Im trying to modify the advanced paladin tank model and rotate the bottom chassis 180degries cuz I think it looks funny the way it is.
if you have played cnc reborn on new tech 3 mod you know the model I mean.

I have the w3d viewer and gmax, I can view the paladin model in w3d viewer. How would I go by editing it?

You would need 3dsmax with BFME2MODSDK or Gmax with RenX

I have all of these things, I tried to do it by opening the w3d file, I just kept everything the same and I rotated the chassis, then I exported it but, since I had no clue what I was doing, I kept all the settings at their defaults. Now when I try to run the game, the paladin is invisible. I cant see it, when it shoots the bullets just fly up from the ground.
but I can veiw the model in a w3d viewer.

Did you export it as "Shockwave 3d asset"? If so, it's wrong.

And did you remember to put it to Art\W3d in the ZH/Gens install directory?

Here is what I did, I have attached 6 screen shots that depict what I am doing.

1. I Customized my user interface to enable w3d importing. the shortcut is ctrl-K

2. Im at the W3D importer. I select the AVDBPala.w3d

3. I see several meshes, I select "chassis" and "housecolor03" (cuz its part of the chasis)
I then click "Import Selected"

4. I now see the chassis, I select "Select and Rotate"

5. I click and drag downward to rotate the chassis 180 degrees.

6. Now that I rotated the chassis, I go into w3d Export settings under the hammer tab on the sidebar.

Now the question I have is, how do I export this back into the old AVDBPala.w3d file and overwrite the old one.

TBH I have never seen that importer before. I'm using coolfiles importer which imports the whole model.

I would do it like this:

1.) Import the whole model (put all needed textures in the same folder as the model or you would have to reapply them)
2.) Edit the parts you want
3.) You still have to reapply the MuzzleFlash texture (if your model has one) using 'add' shader.
4.) Select all the bones. Go to W3D Options on the right and tick 'export bones'
5.) Click File -> export and export your model as 'w3d asset' (or whatever. in RenX there's only one *.w3d anyway i think).

OK thank you It works now,

The recoil animation sucks tho, the barrels sink down when shot instead of moving back.
could someone direct me to a good tutorial on how to edit animations? please?

Also Take a look at the screen shot, why is the laser turret object transparent?
When I export this, the laser is gone.

The recoil isn't a real animation. The specified recoil-bone is moving backwards ingame. If it moves in any other direction, check if the barrel's pivot is world-aligned.

I have no real idea about the Laser Turret. Maybe it's a problem with the material.

Thank you for all the help,

here is a screen shot of the final product.

If anyone wants it, tell me and Ill put it up for DL