Help please experts

bumblebeeman

I am working on a project and I am still too much a beginner with this software to model the saucer section of the ship at this point.

I am trying to model the attached ship (I did a 3 view sketch in Corel and saved as a JPEG. Would anyone be so kind as to make this for me in Hexagon please? I am working on the rest of the project OK so far....This one I just keep messing up and have restarted almost 10 times so far (not to mention dozens of "undo"s.

Thanks in advance for anyone who is willing to help. I am sure it will take 5 minutes for someone more experienced.

M F M

Does it have to be Hexagon, or would a clean .OBJ file be a sufficient starting point for you?

(the reason I ask - is that a shape like that is _much_ easier to produce in a NURBS modeller such as MoI...).

Attached below, an initial trial, to confirm the mesh exporting capability (took quite a bit longer than five minutes, because I've forgotten the MoI interface X) - without the edge contouring yet. Do you have a preference for how the thing is meshed? Are you likely to want to punch windows in it in a particular orientation, or add exhaust vents or something to the skin? (these considerations would affect how I'd mesh it up).

Cris Palomino

Ah, I see you're asking for it to be modeled. (edited after I reread)

bumblebeeman

M F M said:

Does it have to be Hexagon, or would a clean .OBJ file be a sufficient starting point for you?

(the reason I ask - is that a shape like that is _much_ easier to produce in a NURBS modeller such as MoI...).

Attached below, an initial trial, to confirm the mesh exporting capability (took quite a bit longer than five minutes, because I've forgotten the MoI interface X) - without the edge contouring yet. Do you have a preference for how the thing is meshed? Are you likely to want to punch windows in it in a particular orientation, or add exhaust vents or something to the skin? (these considerations would affect how I'd mesh it up).

I only have Hexagon to work with right now and I am just starting to learn it. no point in getting confused learning several programs at once, lol.I had a few NURBS programs (*legit ones, not copies) but I never had a chance to learn them, then I moved and so much of my stuff it still in the clutches of my ex. So no chance to work with any of those. Hexagon says it can import OBJ files so I think it will work.

That looks fantastic. I can't wait to see the underside too. As you can tell, although not a complicated shape, the subtlety of it can be tricky for a noob like me. It is the saucer section for a ship in the Star Trek universe (next gen, NOT the JJ abrams one). most of what is going on it can be surface mapped. The neck and the impulse engines will be superimposed.
If it works at all like X-Plane, i should be able to export the suface, paint it up in Corel paint then re apply it. (unless I am not understanding something about how this program works).

M F M

The good news - .OBJ import to Hexagon 2.5 works okay (see below).

The bad news - the splines in the image don't seem to match with what common sense might indicate. Attached is my best guess so far, but I'm _thinking_ that most of the upper surface should just be a gentle "shell-like" curve, with the two "fins" at the extremes "hanging down"? (a bit like a manta ray, rather than the wrinkly thing I've got happening). I'm doing this with no background knowledge, based purely on your image (I'd prefer not to use any copyrighted / trademarked "external sources" other than the info you provide).

Just FYI - I traced the blue outline in the Top-down view, then moved the control points vertically in the Right-view to match what was in your initial image, and found the Front-view didn't match what you had drawn. Ignoring that, drew the yellow curve on the Front-view to match yours, and drew the red curve on the Right view, and then networked the lot to make the surface (and exported as OBJ). I'm certainly happy to accept input on this modelling flow (I'm not a MoI expert by any means, I just never have enough reasons to use it X).

Alternatively, if you're happy with the general shape and think you can use it as a productive starting point, I'm happy to send the .OBJ over to you now if you wish.

M F M

Forget that (above), NOW I think I have it! :D...

... how's this shape? (the grey one is the previous 'wrinkly' one, kept for comparison purposes).

Production - swept the red curve along the green curve to produce a smoothly curved surface (you can still see the red outline of the resultant surface), then flattened the blue curve and projected it straight down onto that red surface, and used it to cut out the nice smooth yellow surface, and exported that through .OBJ to Hexagon.

Adjusting the OBJ exporter meshing settings allows me to affect that grid pattern on the surface - for varying levels of accuracy, I can get it to be an entirely regular set of squares (barring the edges which use triangles), or some other interesting collections of "stripes" and grids like I've got in the screenshot.

bumblebeeman

oh wow, that is awesome. you really have done wonders. The 'wings' and 'nose' of the manta saucer are not as concave on the bottom, other than that, you nailed it. Sorry my 3 plan view didn't match, i freehanded that in Corel just as a general concept. as I mentioned, it it not a complex shape but it's subtlety is difficult.
Thank you so much for all your help. All my attempts at modeling it in real life have been difficult too. I made a balsa miniature about 10 cm long (the whole ship), it never looked right, and i never got past the top view making it in styrofoam (saucer section about 45 cm).
I hope you have not been spending too much time on this.

M F M

PM sent - see how you go ;-).

And yes, I did initially try to subdiv model it in Blender, and rapidly ran into problems with curvature and smoothness >_<. Definitely a case for choosing the right tool for the job (^_^)h.</p>