What's easier?

[Srenner]

Hi... new to 3d modelling software... I have a wire frame now of the ship with plenty of nodes etc but struggling to join them into a solid mesh. 

Is it easier to "drap" a surface onto the outside of the frames and essentially cover them in solid or it be better to create lots of cubes and join the Dots on the nodes so to speak a bit like a Lego set.?

 

With the compound curves in 3 dimensions its hard to get the surface to shear and bend at the right places but mega time consuming to create individual cubes to fill in spaces... and won't that also look quite blocky?

[CDR_Ret]

Hi Srenner,

 

You may want to DM the other Blender users in this forum such as @Kurtis and @3DShipWright with your question. I'm afraid that the answer to your question is well above most of our paygrades!

 

Terry

[Kurtis]

Can you provide the Blend file please? I'm not sure what it is that you've done or what you're trying to accomplish.

[Srenner]

Hi Kurtis,

 

I'm trying to post the blend file but the server doesn't want to upload? Any ideas?

 

Thanks

[Kurtis]

I tend to use Google Drive or Dropbox and share it that way with a link. Uploading to forums can be finicky cos *.blend files are quite niche in a sense outside of the community.

 

Could you please elaborate in more laymans terms what you're trying to do as well?

 

From what I can see from the screenshot, you have a number of curves that you're trying to convert into a mesh? Would that be a correct assessment?

 

Which "dots" are you referring to? The vertices on the curves, or the origin points?

[Srenner]

Hi Kurtis,

 

I'm trying to fill in the curves I guess... I read the other post about creating curves and then diving them sounds complicated but could give it a go...

 

Hopefully this link works to my drop box

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9dvm2siginlr063/greyhound.blend?dl=0

[Kevin-the-lubber]

I don't want to muddy your water but can I ask what your end objective is? Is it to create purely virtual models or are you using Blender as a means to create components for 3D printing?

[Srenner]

Hi Kevin 

 

Yes ultimately I want to get into 3d printing but first I want to fix up a model from Corel that is way off and I'm doing a novel approach by using computer tools to help. Yes I could just do it by hand but I also want to get into 3d printing and cnc construction in my older life. 

 

 

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Have you looked at regular CAD type software e.g Fusion 360, Rhino, FreeCad etc? I may be totally wrong but when I started out myself a couple of years ago I got the impression that Blender wasn’t ideal for precision engineering, which is where you’re headed. What you described in post #1 is straightforward and quick in F360 or Rhino once you know how.

[3DShipWright]

Hi Srenner,

 

So the good news is, to my mind at least, this is a really easy issue to solve.

 

I would simply start by converting the curves to meshes. Go to the object menu -> convert -> mesh. Do this for all of them. Now each curve is its own 2d object. Next, position them in line per the plans (I think you already did this), select all of them and press ctrl+j to join them into a single object.

 

Finally, provided each curve has the same number of vertices, you can select 2 at a time in edit mode and bridge the edge loops.

 

Let me know if this is accomplishes what you were trying to do.

Best,

-Nate

[Kurtis]

It looks like you've built this (judging from your other thread) as an SVG and imported it into Blender, would that be correct?

 

You can use curves like this, but you'll have to convert them into a mesh and then bridge them up afterwards. The trick is to ensure that you have the exact same number of vertices with each "bulk". Your bow bulk for example has 38 verts, and your next one has 29. If you can change this in your Inkscape software, you'll have a much easier time. Alternatively, I'd recommend simply modelling directly in Blender with a reference in the background using meshes instead of curves ~ you're more likely to be able to keep your vertex counts consistent. You already have the SVG file, just convert that into an image file like PNG or JPG and place them in the background and trace over them.

 

 

Some other notes ~ try to keep the bow of the ship looking left when you're in "side view" (numpad 3) as this will make modelling everything else in Blender much easier. It helps keep alignments and angles in check. 

 

 

Alternatively, and I believe this is how @3DShipWright has done it, you can place meshes directly onto the curves and bridge them that way, but you'll need to clean up the Blend first. The easiest way to do it would be to simply trace the curves in Blender, and then add a mesh to the curve, ready to join them together.

 

I've knocked together a very quick rough video which aims to show you how to fix up your particular mesh. It should be stressed that this is far from final and will need additional tweaking from the offset to get this right. The shape and positioning of some of your bulkheads will need to be adjusted for example, but this video will show you how to progress with what you have. The blend files are here.

 

 

To echo what @Kevin-the-lubber has said, if you're looking for CAD like reconstructions, Blender may not be the best solution for you. Blender can be a good solution if you're looking to 3D print. The best tool is down to what your final end goals are.

Edited December 30, 2022 by Kurtis

[Gregory]

One might consider the free version of Fusion 360..

[3DShipWright]

Just to lend credence to the curve to mesh and bridging method... It's tedious to be sure, but it's hard to argue with the results:

 

[Srenner]

Wow Kurtis that was amazing fix of the files there... one day I just need to keep using it and practising.... You noticed that it looked pretty wonky - that's the problem with the HMS greyhound 1:100 corel kit - if you dont modify in and around ribs 8,9 and 10 the hull bulges up higher than it should to make a nice line from rib 5 and 6 to the stern.

 

So I was going to muck around with the smoothing and lighting etc to get a better shape then take sections back to inkscape and print them out so I can cut out new bulkheads from some ply or basswood... in the future yes eventually I would like to get good enough to 3d lazer cut the rib from plywood.

 

you started that modification process and that is where I am heading.

 

Thanks very everyone for the help - I'm an engineer but cant use drawing packages for anything - been too long in management!

 

Cheers Stuart

 

 

[Srenner]

So I used the directions and everything worked out well.. I liked flying through the mesh and plucking vertices and moving them slightly to get a better smoothing... that was fun and even did some vertices merging and adding bits on. That was fun first attempt.

 

The hard part seems to be exporting in svg, the only option is through the grease pencil which seems a bit odd.

 

Anyway I enjoyed the process and the learning over the past 2.5 days

 

 

[Kurtis]

You're showing a marked improvement, well done!