I am new to Blender and the forum, so hopefully you will have patience with me
I am starting out trying to model, and thought I would give Green Arrows bow a try. It is made by a company called Oneida, and the bow itself is called the Kestrel.
Iāve had a look at a couple of modelling tutorials on YouTube, and whilst blockier models such as tables, chairs, etcā¦ are OK, the bow is proving to be more complicated once I start using either bevel or sub surf modifiers.
The problem I am having is towards the upper and lower portions of the bow (the part with the holes, just before the cams). As per the usual method, I start with a box and extrude edges as needed to rough out the shape of the bow, starting from the handle. However once I reach the hole-y area, I extrude and model around the holes, intending to fine tune the shapes later.
Once Iāve modelled around the hole, I close the edges using the make edge/face command (F). Unfortunately, whenever I apply a sub surf modifier, the geometry gets a little messed up, and pinched where I join the edges. Additionally, I cannot seem to apply an edge loop around the immediate area that has had the make edge/face applied.
Soā¦my questions:
What am I doing wrong at that particular part of the modelling flow?
How would you go about doing this, i.e. are there better techniques to use than box modelling?
To build complex objects with many parts you would have to model individual parts of that object, piece by piece, and then assemble the final product with those parts. That way youāll get the best results. Besides, if you model it using only one low resolution reference such as shown in pictures that youāve posted, you wouldnāt be able to tell individual pieces apart because of the low resolution and darkened parts. Good luck. My advice would be to use the bevel modifier in conjunction with the Bool Tool.
Sometimes edge loops canāt be formed by simple loop cutting. In that case you need to manually make it. Here is what I do for your case. Layout the mesh away from the edge first. Then extrude the edge out to the outside edge to form the loop.
I started by doing a demo for you, got all nostalgic about my archery days and went ahead and modeled the whole thing:)
I donāt recommend box modelling for such a complex form - my favoured method where there are holes is to start with the holes and model around them. Insert a six-sided circle for each hole, shape it then extrude and bridge edge loops. Add thickness and bevel the edges.
Still looking for decent pics of the string rig - I recall that Oneidas had very complicated rigs, very difficult to tune, but great bows
Wow thanks guys! Your replies were really helpful and helped things to āclickā inside my head with regards to modelling more complicated shapes. I went back and did a quick remodel using the methods recommended and the geometry is behaving a lot better, so now its practise, practise, practise.
@Roygee Sorry I donāt really know much about archery, but I have been meaning to pick it up for ages. I was quite into some of the Bowtech carbon fibre range because they look absolutely beautiful, but once I saw the Kestrel on Arrow, it was love at first sight. And yes, it is difficult to find high res photos or at least close ups of the Kestrel - I tend to see the other models.
Happy to have helped and glad you are getting there:)
Found a clearer pic which shows the string rig very clearly - now Iām going to have to redo the cam - the āartistic licenceā I took was a bit off!
