How to model a propeller?

I am modeling a simple plane and I want to know how to model a propeller.
It has to have that curvy look

Give it a try and post some wires.

But… I haven’t the faintest idea how…
I’ve only made the body of the plane

just model it without the curvy look and then select the edge loops and rotate them one by one.

Make the simple plane shape and aftward subdivide and extrude it. Add a subsurf and lattice modifier to adjust the smooth rotated final touch.

Hello, here is my propeller. Cub - Face Mode - Extrude 2 times - back and front ,side L side R and scale out - Flattened scale down - twist each blade 30 % - Subsurf 2 - Set smooth. Fly away.:slight_smile:

Open up blender file and press Alt +A

Attachments


Airoplane.blend (166 KB)

Here is a short propeller tutorial:

  1. With your 3D cursor centred on the origin, in top view add a cylinder: 12 vertices, Radius 1, Depth 4, no cap ends.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_fh1_BUIe_Q8/SX3C94E5mwI/AAAAAAAAAo0/599DxnyXwS0/s576/Propeller-000.jpg
2. In this example we’ll extrude the blade along the X axis. So, enter face selection mode (Ctrl+Tab>3), deselect the two faces pointing along the X axis and delete the remaining faces (X>3).
3. Select the face on the X axis. Extrude-scale it along the axis ten length units (E, S, X, 10). Subdivide the newly created faces, say, ten times (Ctrl+R, 10).

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_fh1_BUIe_Q8/SX3C-MVhBvI/AAAAAAAAAo8/DUKWCDCtwyI/s576/Propeller-001.jpg
4. Select the end face again and hit Ctrl+NumPlus until all but the two last rings of faces are selected. Scale up (S, Z, drag), deselect the last ring of faces (Ctrl+NumMinus), and repeat until the the blade looks OK.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_fh1_BUIe_Q8/SX3C-hfm88I/AAAAAAAAApE/3uq0ak4n6Eo/s576/Propeller-002.jpghttp://lh4.ggpht.com/_fh1_BUIe_Q8/SX3C-lqca1I/AAAAAAAAApM/dCV0DAKf0PE/s576/Propeller-004.jpg
5. Ctrl+NumPlus select the faces again. Rotate 10 degrees along the X axis (R, X, 10), Ctrl+NumMinus deselect the last ring, and repeat until done.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_fh1_BUIe_Q8/SX3C-qI001I/AAAAAAAAApU/uwRnjqcaTYo/s576/Propeller-005.jpg
6. Tab out of edit mode and add an empty in top view. Name it Array-guide and rotate it 60 degrees along the Z axis (R, Z, 60).
7. Select the propeller again and add an array modifier: Count 6, disable Relative offset, enable Object Offset>Ob:Array-guide, enable Merge.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_fh1_BUIe_Q8/SX3DEhN4V_I/AAAAAAAAApc/-8It8ZrSNH0/s576/Propeller-006.jpg

Here is what my propeller looks like with subsurf and smooth applied. Needless to say, this is not what a real propeller looks like – I leave the research to you.

/ Mats

THANKS!!! Great tutorial Mats. (but that looks like a ships propeller. I’ll try to adapt your method for a planes propeller)

and last rookie, where could I learn about lattice modifiers?

and here is my propeller-less plane. I’ll post back as soon as I manage to get the propeller on it

Attachments


Just thought I’d post back with my model
Th propeller is not perfect though. The angle of attack on a real propeller must decrease from the center to the tips
On my propeller that angle increases towards the edge. I wonder how to set that right…

Attachments


Here is a drunk pilot

< http://www.vimeo.com/2879051 >

Propellor tip

add plane in front view
loop cut serveral times

add subsurf modifer

shape it as much as a you like working as if the right hand side connects to the hub and the left hs is the outer edge

extrude it to a thickness (this should be like the one youve got with no pitch)

in edit mode select the edge loop (lhs)

Select the edges you want to ‘sharpen’ ie top bottom and lhs and scale (y)(0) then remove doubles

put proportional editing on (o) and select linnear falloff
rotate the edge face through the x plane ®(X)
use your wheel on the mouse to extend the influence as requried

I set the centre to be where the hub is going to be, dupplicated and rotated 120 degs twice and then added the hub (or whatever its called) then u could ctrl+j and join the meshes into one I guess

heres a render with a crappy wood texture lol - Im no expert on the shape of props but you get the idea - I might have put too much of a pitch on them but I did this to make it obvious. I included a wire texture so you can see the topology

http://i42.tinypic.com/2hdz1qa.jpg

hope this is helpful

ps

extended the props and added the black on the tips

cheers

wow nice tutorial
i like what you did with the empty and the array modifier

i followed it my self :slight_smile:

i made the extrude a bit different way
i extrude once for 100 on the X axis
and press ctrl+R for loop cut … before applying the cut
i use my mouse wheel the change the number of cuts to 9
find it by mistake :slight_smile:

@Denshidan your explanation didn’t make sense because when I did proportional editing it went flat and only one side would extrude rather than all sides extruding.

This thread is 10 years old, the poster you responded to hasn’t been active for about 2 years.

1 Like