I have heard of the shrinkwrap method before but could never quite get my head around it. This is the first tutorial that made it to my brain without skimming off the top and will change the way I model, thankyou.
It's the best tutorial ever about airplanes I've ever seen. Yours method is paying back in stunning quality of the model. Plate lines are nightmare using other methods. Thank you for your fantastic knowledge and experience.👌
I'm new to blender and decided to model an aircraft for practice. I don't know how youtube decided to recommend me this, but I am glad it did. Very helpful video, thank you!
I agree with Joe. Excellent work. I had recently stumbled across your video on rigging control surfaces and had to see more of your work. You’ve earned yourself a new subscriber. One critic though,,,,,,, you don’t have enough videos. Lol.
Thanks for taking the time to make this video. I’ve been hacking panels by just knife tooling, insetting ever so slightly, and extruding, but it’s great to see how to do it correctly.
Dude that is an excellent tutorial well prepare and explained. That what am talking about finally some one got the time to explain a workflow that actually works.💪
I came across this channel by chance. We have similar interests and I’m happy I can learn from you. I hope you one day will continue to make more tutorials like this. Your level of detail is blowing my mind.
@@Mark_Alloway Actually I just started this recently, but I would like to do it full time someday, but as of now it's just a hobby. I admire your work because you put more detail than you even need to in everything its cool, like that V2 Rocket you had on the first video. I'd like to get to that level.
excellent method, used this to come up with a slightly different method, if you create just the bodywork as its own mesh, duplicate it and hide it as a backup, combine the planes as 1 shape to then boolean cut the copy then separate those cut areas out to separate objects, decimate to clean apply, subdivide and shrink wrap on the other mesh and solidify
I also do something similar sometimes. I didn't include it in the video since it was already pretty long and I think people prefer shorter tutorials. Thanks for sharing the additional technique.
@@Mark_Alloway Sorry, but I have to disagree with you on the last comment. You could make an hour long video and you wouldn’t hear a complaint out of me.;)
OK, my mind is blown. On and off for the last couple years I've tried to use blueprints to model airplanes and got frustrated with making endless loopcuts and extruding like I see in tutorials. Mostly I wound up frustrated. I'm going to have to spend a little quality time with your methods, but i can see it used in so many ways. Thanks for the lesson.
quick tip: @12:50 just hover the cursor over the vertex group field name and press ctrl+c, then hover over the modifier name and do ctrl+v. (no need to click, select, copy, repetitively) It works with numbers and colors fields too.
I actually do know about that cut/paste feature, but for some reason, I haven't developed the habit of using it consistently. Thanks for sharing the tip. It is a good time saver.
Well this is a criminally under-subscribed channel. Lots to learn here, yet very few people looking. I'll see if I can change that by putting out the word.
All The Best in The New Year! Great Work Mark! Congratulations! Very interesting video tutorial too! I have a question for you. If you can be so kind and show us how you did Cabin and turret frame and glass panels from base mesh? Maybe a short video would be nice? Longer one wouldn't be a problem 🙂
@@Mark_Alloway You cand do the whole process. Base mash is already clear but from there until texturing would be very nice. Substance Painter stuff too please. Different maps and so on. Please do consider it.
Wonderful tutorial, you did a very good job explaining your workflow. However, I have a question: What method did you use to create the control surfaces? Did you create them from the "base mesh"?
For control surfaces, I duplicate the base mesh and then use the Knife Project tool to cut out the basic shape of the control surface. Clean up the mesh so it has nice topology and then apply the shrink modifier. You can probably get rid of all the vertex groups too. Next, add faces around the open sides to make it a solid piece. You'll probably need to do some extra modeling and beveling to properly shape it. Does this answer your question?
@@Mark_Alloway Thank you for your response and explanation! However, what about the rest of the wing? If I wanted to have the rest of the wing as a single mesh instead of panels, could I also use the knife project tool to remove the control surface and keep the remainder? Or would this cause problems with topology?
@@damagedengine2090 Leaving the rest of the wing as a single mesh would be fine. Just cut out the control surfaces and clean up the topology on the wings and the controls. You can leave the shrinkwrap modifier on the non-control surfaces to help maintain the smooth shape. Depending on the shape, you may not even need to keep the shrinkwrap modifier. Toggle it on and off a couple times to see if the wing changes shape. If the shape doesn't change much, you can just apply the modifer and be done with it.
