Project Kickoff: Japanese Train Station

Hi everyone! 👋

Welcome to the first post on my blog! Here, I will share behind-the-scenes looks and progress updates on my 3D projects, from early concepts to final renders.

To kick things off, I am excited to show the early stages of a new environment I started working on: A Japanese train station. This is a personal project that I am building in Blender and bringing to life in Unreal Engine 5. It is still in early days, but I wanted to begin documenting the process as it evolves.

Project Goals

The idea is to build a photorealistic environment that captures the peaceful, everyday atmosphere of a suburban train station in Japan - something you might pass through on a quiet morning, or during a rainy afternoon. I'm aiming for realism, but also a strong sense of place and mood.

A big part of the challenge will be balancing detailed models with good performance in Unreal. I will also focus on real-time lighting and using Substance Painter to create high-quality textures that hold up in close-ups and cinematic shots.

Reference Gathering & Moodboard

Before touching any 3D tools, I started by gathering references. I built a moodboard filled with images of train stations, both wide shots and close-ups of platforms, signage, vending machines, electric poles, and even small environmental details like weathered paint and trash bins. This gives me a solid visual language to work from, and helps keep things consistent and grounded in reality.

Blender Work-in-Progress

In Blender, I began by blocking out the key parts of the station: the platform, train tracks, and overhead electric lines. From there, I moved on to modeling smaller props like timetables, which I textured in Substance Painter. I also created the first house that sits alongside the station, again using Substance for the textures.

The platform and ground got their base materials using seamless textures from freepbr.com, which worked great for establishing a quick and clean base.

Bringing it into Unreal engine

Once I had a few assets ready, I started bringing them into Unreal Engine. I imported the objects individually to give myself more control, and split larger pieces, like train tracks and long wires, into modular sections. This setup allows me to take advantage of Nanite, keeping performance in check while still maintaining detail.

I also started building the surrounding environment. Since I want this train station to sit near a coastline, I added a simple water body and some basic terrain for sand and shoreline. Seeing the assets in Unreal with some early lighting was a big milestone and the project is starting to feel alive.

What's next?

My next steps are focused on expanding the environment. I will finalize the layout in Blender by blocking out where new buildings will go, then continuing to model and texture houses and smaller props. I will also add more life to the scene with things like trash on the ground, vending machines, signs, and environmental storytelling details. Once the core of the scene is in place, I will jump further into Unreal’s post-processing tools to add atmosphere and experiment with lighting, fog, rain, and reflections to push the realism and mood even further.

Thanks for checking out the first post!

If you’re into 3D art, environment design, or just enjoy following creative processes, feel free to stick around. I will post regular updates as this scene comes together.

- Kevin Hofbauer