Yankee Stadium 3D model project The purpose of this project is to try and recreate what it was like to be in the old Yankee Stadium (pre 1973-76 renovation). The 3D model is being created in AutoCAD and 3D Studio MAX. The idea is to eventually have an interactive 3D model that people can walk through and explore. Research materials I’ve based the structural part of the model on those drawings which I’ve been able to get my hands on. I’ve got plan views of the lower and main levels taken from finish replacement drawings used in the 1973-76 renovation. I initially though these plans were based on the pre renovation plans, but on closer study, it looks like these are actually based on the latter design. I do, however, have a pre construction site plan, that shows the outline of the original building. The good news is that the basic structure of the stands didn’t change much in the renovation. The column locations are the same. The bad news is that the tunnels shown in the early model (shown below) did not appear exist in the pre-renovation stadium. The current model will require some reworking to reconcile some of these issues. I do have good sections and elevations of the pre-renovation stadium skin and stand structure, as well as the facade. What I don’t have are drawings showing the location of ramps leading from the entry portals to the different levels and details on the bleachers. In addition to the drawings, I have collected several models over the years, as well as photographs from books and the internet. The photos will serve as texture maps for the 3D Studio part of the model. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated If you have any drawings or other reference materials you think would be of use, or you have a suggestion, please let me know. You can contact me at: rfkaplan@verizon.net. Thanks and I hope you enjoy the model. Rick Try viewing the 3D PDF file of this model! Want to build your own model of Yankee Stadium? Stereo renderings Below are images of the model as of 10-31-08 What's been done so far: Just about all of the grandstand and bleacher concrete is now done. The building skin is just about complete (some rework on windows and grills will be required). Most of the roof is now done (still need to add the elevator control structures and lights). The facade is complete except for the parts that wrap around the ends of the grandstands. I will need to rework the facade balusters a bit to reflect newly discovered details on the flagpole mounts. I've also added the bleacher wall advertizements (circa 1973) - thanks to Dennis Concepcion for researching and recreating these wonderful ads. Next; Add the grandstand end railing and facade sections. Advertizements c.1973. Nice work Dennis!. Keep watching this spot - Next; the end rails and facade sections. Looking out toward left field stands. Overall progress. The building skin is closed. Lots more work to do, but it's getting there. Gate 6 entry portal. Gate 2 portal with stairs and railings. Right field grandstand end condition. Need to fix the column interface with the wall. Left field curved stands section. The external walls are nearly complete. Below are images of the model as of 08-02-08 What's been done so far: Continuing on with the the concrete portions of the stadium, the building skin and stands are almost complete. The facade is done except for the side sections. Overall progress. The building is almost closed. View of left field grandstands. I still need to add end rails and ballasters. View looking at gate 2.. Right field corner under construction. Left field stands. Left field stands from lower down. The external walls are nearly complete. Below are images of the model as of 07-06-08 What's been done so far: The ramps are a bit of a puzzle. They seem to be double ramps up to the main level, but then seem to become single. It's unclear from the photos and plans I have if this is indeed the case and if so, how the transition occurs. I decided to go ahead and work on the curved stand sections while I figure it out. I've built the short facade sections and put in stands on the gate 4 side of the building. Next the remaining stand sections. Shot of the upper deck showing the short facade sections. Overall progress. More facade. The entire curved section behind the plate. Long shot. From below. Close up. Below are images of the model as of 05-08-08 What's been done so far: Side tracking a little bit from the ramps, I've gone ahead and built the remaining skin sections and placed them at the gate 4 section. I've also added the gate 4 portal (windows are wrong but I'll fix that later). Next I'll start laying out the ramps in the gate 4 area.... Iconic view of the gate 4 portal. I'm going to have to redo the clubhouse entry since some plans of this area have become available. Wide angle shot. Looks like I need to move the "Yankee Stadium" portal text back a little. Right field side. Overall progress. Below are images of the model as of 04-23-08 What's been done so far: I've mirrored the right field straight stand section over to left field. I still need to research the building skin on the other side. I only have good images from 1923 and I'm sure things changed over the years. Next I'll start laying out the ramps.... Both straight grandstand sections from the bleachers. From above. Right field outer skin sections. I'll need to find some good photos to make it accurate. View through a portal on left field upper deck. View from right field upper deck. View from mezzanine level. Below are images of the model as of 03-28-08 What's been done so far: Nearing completion of the straight stand section on the right field side. The upper deck exterior panels are done. I've added some of the railing for the upper deck. It's a little confusing because most of the photos I have are dead on shots that don't show the separation of the railings on the main isle in front of the portals. It also appears the railings changed over the years. The clearest shots I have are from 1923. Finally, the facade straight sections are in place. I don't have any real closeup shots of the stanchions, so I may be missing some detail. Next, I'll mirror this to the left field side and build the rest of the skin.... Upper deck skin panels. From a lower angle. The straight sections of the facade. Closer. When the lights get installed, some of the flagpoles will disappear. Ground level shot. Ground level, from