Excellent method! And explained in a clear and calm (non-standard UA-cam) way. Little problem though: my panels are rather "large" relative to the size of the aircraft (eg. the tail of a small GA aircraft) and some bend from the top to the side at about 90° (with a rounded corner). When applying the Shrinkwraps and Subdivision, the front and back edges tend to "shrink" a bit towards the center, thus creating an ugly bend in the other (the longitudinal) axis. The only solution I found until now is adding more loopcuts towards the front and back. But on some occasions I can't get close enough, because the Bevel won't work anymore. Any suggestions? I also experience that, when adding a loopcut adjacent to a Vertex Group, the new points seems to add automatically to that group. Nothing to do with the 1st problem imo, as I clean out the Vertex Groups often since I discovered this, and I disable the front/back shrinkwraps once applied. I'm on version 2.93.0 btw
I'm glad you found a solution. It is sometime necessary to modify the order of modifiers on the stack since the shrink wrap modifier will behave differently when it is before or after the subdivision. In the video, I showed my loop cuts to be evenly spaced, but for parts with tight bends like yours, you may need to add a denser section of loop cuts in order to have enough geometry to handle the tight curve. You may also have to duplicate and apply the shrink wrap modifiers a couple times to really snuggle the part into the space you want it to. For larger parts, there will be some shrinkage and movement the first time you apply the shrink wrap. Each time you apply the shrink wraps, the shrinkage is reduced and the part eventually fills the space. The vertex group issue is just the way vertex groups are assigned to new loop cuts. If you have a line of vertices set to 1.0 next to a line of vertices set to 0.0 and then add a new row between them, the new row will be assigned a value of 0.5 (the average). In this case, you need to select the new loop cut and remove it from the vertex group.
@@Mark_Alloway Thanks for clarifying. IMO the latter issue with the Vertex Groups was the cause of the distortion. I guess that the "virtual" vertices added by the Subdivision are also given a weight of 0.5, thus also being pulled towards the edges by the Shrinkwraps (when those are after the Subdivision). This creates a bulge. Most important: I realize now that a Shrinkwrap modifier isn't some "magic magnet" that keeps the vertices stuck to the target forever, but that vertices can indeed be pulled away from their target by a next Shrinkwrap.
That blueprint is really detailed and seems to be a reasonably high resolution. Where did you get the blueprint from? I'm trying to find a high quality blueprint for a cessna 152.
I think that one came from a book that's been long out of print. Sometimes it takes a lot of searching to find good plans. The Internet is my primary source for plans, but finding a good book is sometimes much better. You might also try a pilot's forum or even contacting Cessna. Somebody there might have access to maintenance or engineering documents.
Two ideas: 1. Use parallel planes between panels and shrink adjacent panels to nearest plane. Adjust the gap by moving the planes closer or father apart. 2. Add thickness to the planes between the panels by putting a Solidify Modifier on it. You could adjust the gap by adjusting the Thickness attribute of the modifier.
Hi, I tried another sequence of shrink wrap modifiers. As a first on I use panel edges and as the last one is the surface to maintain shape of the base mesh. it produce better result without duplicating and applying another set of modifiers.
Amazing video and workflow! Just a question. When you add loopcuts on the panel, the shrink wrap correct the surface, but not the edge on the foreward side, that is not longer "circular" how to fix? 17:20
Good observation. I should have addressed that. Sorry. If that happens, you can create a new cylinder and place it in the center of the cowling so I fills the hole. Put a subdivision modifier on it to make it smooth. Then shrink-wrap the edge of the cowling to that cylinder.
@@Mark_Alloway thank you Mark, that is exactly what I did. Glad to see that was a good idea! As Aerospace CAD Designer, many compliments for all your works. They are amazing and incredibly detailed.
Great video man. Would mind sharing the technique you used to make the bolts for each panel? Doing it manually is very time consuming so I am wondering if you have used any sort of procedural or automatic methods when making them.
The rivets on each panel are done using 32-bit TIFF bump maps. I use 32-bit TIFFs for my bump maps because they produce smooth bumps (lower quality file formats like JPG don't contain enough data and cause jagged stepping along the bump maps). I also use UDIMs to spread my texture files across multiple UV areas. This allows me to use larger files, which in turn allows for better detailed bumps. I use Substance Painter to paint my models because I can paint directly on the 3D model, but you could also use something like Photoshop to create the bump map. Does this help you?
