plane and successfully merged it with the rest of the car. In the end, I was pleased with the final result.
9) STARTING SECONDARY SHAPES:
As I mention "starting secondary shapes," I'm referring to the phase where I'm introducing elements like beveling and additional edge loops to refine the mesh, creating a smoother look and increasing the polygon count. I've transitioned away from the low-poly approach, and I'd say I'm about halfway or just a bit shy of halfway through the exterior shell modeling process.
During this stage, I'm focusing on adding extra edge loops and enhancing the geometry around the detail at the bottom of the door. I'm also working on separating the door from the rest of the car, striving to maintain a close resemblance to the real-life reference, which includes gaps in the paneling.
I temporarily hid the rear parts of the car to simplify navigation. Then, I double-checked all the geometry at the front end. I made sure everything was in order before I began manually beveling edges. This step was crucial to ensure that when I smooth the car model, it retains its sharp edges while maintaining a smooth curvature in the necessary areas.
Here's the initial state of the model, which is still relatively low-poly. I initiated the process by selecting the outer shell and performing a slight extrusion, creating an additional edge loop around the perimeter. To enhance the detail, I included an extra edge loop at the bottom of the entire bumper section.
This is the final result of my model after adding numerous edge loops and multiple cuts. I've managed to maintain an all-quads structure throughout, and I'm really proud of this achievement. It was challenging to resist the temptation of using triangles, but the effort was definitely worth it.
Here's how the model looks in smooth mode at this stage. I've added extra geometry and separated some parts to create the gaps in the paneling. I'm genuinely pleased with the progress and the way it's shaping up!
