Edge Loop Deformation

[Lyalle]

Hi, I’ve modelled a sword and an edge loop I created to split the blade in half (for unwrapping) is causing some deformation on the mesh. When I delete the edge loop the mesh looks fine, however I want the blade in two halves so I don’t have to fiddle with my texture. Is there any way I can split the blade in half without said deformation?

Circled: Deformation
Right: Offensive edge loop
Left: Edge loop removed, mesh = looks good

UVs: Blade in a top and bottom half, I want to keep it this way to avoid having to change texture

[JA12]

Looks like inconsistent normals but can’t be sure since you didn’t upload the file. Edit mode, select all, ctrl+N to make normals consistent and pointing outside (if your mesh has a side).

[Sanctuary]

if it’s not some normals problem, it is very likely that you’re in Flat shading.

So try this :
On the toolshelf in Object mode, click on Smooth shading
And add an Edge Split modifier (don’t apply it) to get the hard edges.

You should not see anymore the odd shading where you did the knife cut.

example :

flat shading :

smooth shading (+edge split modifier) :

[Lyalle]

Fixed with the smoothing + edge split. Thanks both very much for the help! I’ll be sure to keep these in mind from now on.