@@Mark_Alloway Hey man thanks for the reply! I understand this part. I generally meant the technique you used for painting them. Did you manually paint each rivet using a "rivet" brush in substance painter? Or did you use some sort of an automatic or procedural method to paint them in the correct spot? Thanks again!
@@mohamedatef9688 I have a couple brushes setup in Substance Painter that create dotted lines. I just click on one end of a panel and draw a dotted line along the edge of the panel. A procedural solution would be nice, but I haven't discovered one.
Hi Mark ! Very interesting ! And your channel is wonderful !!! ( I have always loved airplanes ). But how do you make rivets WITHOUT Substance Painter ? ( on the exterior surface of the airplane, of course ) Can you tell me in what video you treated this topic ?
Unfortunately, I don't have a video showing how to create rivets without using substance painter. If you have access to drawing software like Photoshop or GIMP, you can use them to create rivets, but it will be more difficult. 1) Export your UV layouts from Blender into PNG files (with alpha turned on) 2) Import the PNG file of your UV layout into your drawing program. This will be a guide as to where to place the rivets. For best results, make your bump file a grayscale file. You don't need color information. 3) Create a background image filled with 50% gray. This is the baseline for the bump map. 4) Make sure the PNG UV layout image is stacked above the 50% gray base so you can see the UV islands. 5) Use the Pen Tool to create a series of dots wherever you want rivets. You can use different brushes to create screws, rivets or other details. If you want the rivets to stick out from the skin, make them lighter than 50% gray. If you want them recessed into the skin, make them darker than 50% gray. 6) When you are done drawing the rivets, export the file as a 32-bit TIFF. This will prevent the drawing software from compressing the data and will give the best results. In order to have well defined bumps, you need to have bump files large enough to contain clean grayscale data. If you bring your bump map into Blender and it looks pixelated, it is probably because you didn't make your bump file large enough. I typically make 4K files. 8K provides more details, but Blender can struggle with a file that large. If you don't have enough resolution at 4K, you'll need to break your bump images into multiple files so you can increase the size of the UV islands. UDIMs are the best approach for this. Sorry I don't have a video dedicated to this. I'm sure somebody does.
I would use the 'inboard" and "outboard' vertex groups if I was working on a horizontal panel, e.g. a panel on a wing would typically have "front", "back", "inboard" and "outboard" edges. Panels on the fuselage typically have "top", "bottom", "front" and "back" edges. You can use any names you like. What ever makes sense to you is what really matters.
I'm new to blender and I am interested in creating an aircraft for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, but I have been really worried about adding too many vertices Anne making the aircraft unplayable. My aircraft that I have started has way less verticies than the one in this video. Is it normal to have that many verticies or would this aircraft not be good for gaming?
I don't do models for gaming, but I'm sure that fewer vertices would be better. Some people make a high detail model and then bake the details into normal maps that can be applied to simpler models. That helps preserve the appearance of details without having to have tons of geometry.
Sorry if this is addressed in the video: do you keep the basemesh and render everything with the panels on top, or are the panels themselves sufficient to stop leaks? And do the window cutouts function basically as transparent panels?
Sorry for not getting back to you quickly. I had a lot of stuff going on. Sometimes I keep the base mesh. Sometimes I don't. It all depends on how good the panel looks without the shrinkwrap modifier enabled. If I can get away without the shrinkwrap, I disable it since that speeds things up. Windows are typically transparent panels with a glass shader applied to them, but sometimes I use an alpha channel for windows in lower-poly models since it reduces the amount of geometry I have to create around the window.
You can create shortcuts for operations by right clicking within the menu for that function and selecting "Create Shortcut". For example, to create a shortcut for the SPACE function, select a mesh, go into edit mode, select a vertex, right click on the vertex, hover over the Loop Tools option and then right click on the Space option. You'll see a new menu that lets you create a shortcut for that function.
Hi Mark, this is a fantastic video, and you very clearly explain your process, but I seem to be having a really consistent and frustrating issue when trying to create panels that are more or less cylindrical (for a soviet AA-9 air to air missile): in short the geometry of the solid seems to radically alter away from the base mesh when using a shrinkwrap to control the "back" vertices, have you ever encountered a similar issue? How do you resolve discrepancies between wrap methods?
