Prenote: A video of this project will be uploaded upon completion of rendering and editing
A little bit of background
Steamboat Willie, the first animated short with synthesized sound came out in 1928, and has since not only become a legendary cartoon enjoyed by many generations, but since 2024 has entered the public domain, thus images, characters and everything in-between can now be used by anyone. With that in mind, I wanted to celebrate it by doing my own interpretation of Mickey's boat (as seen on screen) used in the short, despite being around 18 months late. This version actually started in early 2024, but after needing a break, starting from mid 2025, I picked it up again and finished around September 2025.
In 2026 (planned), you will see the more indepth version I actually started in 2024, which includes walls, kitchen fittings and furniture, and navigation gear in the wheelhouse.This 2026 version will make the boat more homely and realistic and will include fittings such as:
- Sink
- Appliances like kettles, cooktop (portable), commercial bar fridge,
- Utensils
- Food Containers
- Shelving
While the kitchen is the main room, a small lunch room and toilet will be included on the other side of the boat from the main entrance, whereas the wheelhouse will include:
- Maps
- Cabinet
- GPS/Communicator
- Binoculous
Many of these will be sold separately before this so keep an eye out for them over the next few years (2025 +).
Why is it worth buying it? How can it be used?
As Steamboat Willie is now in the public domain, anything from this cartoon can now be used by anybody. With this in mind, you can now own my own interpretation of this boat (as actual plans and the cartoon don't specifically indicate the actual design), from this cartoon to use for your own project be that animation, games, short film and everything in-between.
While the cartoon does not indicate size, scale or any rooms (apart from the very end with the potato room, which is included here at the kitchen entrance), this is because of the early nature of animation where design layout would not have been considered due to its experimental nature. As this is the case, please consider, this is my own personal interpretation, with the layout as close to the short as I could gather.
This screen version scale and size was likely based on the small sale of animals, however this version of the boat is real world human dimensions, making it perfect for you to use for human characters.
One of the main reasons you should buy it is that this actual boat design will be one of a kind, with no version of this boat seen on CGTrader, making it unique for you to use and own. This means you can use and experience the screen version of the boat as it would be like in the real world. While there are elements of the boat I wanted to make look real, I also know that this boat was a cartoon and I also needed to represent this with the boat as well. This can be seen in the colours used for the roof and the exterior hull, using the colours of Yellow and Red, colours used by Mickey Mouse.
As seen within the short, I have also included other smaller assets that have been seen throughout the short. These assets include:
- The Bird Stand
- Pots and Pans
- Soap
- Potato Room
This Steamboat Willie interpretation, despite being slightly cartoony (Colours), still maintains a high res, realistic material, using two types of Blender Material nodes (i.e - BSDF),Metallic and Principled, with Metallic being used the most. Adding more realism is the use of puddles on the non-slip wood flooring as seen on the deck.
One of the key aspects I love to do with all models (this one with no exception), is by adding smaller touches to the material used, instead of just a standard looking material node setup, which can make it look slightly fake instead of new. These smaller touches include the material node setup for:
- Scratches,
- Bumps/imperfections
- Edge Wear
One of the major factors why you should buy this model is that I have provided two different versions of the same project created in the latest Blender. These files (contained within a zip folder) include:
- Procedural texturing (using both Metallic BSDF and Principled BSDF with multiple tree nodes) and
- Baked texturing using 4K baked textures (all in separate folder - see below for more details),
One of the reasons I do this is because you may love the overall model, but there are times when you want to make changes to the materials used, but can't, because all the materials are baked, thus losing a potential sale. Now with my procedural version, you can make any small or large textural changes (using Blender’s Node Structure) that best suits your specific project.
However if you wish to leave it as is, a file with just baked materials (i.e images baked on the UV layout) is also included where no editing is required. These baked materials can be used within Blender or images necessary for other software.
Speaking of which, contained within another ZIP folder, are various project file formats to use in various other 3D Programs, in which details of the file types can be seen below.How the file system works and what is contained within
Within the downloadable folder/s, I have included two different blender folders, one indicating its procedural and the other baked.
Within the Procedural Zip Folder (Steamboat_Willie_Procedural) you will find a file called (Steamboat_Willie_Screen_Version) all the textures/materials are included, using a wide variety of procedural nodes. This will mean you can modify any of these nodes, to suit your own preferred taste/style specific to your own project needs. This Blender file will suit any level of experience as the node layout is quite simple and easy to follow.
However, for those who want the ease and comfort of downloading the file without worrying about making changes, all the textures are baked within a separate folder called textures with each texture containing at least 4 different texture layers in 4K (4096 x 4096).
These include:
- BaseColor
- Metalness
- Normal and
- Roughness
The Blender file within the baked texture folder (Steamboat_Willie_Baked) contains these baked materials as .png files. This can be found under the Blender File (Steamboat_Willie_Screen_Version_Baked_Materials). To use correctly just download the texture ZIP file, (included within are separate material/texture folders with the names closely matching to the different objects within the blender/other file).
Each object/part within this project, their four texture layers (as mentioned above) are contained in their own folder. As you can see, there are many folders and subfolders, so please be aware of these when you use them in your project.
These objects below are the folder names and include:
As well as these two folders which are suited for blender users, I have also contained a separate folder for those who prefer to use other 3D programs. This folder is called Other Files. With this zip folder contains:
- FBX
- OBJ
- GLB (Augmented Reality)
- STL
- PLY
Product Description
- 2 x Blender 4.5 + Files
- Procedural Materials (modifiable) and
4K Flat, Baked Image Materials (PNG) [Attached within their own zip folders]. For more details, see below
FBX
OBJ
GLB
PLY
STL
Rigged: No
UV Mapping: Yes, non - overlapping
Technical details
CG ModelUnwrapped UVsPolys - 127,006Vertices - 127,144
