The Ducati 999
By far my favorite Ducati.
When the client I modeled these bike for said, “Okay Jamie, great work on the first bike. Now I think we’ll do the 999.” I was a bit nervous to say the least, but still ready for my next challenge. The Ducati 999 possesses some of the most unique bodywork and frame design of any sport bike out there; rivaled only by other exotic European bikes like the MV Agusta F4. This machine definately exercised my modeling skills, as well as my perception of how a bike should be “roughed-out” during the modeling process.
The tubular frame was definately the right place to start. All the other components depended on it, and to be honest I was worried about the polygon count being too high. The wheels were a bit more work than usual, as they were completely different from each other. And I’m not talking about color either! The front wheel had more spokes than the rear wheel and a slightly different pattern.
Adding to the list of challenges were: the mirrors, with their sculpted casings and integrated turn signals; the strangely shaped fuel tank; and the unconventional ignition (key) location. For me, the swingarm was a fun process as it is usually my favorite part of a bike to model.
Fila Race Paint Job
After completing the showroom, or “stock”, version of this bike, I decided to copy the paint job from my 1:16th scale model (toy) of the Ducati 999. The team FILA colours were sported by Ruben Xaus & Niel Hodgson during the 2004 season.
I’ve also created a small YouTube video of the rear tire modeling process.