a different angle. Upper deck view. Looks like I need to move the roof back to seal to the walls. Another view from the upper deck. Under the facade. Long shot. Overall progress. Below are images of the model as of 03-16-08 What's been done so far: I've started on the straight sections of the grand stands. Most of the concrete elements and some of the railings are done, as well as the upper deck portals with adjoining catwalks. One of my favorite parts of the stadium, since I sat in the upper deck for most of the games a saw there, was the catwalks from the upper deck concourse level out to the stands. It was a thrill to be able to look out over the crowd down below in the mezzanine section and then walk through the portal and see the field and the incredibly steep upper deck stands. I seem to remember them covering the catwalks in some kind of corrugated fiberglass later on. I thought that was a big mistake when they did it and I won't put them on, even if it's correct for the period. Next, I'm basically going to build this straight stand section complete with the upper skin panels, roof and long facade sections, then I'll begin to work on the curved sections.... Mezzanine and upper deck concrete with upper deck portals Upper deck portals with view of catwalks leading up. Closer to the field. Catwalk from upper deck concourse. View from just in front of the mezzanine level. Wide angle view from back of mezzanine. Upper deck view at portals. Below are images of the model as of 03-12-08 What's been done so far: Got a little tired of hanging out in the bleachers (I'll get back there to finish up) and wanted to get the structure setup for the main stands. I started working on the straight grandstand sections and external panels. As there are few pictures of the gate 2 and 4 (left field) side of the building, I've started with the gate 4 to 6 side. I'll need to revise some of the panels toward gate 6 where concrete was used to fill in some of the vent sections and air conditioning units appear to be knocked through the walls. The steel structure and columns have been corrected to match the skin and facade elements. Next, the upper skin panels.... The right field side outer skin panels. Looks more like it did in the 40's right now. I'll revise this as soon as I can get some better close up views. Another view higher up. Yes the flagpoles are too tall. Long shot. Near street level. ...and from the side. Below are images of the model as of 03-01-08 What's been done so far: The bleacher fence has been removed per late 70's modifications. I've made the scoreboard taller as per the known top dimension of 118'. The monuments and plaques of Ruppert and Barrow are in. Next, the two PA systems and the gray padding on the right field wall. Monuments, plaques and flag pole. I haven't seen what the Mantle and DiMaggio plaques look like, but I'll add them once I've got texture maps for them. Another view of the monuments and plaques. Long shot. Another view a little closer in. ...and from above. It looks like the warning track could be a little wider at this point. Below are images of the model as of 02-19-08 What's been done so far: The auxiliary scoreboards are in, although the texture maps are temporary and don't match the new scoreboard image map (Thanks again to Dennis Concepcion). I've also taken my first crack at the field. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of decent top down aerial view photos for reference, so I used a scan of a painting and used the perspective transformation in Photoshop to rotate it into the correct position for use as a reference. I think its pretty close, but I know you folks will find the mistakes. The depth markers are in place on the outfield wall (I'm still trying to find a good photo of the right field wall with the gray padding on it, so I can finish that). Next, the monuments and plaques on the outfield wall, along with the exits. Then the gray padding on the left field and infield walls. After that the two PA systems, then its on to the main stand areas where I hope things will line up correctly when I put the skin elements and facade up. The facade and upper deck exterior walls are going to be the test of whether or not the main stand structure has been laid out properly. My first crack at the field. If anybody has a dead on aerial photo of the field as it was in the early seventies, let me know. A field level shot behind home plate. Shot of right field auxiliary scoreboard and outfield distance markers. Thanks to Dennis Concepcion for the texture maps of those. It's my understanding that the mesh fence was removed by this time, so it will come out as soon as I can find a decent photo showing whether the bottom rail remains or it's just gone. Right field auxiliary scoreboard with temporary image map. The plan is to make one that matches the main scoreboard. Notice the dirt that's been added to the upper bullpen area. New scoreboard image map. Shot from third base. View of the field from above the bleachers. Another shot from above the visitor's bullpen. Another view of the scoreboard with the really nice texture map. Below are images of the model as of 02-05-08 What's been done so far: It may not look like much, but the bullpen gates and bleacher fencing are now installed. Next the auxiliary scoreboards, PA systems, flag pole and monuments. Bleacher fencing and Yankee bullpen gates. More bleacher fencing. I'll be adding the black tarp later. Visitors bullpen gates. More bleacher fencing. Long shot from outside. Visitors bullpen. More of the same. Even more of the same. Below are images of the model as of 01-20-08 What's been done so far: More progress on the bleachers. The outer walls are almost done (these seem to have changed a bit over the years). The main scoreboard is up (texture map courtesy Dennis Concepcion). Now it's time to consider exactly what year this ball park is going to represent. I'm leaning toward the last year before the renovation - 1973. This sort of represents the total evolution of the stadium. One problem with the 73 stadium is I don't have much in the way of advertizements for the bleacher back wall. Anybody out there know where I can find good images of these? Next, Finish the outer wall at the Yankee dugout, add auxiliary scoreboards, the fences and gates to the bleachers and doug outs. Then it's on to the mezzanine and upper deck concrete slabs. Bleacher outer wall. This