I thought I’d start learning by modelling a simple spanner set. Been very educational it has lol… but, Below is a particular problem I have encountered and cant work out why its there or how to get rid of it.
Basic Model
Basic Model after adding Smooth/Flat
Quick testing render…
In the Rendered image what are the black lines? (various areas)… Why are they there?.. and how do I get rid of them?
I have deleted all doubles and checked the normals etc
I don’t know what the black lines are from. But the parts of your model that I CAN see have some geometry problems that are likely to be on the other side as well. In edit mode select all and do a remove doubles. That should get rid of a lot of vertices. (You say you have deleted doubles, did you remember to select all the vertices first? I find that some people forget that the command only works on what’s selected. I am going on about it because of that row of face dots along the top edge, where there should not be any…) Then deselect all and select>internal faces, then non-manifold (select menu). after all that (if you have a spanner left!) things might be much better.
as you said you had select all and remove double and check normals, in edit mode, Have you selected faces on that area and flipped direction under normal,yet?
Thanks guys… Doubles were removed with ALL vertices selected.
The row of dots along the top edge are actual faces (an extrusion from the top face scaled out and dropped down slightly). They seem to help with keeping the circumference flat topped but round edged. I’m just starting out so it may be wrong I don’t know… just seemed to get the best result for me.
The ‘Head’ and the ‘Shaft’ were two objects joined into one.
Selecting ‘Internal Faces’ didn’t highlight anything, But selecting non-manifold (I don’t know what that is), highlighted the end of the ‘Shaft’ (see below)… When I delete those faces the edges/vertices still highlight hen selecting non manifold?
Flipping direction of normals in certain areas just seems to make things a little errrr… weird lol.
Thanks for your help so far
Sorry, that’s really all the ideas I can come up with without having an actual mesh in my sweaty little hands… post a blendfile if you can. all will be revealed.
Geometry and topology is the problem.
You also need to clean up your mesh a bit,too many unneeded loop cuts and bad topology.
If you want to resolve the problem with your current model (black lines) then post the .blend file.
Thanks for the Input guys, It certainly takes some learning don’t it 
Here is the entire Blend File… (In my mind, I’m about 1 third through) I know there will be lots of mistakes and errors etc, but as its my first attempt at actually making something, and I don’t know a lot yet, I am expecting that. Any comments on other faults found are more than welcome, as I need to learn.
Spanners01.blend (2.07 MB)
Thanks for the info about non-manifold, very useful and good to know.
You also need to clean up your mesh a bit,too many unneeded loop cuts and bad topology.
I thought the more loop cuts, the smoother the curve? It would be good to know I don’t need as many.
Although I do know what topology actually means, This is the first time I have heard it in Blender… I will have a read up about it.
Thanks again everybody
More loop cuts do make a curve smoother but they need to be placed correctly.
I made a spanner similar to yours that should give you an idea on how to get good topology.The Topology still needs some cleaning here and there but it’s all i could do in 10min.
Take a look in edit mode how it looks,every face only has 4 vertices and there are no faces inside the mesh.
I know it’s not completely like yours but it should give you an idea.
Spanners01_01.blend (795 KB)
Thanks DC, yours certainly is a lot ‘cleaner’.
Topology is clearly a very important factor, something I didnt even give a thought to… along with vertices to face ratio. This is something I will definitely bear in mind in future.
When I get home I will look more closely at your example. I have noticed that it based from a plane rather than a cube… Is it best to start from a plane wherever possible? (I used a cube for the shaft and 2 cylinders as starting points for each end).
Very big lessons learnt so far… Thank You.
No problem.
I start with a plane out of habit,i usually do plane modeling but i used block modeling to make the spanner because it’s easier and faster.
You can start with both a plane and a cube to model the spanner,i just extruded the plane to form a cube and went on from there.
Hi Woody. I have looked at your file and I can see now that the black lines are caused by geometry that can’t be ‘smoothed’ due to inherent construction problems.
You have picked a difficult subject to begin with. DC has given you good advice for starters. It’s better to start with a simple geometric solid and loopcut and subdivide to get good geometry. Starting with a carefully drawn shape and extruding it is a difficult route to take because it gives you polygons of many sides that will be difficult to resolve later. Try not to model in separate sections and plan to join them later! Always causes more trouble than it saves.
For precision modeling like your spanner it’s nice to have photo or blueprint type references that you can put in the background to model over, if you can find some.
And the last tip - don’t bevel edges until the very end until it looks just right. These are generally very difficult to undo after you realize you were not done just yet.
Best advice is to start over, begin with the head and grow the handle from it.
Thanks DruBan
You have picked a difficult subject to begin with
And there’s me planning to start learning with something simple lol.
I do have reference pictures (Top & Side view) as background images.
So, time for me to restart… and hopefully put the lessons you guys have taught me into practise.
Thanks again
It is actually pretty simple to make,a good rule is that if something looks wrong to you then the best solution is simply to start over.
Topology is basically the number one rule in modeling,it makes modeling easier,faster,cleaner and more precise.
