Hello, I request your help for tips for modelling that kind of mechanical, symmetrical parts. I basically started with a Cylinder, reduced faces to 8 then cutted it into 1/4 to use mirror modifier to have symmetrical actions when I change a vertice.
Thanks.
Of course using mirror modifier will be a time saver. But even before that you really need to think through how you are going to mesh this thing. Parts are rounded with some sharp edges. Are you going to include filleted corners?
First thing you need to do is to get the geometry right. Here is my quick eyeball engineering from your photograph. It is just a rough slap on geometries of parts:
As you build this rough sketch, you begin to understand its form and what geometry is needed to make it.
This must be one of the hardest things to model that I encountered for a long time. I upload my output here in case you find it inspiring. There are a bunch of problems with the topology however. I spent at least two hours trying to figure out what this thing looks like. My brain must rest now.
Attachments
Propeller-hub-000.blend (389 KB)
hey Mats, this is exactly what it should look like !!
Understood ridix, it seems very hard even more for a beginner. I would like to do one on my own, if one of you could do a turorial to get the basic things up, that would be fantastic.
Thanks a lot,
Valentin
Nice work Mats. He constructed the hub as single object more or less, and rounded it with Sub Surf Modifier. That’s one way to do it.
It is important to see mechanical parts like this are constructed out of number of simple shapes. Here I gave some depth to my top view layout. You really need to understand the shapes at this level:
All you do from here is how to mesh it. Some times this is the level of detail one might need. Then people just leave it as separate forms, no blending.
By the way after I made the layout, it was clear that Bolt circle around the hub housing is on the circle. And it makes sense. Any spinning component like this must be dynamically balanced around spin axis!
Quick build (about 50 mins) included 3 versions of the build.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10419439/Mechanics%20build%20quick.rar
Final one needs the apply button pressed to remove the pins, I know its a little rough but I thought it was pretty good for the time it took.
Hello guys
Thanks for feedback and help.
All you do here is wonderful, but that doesn’t help me much, I would need some kind of tutorials as I’m a nearly all beginner. The only complex mesh I done is a propeller blade.
My other project is the Chernobyl NPP, but with simple objects, cylinders and cube…
If you could guide me through some good solid tutorials for beginner, to get in mechanicals part ( not human faces or cars or things like that ) that would be great.
Cheers,
Valentin
Thats a fairly complex object to model. I’d be pretty intimidated by it too.
If you look at it from the top and cut it like a pizza into 4 parts, those parts look identical. Each of those slices looks symmetrical as well, so you could probably get away with modeling 1/8th of the whole thing (1/16th if the front and back are identical.)
Then apply a mirror modifier and a spin modifier (and possibly another mirror for the back).
You could model it as a simple control mesh this way, then use a subdivision surface modifier to make the shapes. I think this would be possible if you learn to set the right amount of crease (in edit mode, select edges, press “shift+e”, move your mouse) to control how much various parts of your mesh collapses with subdivision.
As for tutorials, look up general modeling, the mentioned modifiers, subdivision and crease.
If you look at it from the top and cut it like a pizza into 4 parts, those parts look identical. Each of those slices looks symmetrical as well, so you could probably get away with modeling 1/8th of the whole thing (1/16th if the front and back are identical.)
I agree with monsterdog. I used the “pizza” method for the blue area of this motor, and the part behind it where cylinders are attached :
Hello, so here what I’ve done so far, it’s a Hartzell Propeller, used in Pilatus PC-6 aircraft.
The hub is Thordwilk’s one ( used it for Render purpose , will build mine as soon as I can )
Hey Philippe !! Cool de voir un français. Je viens de découvrir ton site et tes modélisations sont absolument fabuleuses ! J’adore en particulier la Thomson et le Colt, tout comme les diapo de miss Warfield, vraiment un beau travail, ça en dit long sur tes talents de Blenderien ( et peut-être d’autres logiciels ? )
Valentin
there was some thread on the prop itself
but do you know how to make a prop from the cross section which 0 re available from a database ?
the hub looks very nice man
thanks
The Hub is not mine, the one mounted on the props is Thordwilk’s one and the over wonderful render of hub is Mats Halldin’s one.
Yes I’ve started from a cross section then extrude.
Airfoils NACA of this Hartzell prop aren’t availabe, I’ve made it by eyes, taking pitcures on the real one.