is the 1965-73 configuration as far as I can tell. Long shot of bleacher outer wall. Note the main scoreboard. Another view from gate 2. Long shot of outer bleacher walls. Bleacher inner walls with scoreboard. Scoreboard closeup. More of the same. Below are images of the model as of 01-04-08 What's been done so far: I'm still working on the bleachers and bullpen areas. I've added the utility entry ways along the bleacher side of the bullpens. I've started laying out the columns for the bleacher external wall. Next, I'll finish the bleacher outer wall and begin inserting the bleacher/bullpen fence railings and gates. View showing bleacher and bullpen areas. View of exterior bleacher columns with some of the wall in place. View of visitors bullpen showing bleacher outer wall. Same bullpen from a different angle. View of external bleacher columns. Another angle showing the outer bleacher columns and wall. More of the same. If anybody has details of how the bleacher entry areas integrated with the ramps, let me know. Below are images of the model as of 12-09-07 What's been done so far: I'm working on the bullpen areas and bleacher walls. I don't have any drawings of these areas, so I'm relying on photos from various angles. The furring around the end columns of the stands seems to disappear in 1964 or there a bouts. You can now see the gate 2 portal integrated into the rest of the model. Next, the home bullpen slabs, railings for the bullpen and outfield walls along with the raised sections of the outfield wall. After that, I'll do the outside bleacher walls. The scoreboards will go in last. View of outfield wall and visiting team bullpen areas. Need to add the wall extension. View from bleachers. Note the furring on the end column which seems to have been removed around 1964. Another shot from the bleachers showing the gate 2 portal. Gate 2 portal. Another angle. Below are images of the model as of 11-26-07 What's been done so far Back on track again after a very busy late summer and early fall. Here's a typical portal (gate 2/6). Gate 4 seems to have different glass. I'll need to do a little more research on that. I'll add the gate numbering when I integrate the portals into the main model. The plan is to complete the bullpen areas and integrate them into the building skin from gate 2 back around the bleachers and over to gate 6. I'm very much in need of direction on the bullpen areas. I've got several good images of the bullpens but nothing that shows the level of detail I'd like to have. If anybody has anything like a section through the bullpen the long way, showing where the ramp starts and ends, that would help. I want to thank Bruce Orser for the highly detailed stand section that shows railings and stair treads! Field fence railing almost complete. Fence wire mesh texture. Below are images of the model as of 09-08-07 What's been done so far The bleacher concrete structure has been completed. Field fencing is almost completed. Having some issues with the height of the right field fence as it relates to the apparent stand height. Field fence railing almost complete. Fence wire mesh texture. More fences. Fence near dugout. Bleacher concrete structure completed. Below are images of the current model as of 08-29-07 What's been done so far Some more progress. I started on the bleacher concrete slab areas including the portals. I don't have much detail on how the entrances link to the portals, maybe someone can point me in the right direction. The interim steel structural members have been laid out. I've also updated the dugouts with the correct column locations. I want to thank Shepard L. Greenberg for the great photos he sent me of the ramp area that he shot at a recent Yankee game. These are going to help considerably. Quite the steel jungle with the interim structural members added. Note the bleachers being built in the distance. Dugout showing columns and separate paint material on the outside. Here's a bleacher portal with 1" railing. I'm not sure what the correct size is, any ideas? Bleacher portals from the front. View of the bleachers under construction. A long shot from the bleachers. Pardon the gaping holes. Below are images of the current model as of 08-26-07 Although it may not look like there's been much progress, I've actually started the model from scratch, based on a seating plan of the pre 1973 renovation provided by Dennis Concepcion, who has provided invaluable insight into the stadium (having worked there). I also want to thank Richard Lillard for taking the time to send me many photos that are going to be crucial in getting the model right. What's been done so far I've built the main section, lower level stand concrete surfaces with the correct portals. The dugouts have been modified to include two columns instead of one. I've started placing the interim structural members in left field and I've roughed in the warning track and basic field lines. Next: The field level fence, the ramps and slabs for the different levels, then I'll start on the bleachers. This plan is much more accurate than what I was using before. The red areas are the seating plan from the pre 1973 renovation, the blue, is from a finish replacement plan. It has the column locations. Another view showing the plan with the model on top. The next steps are the infield walls, the ramps and the bleachers View from the top of the lower deck. Here are some 3D Studio renderings with preliminary texture maps. Below are images of the model as of 08-16-07 The lower deck tunnels have been removed. I still need to find some reference for the ones that are supposed to be there. I built the dugouts, based on photographs and some plan view information I dug up (I really need to get my hands on some plans). I've roughed in the fence and warning track. Dugouts and fence. View from right field. Below are images of the model as of 08-15-07 The stand structural units, built from elevations, have been inserted on a plan. The lower deck concrete base is almost done (the tunnels will have to come out). Note that these are images of the AutoCAD wire frame model. Later when the model is loaded into 3D Studio and textures are applied, it will begin to look more realistic. Looking down the left field lower level stands. Note the tunnels are actually wrong they were apparently not in the pre 1973-76 stadium). Looking toward home plate. View from up high. Note the plans used for reference.