Ok, I have a question. I have found what appears to be an impossible object to model. An sr-71 blackbird. Except that its not impossible, because it HAS been made before…I just can’t do it…
I would really appreciate if someone could help me figure out how to model three basic areas (no details needed):
The front end w/ cockpits. I find it impossible to get that round shape and then make the top part flow into the sides….
The wings. How can I make their overall shape (as viewed from the top and sides)
Next for the wings, how can I make them flow seamlessly into the body the way they do…
The simple way that I do it is to just make a plane, and then simply delete one verticy so that you have a line. Put this line on the edge of what you want to model, and then simply extrude one verticy until you have a nice line going all the way around. Then just make some faces and extrude to get a cube that you can then model some more.
If you want to see what truly complex models look like, mosey on over to this link here:
Now, for the blackbird…I’d suggest using subsurf modeling and carefully tracing the curves…basically modeling edge and face loops that follow the flow of the blackbird.
Look for the mr bomb face modeling video…the exact same principles can be applied to planes, cars, pigs, birds, spaceships or whatever you want…Its one of the best modeling techniques there are.
M@dcow: Easy there! I said the word “impossible”, thats true. but the next sentence said that I know its not. And I realize that its not even remotely complex.
And face and edge loops? what are they? I’ll go look it up now, but if you could eludicate how they might be used in this instance, that would be helpful.
Al and rm5248: Thank you for the reference pics.
rm5248: What are you talking about? A line around something and what?
Thanks for your help.
Anyone else got any tips they’d like to share?
And Jason G: Theres not much more to add, they’ve said it all. Just read those tutorials and give it time. You won’t get it right the first time, it takes practice. Keep us updated with how your doing and it will help us give you suggestions.
Sorry for my reply, I just thought what you said was pretty funny. Anyway, to edge and face loops. Basically they are a series of edges or faces that define the contours of your model, so they are especially good for anything organic and curvy.
The basic workflow is this: look at the blackbird, figure out where these loops should go to define the contours of your model, then start tracing out the rough shape by extruding individual verts to form the basic edge loops. then it’s a case of creating faces by selecting four verts and pressing the f key. Its just a case of doing this till done.
It’s actually easier if you just watch the vid, which is here…you’ll understand perfectly when you do, and you’ll understand why this is such a good method. Here you go:
Ok, I’ve been working and I actually got a decent looking model!
But I’ve hit a crux in my work: The cockpit. How should I make it flow into the body of the plane and put the glass in it? This is over my head %|
Thanks so far, my plane is looking good, I’ll probably put it up in the WIP section later.
