So I’m relatively new to train building, having only built a total of 4 trains myself and having to have my friends build them for me (don’t worry they got paid), and I was wondering how I could get them to become realistic.
Games such as Grand Continental Railways, Terminal Railways, Rails Unlimited all have “smooth trains” which are as they sound. Here’s an example from TR: 
Now from my experience, I’d never be able to do that as all my trains are, well, “blocky”. Any ideas?
I bet all of that “smoothness” is made using meshes of different kinds. Must’ve taken a really long time to create that train.
Other than that, practice makes perfect. I’ve never tried building a train myself, but 99% of the the time builds look more realistic the more you practice (if you’re aiming for realism, of course).
Taking some time to learn how to create things in Blender might be something to consider. I recommend starting with this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYj6e-72RDs
This is the same tutorial my friends and I have used, and we now all create in Blender more than build in studio.
Time, practice. Time and practice are the keys to success. Meshes are probably in there, so you’ll need to master that. Keep trying, trying and eventually you’ll have a perfect train, which shines like gold in other’s eyes.
Realistic trains such as this one from “Terminal Railways” take alot of time and effort to create. There are two solutions to getting this smooth look:
The first (and easiest by my opinion) solution to this problem is to smooth it out manually by using the negate/union tools. You can take your blocky design and smooth it down with negated blocks just to make it look better.
The second option is to model the train in Blender. I do not have much experience in Blender, and if you don’t have any experience either, it would take a bit longer to accomplish. But, this is still something to consider.
Other than that, all it takes is a little bit of practice. Hope I could help!
We use CSG v1 most of the time, not V2.
V1 allows for smooth edges but is a little more challenging to work with without errors. Go into settings ->physics then click the box next to “CSG v2 disabled”
All I can say is practice. Do not expect to make a train like this in just a few days.
There is over one and a half year of practice between the right and left model
Wow, thanks for all the replies. Def gonna try use blender!
What’s CSG v1 and v2? lol I’ve never heard of it
CSG stands for Constructive Solid Geometry, it’s a modelling system in which you can construct a simple model from structured data in the form of polygons drawn between vertices.
If you want some more clear info on that, give me a sign.
Yes I’ll need more information.
In the context of ROBLOX this now means you can create a CSG model out of parts by using two distinct methods. The first being addition, the second negation.
Addition is where you add one part to another through the use of union. This can be done by selecting multiple parts and selecting union from the right-click context menu or from the toolbar.
Negation is where you remove one part from another. You do this by setting a part to be negative using the right-click context menu or toolbar, the adding this negative part to another part.
The use of the word part in the above can also be regarded as a unionobject or pre-existing CSG Model.
CSG v1 although comes with more errors and a smaller triangle count limit
It creates those smooth edges (forget the right term for it)
while CSG v2 it has a increased triangle limit, less errors, but it doesn’t smooth the edges.
Ah basically just unioning and stuff. I know the basics of that. Thanks anyway!
Ah thats sums it up. Cheers.
You’re right. You have to know and set the limit when it’s enough and when it’s too much.
Another tip, make sure to save your work often because when you try and union important parts, that union could corrupt and you won’t be able to retrieve it.
For CSG V3, make sure to use the SmoothingAngle property to smooth ugly rough edges on UnionOperations.
Also make sure to duplicate any important parts and stuff AND SAVE before you make a UnionOperation. You never know if you mess up.
Yes we have the separate tool but in case studio randomly crashes when unioning (which has happened to me multiple times) you won’t retreive said union if it hasn’t been saved already
I’m sorry for pinging you about this but I’m editing this text featuring this very helpful guide that got me set into modeling when o first started getting into the Roblox railway community
Also @CarlPIandog I understand this post is old but take this as an apology: I’m sorry for bumping the topic 4 years later without realising. I hope you can forgive me for bothering you bumping this up and acting out publicly and disrespecting about the decision you make to close the thread 
I know this is an old topic, but I’m glad to see someone repeating something I’ve been saying for a long time! I always make sure to save copies of my complex unions in an un-unioned state, unless I need to change them or use parts from them in the future, or in the absolute worst case the union becomes corrupt. The separate tool is not to be trusted, it’s unfortunately a major source of the dreaded “brickshift” and other forms of part offset.
Here’s an example of a model of mine saved with its largely un-unioned self:
