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Creating A 3D Sopwith Pup, Part One: The Engine - PAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 |
AND FINALLY, THE PROPELLER
To model such a complex shape, I begin by changing my background viewport image to a reference photo of the actual prop (SCREENSHOT). I see from my photo reference that the length of the prop is about 3x the diameter of the engine, which allows me to size the viewport image before I lock down the Zoom & Pan feature. To make things easier to see, I hide the engine (except the propeller hub), and begin to model the prop. Since the prop is symmetrical, I only plan on modeling one side, and will simply mirror this to form the complete prop. Starting with a Box primitive (specify enough segments to allow for a reasonably smooth curve), I apply a 3x6x2 FFD(box) modifier (SCREENSHOT). Using the control points, I reshape the prop blade to match the background image (SCREENSHOT). At this time, I am also using the control points to create a taper in the blade - though not the twist (that will come later). Once the shape has been roughed in, I apply a TurboSmooth modifier, which increases the Polygon count quite a bit and gives the prop blade a nice streamlined shape. The final twist is added via a Twist modifier (SCREENSHOT).
Now that the blades are in position, and the wood near the hub is in place, it is time to smooth out the transition between the blades and the hub. Convert one of the blades into an Editable Poly, and add another FFD(box) modifier to it. Due to the fact that we want to make very fine adjustments to the very end of the blade, specify a large number of control points (I set mine at 6x25x5). Carefully edit the control points to create a nice, smooth transition between the blade and the central wooden cylinder. Note that, since the Mirrored blade is an "Instance", it also is edited at the same time (SCREENSHOT). CONGRATULATIONS!Well done! If you've stuck through this tutorial to the end, you should have a nice model of a WW1 era LeRhone 9 cylinder Rotary/Radial engine. In a later tutorial, I will go over the process of texturing this model to allow photo-realistic quality renderings, and also watch for the tutorial on modeling the actual aircraft itself. Check back often.
Reference photos used developing this tutorial:
lerhone.zip
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Creating A 3D Sopwith Pup, Part One: The Engine - PAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 An ARTKINGS Tutorial Series
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The
final, and most important piece of the engine is the propeller (prop), which in
the case of the Sopwith Pup is hand carved from wood. It curves slightly, in a
scimitar shape, with a slight twist as the radius increases.
With
one blade of the prop roughly modeled, it is time to Mirror it, and begin to
integrate it into the hub area. Begin by moving the Pivot Point of the
blade to the centerline of the hub, and use the Mirror command (under the
Tools menu) to create an "Instance" of the blade. Add a simple Cylinder
to the center for the wood near the hub (