@@Mark_Alloway I'm sorry I don't think I explained it very well: it was an issue with the order of operations for modifiers I think but I was actually able to resolve it by reading one of your comments above (about applying modifiers multiple times and changing where the subdivision modifier falls) thank you so much for the rapid response and the phenomenal tutorial though!
3:18 I was wondering if you used an automated method to draw the rivets in Substance Painter (I assume that's the program you used), or whether you drew them by hand (using line tools)
@@BillKermanKSP I use Substance Painter to draw them. If you haven't seen my series on detailed modeling, this episode deals with bump & normal maps: ua-cam.com/video/MZJKKz_9K7M/v-deo.html You could create some kind of automated or procedural rivets based on panel edges, but they probably wouldn't as accurate as doing them in SP. I guess it all depends on your project's requirements.
Could you quikly describe UV workflow for such model? Do you use UDIMs or single UV sheet? Which resolution? How do you counter light leaks thru panel seams (lowpoly black body underneath?)
I use Blender's Smart UV Project function to unwrap most of the model. After using Smart UV Project, I go back and adjust seams for bigger items to make sure the seams are placed in less notable locations. I then use the UV Pack Master add-on to arrange the UVs. It is really good at tightly packing the UVs into a very dense arrangement. It also has tools for trouble-shooting UV problems. Most of my models use UDIM tiles with 4k or 2k textures. I do place flat black planes inside the model to prevent light from showing through.
This might seem like a silly question but I am having trouble understanding the geometry of the base mesh for the fuselage or rather how it is created. Up until now, I've usually started all fuselage models with a cylinder or by drawing the individual bulkheads/frames and then manually drawing the connecting faces. The way your vertices are laid out would suggest that you started modelling using a sphere which was then deformed using proportional edit. Is this true or are you using another method? I'd appreciate it if you could shed some light on how it is done, I found that the flow of the edges of the base meshes has a pretty dramatic effect on how the individual panels line-up in the end. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the absolutely fantastic tutorials!
I actually used a combination of cross sections and quad spheres on this plane. I created cross section for various places along the fuselage. Each cross section had the same number of vertices. Then I lofted the edges between the cross sections to build the bulk of the fuselage. For the front and tail sections on this plane, I cut a quad sphere in half and added one half to the front and one half to the back of the plane. The quad sphere should have the the same number of edges as the cross sections. I connected the edges of the quad sphere to the middle of the plane and then use proportional editing to shape the front and back of the plane into the correct shape. I used a similar technique with the wings. Most of the wing surface was lofted from cross sections and the wing tip is a flattened quad sphere that is grafted onto the main part of the wing. Does this help?
Hi Mark! I am, for some reason, having trouble using this method in a predictable way - even though I managed to make the entire fuselage of my current project with your method, some of the panels behave strangely (bulge or bend, not following the base geometry), the snapped vertices poke out of their assigned planes and most of the time, seem to not follow the shape of the base mesh. I tried all of the 'usual suspects' - applying the rotation/scale, applying the subdivision, changing the modifier order, resetting the origin of the new panel but I can't seem to get it to work, in some cases. I'd really appreciate it if you could let me know what I'm doing wrong. Thanks in advance (and thank you for the series of incredible videos, I've learned an incredible amount of stuff watching.) (Also, sorry if this comment is posted two times - I tried commenting yesterday but there might have been an issue with posting, as I can't seem to find it)
@@BogdanBlackmore It looks like it might be a modifier problem. If you disable one modifier at a time, does the problem go away at any point? Could you show me a screen shot of your modifier stack?
@@Mark_Alloway Of course, thank you for the reply! Is it ok if I send the screenshot in an email? I tried switching the modifiers around and I couldn't get much better results than the image on the left of the screenshot. Strangely, in other cases it works incredibly well.
Funny you should ask...I've recently been spending some time experimenting with scanning plastic models and importing them into blender to use as a base for detailing. So far, I have had very poor results. At this point, I'm still going to make the models from scratch in Blender, but I feel like scanning them to use as a starting point should work, so I'm going to keep experimenting.
@@Mark_Alloway ok thanks I tried doing a bf109 and only the tail turned out well the rest was very poor quality also nice me109 tutorial also how did you get so good at modelling because I tried modelling a Lancaster from scratch and it looked terrible
@@thelonelyguyinessex6499 I've watched a lot of UA-cam videos and have read a lot of threads on BlenderArtists. My Me109 tutorial series pretty much covers my process. If you watch that, you'll know as much as I do about modeling. Start with good resources and keep practicing.
