Learn to Make Detailed Transparent Taran Tactical TR-1 Assault Rifle from John Wick 2 in 3D

Introduction 

Hi, my name is Alex Smirnov. I’m a Concept and Hard-Surface 3D Artist with about eight years of professional experience. Over the years, I’ve contributed to projects such as Warface, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) & Cold War, Metro Exodus, and worked with NVIDIA on asset production for Portal RTX. I later joined the team working on STALKER 2, where I continued to refine my approach to weapon design and hard-surface workflows.

Back when I started learning 3D, there weren’t many high-quality educational resources available, especially those focused on game development. At the time, I was working as a graphic designer and began using 3D mainly for product visualization and client presentations. I went through whatever tutorials I could find and occasionally bought workshops on Digital Tutors and Gnomon.

My growth accelerated once I got my first job in the industry on Sniper: Ghost Warrior project. During that period, I learned a lot from the teams and more experienced artists around me – their feedback, workflows, and attention to detail helped shape the foundation of my own approach to concepting and hard-surface work. That early environment had a strong impact on how I structure my process today.

John Wick 2 TR-1 Assault Rifle

The idea to create a fully detailed TR-1 assault rifle, similar to the one featured in John Wick, started as a fan project and part of my practice with CAD. Usually, in game development and concept art, only the parts of an asset that will be visible to the player are fully detailed for optimization reasons. Since this was a personal project, I wasn’t limited by production constraints and could explore every component the way I wanted.

I initially started the project in Fusion 360, but at some point, I paused it. Recently, I picked it up again and finished it, this time using Plasticity, which I’ve been transitioning to.

Since many parts of the AR-15 platform are standardized, I used real technical drawings as a base wherever possible. For more unique components, I relied on available references and recreated the parts from those sources.

Modeling

As mentioned earlier, I began the project in Fusion 360 and completed it in Plasticity. For modern weapons and sci-fi assets, CAD software is usually the fastest and most efficient way to develop and prototype forms – it can save a huge amount of time. However, there are exceptions, especially when a model relies heavily on organic shapes. In those cases, polygonal modeling or sculpting in ZBrush often allows for much more creative freedom. Relying solely on CAD can sometimes lead to overly uniform, rigid results.

For the TR-1, everything was created entirely in CAD. The workflow is straightforward: you build sketches based on references, prototype shapes, use Boolean operations, refine forms, and iterate.

The speed of work depends almost entirely on experience — and with experience, it grows naturally.

UVs

When creating a game-ready asset intended for a game engine, I always follow the topology, polycount, UV, and optimization requirements specified in technical documentation or by the client. For UV unwrapping, I use RizomUV, which integrates seamlessly with major modeling packages like 3ds Max and Blender. This allows me to quickly send an asset to RizomUV, unwrap it, and bring it back into the pipeline.

However, for the TR-1 project, I wasn’t creating a game-ready model, so I didn’t produce UVs. Being a personal project, I focused entirely on modeling and used KeyShot’s built-in projection methods – such as box and triplanar projection – to apply textures quickly and experiment without restrictions.

Texturing & Materials

For texturing and visualization, I used KeyShot’s built-in materials and node system. I layered the maps and shaders I needed to achieve the visual look I wanted. Materials in KeyShot behave a bit differently compared to traditional game pipelines – especially the Roughness parameter, which doesn’t behave linearly. The same roughness value can produce different results depending on the material type (paint, metal, plastic, anodized metal, etc.). This flexibility is especially useful for industrial design and product visualization.

In this project, I relied primarily on artistic judgment, adjusting materials based on lighting and composition to create visually appealing results across different shots.

Lighting, Rendering & Retouching

Since I used glass materials on the main parts of the rifle to reveal the internal components and mechanisms, I experimented with different camera angles to make the renders visually engaging. Once I settled on the angles, I set up lighting individually for each shot. KeyShot has an incredibly efficient system for working with HDRI and physical light sources. For this project, I used only carefully tuned HDRI setups.

When lighting, I usually try to keep things simple – typically 2-4 light sources. My basic setup includes a key light, fill light, and counter light. In most cases, this is all you need to achieve a realistic and aesthetically pleasing result. I add additional lights only when necessary, depending on the shape, scale, and complexity of the asset.

For post-production, I use Photoshop to make the final adjustments and polish the rendered images.

Conclusion

Creating compelling work comes with experience. The more time you spend building art – experimenting, finishing pieces, and refining your eye – the easier it becomes to develop a strong artistic taste and objectively self-art-direct your own projects. Studying the works of more experienced artists you admire can also significantly accelerate your growth.

For this project, the main challenge was bringing all internal mechanisms of the rifle together in a way that they could function correctly if animated. This process sharpened my CAD skills and strengthened my precision – essential for weapon design and any complex asset involving numerous moving parts.

For beginners, one of the most important lessons is to finish the projects you start. I have plenty of pieces I never completed, and learned over time how much that slowed me down. Another important point: don’t hesitate to ask for feedback from more experienced artists or friends. And if you don’t have access to feedback, taking short breaks helps you return with a fresh, unbiased perspective.

Alex Smirnov, Concept & Hard Surface Artist

Interview conducted by Emma Collins