Can't add loop cut to a pretty basic shape

Hi, I’ve followed some tutorials yesterday about topology and its importance when modeling.
I’ve started a little project today which is a 3D cake.

I paid attention to avoid tris and stick to quads as I learned that quads are the only way to be able to add loopcuts to a mesh.

I’m stuck at the first steps because I can’t add loopcuts on the side of the cake.

What’s wrong with this model?

cake boss.blend (915 KB)


The loop cut tool doesn’t cut n-gons - which you have there, because of a row of rogue vertices at the bottom:


I see, they were left there from a loop cut that I had previously deleted. I’ll get rid of them then.

EDIT: It works.

Remember also delete loop cuts correctly, so you leave no extra vertices. Delete (X) > edge loop.

Or just set the dissolve operator to dissolve verts. Neither is more correct than the other.

Good tips. This time I deleted the bottom face and created a new one from the rogue vertices as the model was simple and selection was easy.

Now I’m getting a decent result with a mirror modifier to create a computer keyboard key (which will be placed on the cake), but I’m struggling to make a sharp edge…


Nurbs surface has it all to become a key - do you really need your key mirrored?


Of course not, but it was the only way I knew to make it easily. I will definitely try nurbs today.

Sent from mobile

I’ve been working on the cake today.
I followed a bunch of tutorials on Nurbs but I still have to get how they works.

I’ve modeled a firework flare instead, which will sit on top of the cake instead of the classic candles and I’m happy with it. I was also able to add a twine shaped fuse.

Now I’m trying to add some sugar sprinkles on the side of the top part of the cake.
I’ve created the group of objects which will be used for the hair particle system and weight painted the group of vertex on which the sprinkles are supposed to lay.

I tweaked the settings a bit but I can’t figure out how to lay them around the cake, as in this reference picture:

Here’s a screenshot of the actual result, the particle system settings and the group of sprinkles. (The firework is there just because I’m proud of it! :wink:
Thanks for any suggestions you’d like to make.


Nevermind, I managed to do it.
What was wrong in the settings were:

  • Children set on Simple instead of Interpolated. Interpolated is correct.
  • the Group of Object was oriented on the wrong axis. I rotated the group by 90° and the sprinkles went in place.

Now it’s just a matter of tweaking the randomness of the direction and the colours.


I’ll keep trying to figure out on my own, but could I ask if you don’t mind explaining how you used nurbs to create the key?
I’m trying to use a nurbs surface to deform the top faces of a subdivided square with the curve modifier but it doesn’t work.
Neither I can create the key using Nurbs only.

Nurbs are evil to Noobs!

Well, they are unfinished tools i guess. However if you select top 4 points on default nurbs surface and push it a bit up or down you can change shape of the surface to fit top of the key (you can rotate it 180 deg later on). If you Alt-C convert to mesh it will be nice all quad surface. Select side vertices, extrude/scale couple of times and move z last extrusion. You have a key.

Thank you. I figured out an alternative way to model it using a lattice to wrap the key and deforme the top.
I used the Lattice deform modifier on a vertex group of the top vertices of the key.
It works pretty good and it’s intuitive, it is also easy to fine tune the shape before applying the modifier.


There’s always several ways to skin a cat in Blender ;). Nice you found another.
Btw, if you had default grid you could use Proportional grab to get there too…