We’re definitely going places this time around with the Top 10! Whether you want to get there in a car, bus, ship, or even a dirigible – we’re ready to go. Just be careful around the trailer full of explosives if you’re on the way home or to visit the Grand Palais!

The ten best 3D models and one 3DVIA Experience uploaded to 3DVIA.com during the weeks of Saturday, January 14th, 2011 through Friday, January 27th, 2012 are highlighted here.

(Easy links to all 130 previous Top 10 posts are right after the current week’s models and 3DVIA Experience.)

The Top 10:

Alberto Santos-Dumont was born in Brazil, but did most of his creative work in France. His Santos Dumont N4 dirigible has been modeled in fantastic detail by lemog3d along with the creation of the fantastic image shown in the first frame. Lemog3d uploaded his model in OBJ format.

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3R-SpineBuSter is shown here in images from its creator icey10. Between the ride of the car and the number of speakers shown, it would indeed be a tough test for your skeleton – and your ears! CATIA V5 was used for this imaginative beast.

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Grand Palais by lemog3d is stunning! The entire model is only 1.5 MB in OBJ format, but the use of excellent textures and careful 3D modeling has yielded a result that is truly a visual treat!

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The TASE300 Gimbal Alpha with Top Hat by advancedcoherent caught my eye because of its intriguing form and obvious flexibility for capturing different kinds of imagery. It was modeled using SolidWorks.

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The Texture Master, smike, has done it again with his Bell 212-412 Cyclic and Collective Sticks. These are jewels that show off his ever-present attention to detail and ability to create amazingly real textures! Smike uses Google SketchUp. [smike lives in Denmark]

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The French cruiser Lavoisier is beautifully modeled by thierry_st_malo using GLC_LIB. Zoom in close and check out all the hard work that went into making this an exceptional model.

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I can’t even begin to tell you all of the construction details and features of the High Speed Bus by M.S. Abhimuktheeswarar, so you’ll have to go to the model and read it for yourself. This takes the business of making a bus up to the level of artistry! I’d love to take a trip any time in one of these! It was created using SolidWorks.

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Both the novel trees and the liberal use of black make the Conjunto V1 3D-Ajuste Enero 17 De 2012 by Calitos07 an unusually striking development plan. Well done using Google SketchUp.

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If you watch the YouTube demonstration video first, then the M200 MICLIC (Mine Clearing Line Charge) Trailer by Alfred (alfredix) will make a lot more sense. The little dark spot highlighted in the last photo shows how small the unit is compared to the power it carries! Alfred’s meticulous attention to detail is conveyed in the first three images, but there are even more  in his Picasa Web Album. He used Autodesk Product Design Suite to make the models and then translated everything into STEP format for upload. [Alfred lives in Germany]

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If you don’t have much to spend, then a visit to the Virtual Jewelry Show Room, may be just the right thing! You can walk in and enjoy the beautiful surroundings and admire the sparkling goodies without spending a penny. Rathinasamy A has created it using 3DVIA Studio.

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For some vintage fun take a look at the Sam Loovers Saloon by Marian. All he had to go by in creating it using Google SketchUp was pictures and blueprints courtesy of http://lester.demon.nl/superm/joe90/sams-car.html. He did a great job! [Marian lives in Romania]

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Just so everyone knows, the order that the Top 10 are displayed is based on color, type of model and how I’m feeling, not any particular ranking. I just rearrange them until I like the way it looks. It’s as simple as that!

Easy links to the previous Top 10 lists: 001 – 002 – 003 – 004 – 005 – 006 – 007 – 008 – 009 – 010 – 011 - 012 – 013 – 014 – 015 – 016 – 017 - 018 - 019 – 020 – 021 – 022 – 023 – 024 – 025 – 026 – 027 – 028 – 029 – 030 – 031 – 032 – 033 – 034 – 035 – 036 – 037 – 038 – 039 – 040 – 041 – 042 – 043 – 044 - 045 – 046 - 047 – 048 - 049 – 050 – 051 – 052 – 053 – 054 (seven weeks in one) – 055 – 056 – 057 – 058 – 059 – 060 – Best of the Best 2009 – 061 – 062 - 063 - 064 - 065 – 066 - 067 – 068 – 069 – 070 – 071 – 072 – 073 – 074 – 075 – 076 – 077 – 078 – 079 – 080 – 081 – 082 – 083 – 084 – 085 – 086 – 087 – 088 – 089 – 090 – 091 – 092 – 093 – 094 – 095 – 096 – 097 – 098 – 099 – 100 – 101 – 102 – 103 – 104 – 105 – 106 – 107 – 108 – 109 – Best of the Best 2010 – 110 – 111 – 112 – 113 – 114 – 115 – 116 – 117 – 118 – 119 – 120 – 121 – 122 – 123 – 124 – 125 – 126 – 127 – 128 – 129 – 130

Here’s a brief recap of what I look for when I select the Top 10:

Variety – One of the most important factors. I try to show models created using lots of different software products and showing lots of different ways of using 3D. I include brief comments on why I chose each model.

Creativity, unusual subject matter and humor – These are big factors. We should all be having fun and feel free to model our passions!

There is no reward given – Other than the satisfaction of being noticed, spotlighted and being brought to the attention of more modelers. In my personal experience, the pleasure of having my work appreciated is the ultimate reward anyway.

From time to time I will make mistakes and not follow my own rules – I will review these mistakes on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes I will change the post and sometimes I won’t. I will be consistently inconsistent. I am human.

Your comments are always welcomed and encouraged! Your responses will help the modelers and the 3DVIA community as a whole. Feel free to bring other models to my attention and let me know why they attracted you.

(PLEASE NOTE: In order to make it easier to explore, all photos are linked directly to the model’s page.)

One final note of caution: these are my choices (dswavely) and my choices alone. So, aim the tomatoes appropriately.