@@Mark_Alloway thank you for your answer. by the ways your tutorials on me109 series have opened my eyes... seriously. I am going to watch and follow all the tutorials very soon. I really appreciate
@@Mark_Alloway I'm pretty sure it won't. It'd basically see each panel as a completely separate object. Which COULD be interesting if you also create the internal structural framework to attach them to, but otherwise likely not particularly useful for printing (which is what I really need; a good workflow for panels on a model to be printed, when you need a lot of polys for a smooth surface, but also have panel lines that may not follow your topology).
There are a couple ways to get more distinct seams: 1. Assign a Subdivision Modifier to the part and add some supporting edge loops around the panel edges to keep them sharp. 2. In EDIT mode, set the Bevel Weight of the edges you want to bevel = 1, then add a BEVEL modifier with LIMIT METHOD = WEIGHT, then adjust the AMOUNT and SEGMENTS values to make the bevel radius you need.
It's hard to say exactly what your problem is without seeing what your panels look like, but I would check the following things: 1. Make sure your vertex groups are correct. If you create a vertex group for an edge and then add another edge loop or add polygons to the mesh, those new vertices may be assigned some weight and will effect the shrinkwrap function. 2. Double check the planes you are snapping your edges to. Maybe some of them aren't quite big enough or maybe you're not snapping to the plane you think you are snapping to. 3. You may need to apply the shrink wraps several times in order to get them to snuggle all the way down. Applying one shrinkwrap can pull some edges away from their targets. I sometimes have to apply/re-apply the shrinkwrap modifiers several times before they snuggle all the way down. 4. Your panel may not have enough edge loops to support the underlying detail. If your base mesh is very curvy, your panels may need to have some extra loops in them to follow tighter curves. Can you share a picture of your model? It would make it easier for me to help.
@@Mark_Alloway Thanks. I've recreated the panels four times but it's still not right and i end up with an overlap if i add the solidify modifier. Here's a link to a picture of the panels: drive.google.com/file/d/1T2wDyWIESvQap3NVM0hIXvc7q4r-94t9/view?usp=sharing Here's a link to the blender file if that helps Mark drive.google.com/file/d/172ANrDIdj4u6iO1Bk2OoYnsM304KXZgT/view?usp=sharing
@@videomasters2468 I can't tell what's going on from just that picture. Would you be willing to share your .Blend file with me so I can take a look at it?
@@videomasters2468 I think the problem may be because you haven't applied SCALE to your panels. The shrinkwrap (and other modifers) can act funny if scale hasn't been applied. Try that and let me know if it doesn't fix the problem. Another thing you can do is to disable the edge shrinkwraps after you have applied them. I often disable them after I've applied them a couple times.
You can send me a personal message via the BlenderArtists website. blenderartists.org/u/Mark06GT/activity/portfolio We can chat a little more privately there.
Excellent teaching. Your detailed method of working is totally new to me.
I'm really happy it was helpful.
I have heard of the shrinkwrap method before but could never quite get my head around it. This is the first tutorial that made it to my brain without skimming off the top and will change the way I model, thankyou.
the kind of in depth details we need !
It's the best tutorial ever about airplanes I've ever seen. Yours method is paying back in stunning quality of the model. Plate lines are nightmare using other methods. Thank you for your fantastic knowledge and experience.👌
Thanks for leaving such a nice comment! I'm glad the tips were useful.
I'm new to blender and decided to model an aircraft for practice. I don't know how youtube decided to recommend me this, but I am glad it did. Very helpful video, thank you!
Man your videos are a goldmine! Thank you for sharing your amazing knowledge, it's extremely helpful!
I'm glad they're helpful. Thanks for leaving a comment.
Excellent method for making the panels. Thank you for sharing how you did this. Great job in explaining your workflow.
I agree with Joe. Excellent work. I had recently stumbled across your video on rigging control surfaces and had to see more of your work.
You’ve earned yourself a new subscriber.
One critic though,,,,,,, you don’t have enough videos. Lol.
Thanks for taking the time to make this video. I’ve been hacking panels by just knife tooling, insetting ever so slightly, and extruding, but it’s great to see how to do it correctly.
Dude, that was a one helluva wonderful tutorial. Your explanation is clear and precise. You have one more follower
I would pay obscene amounts for a full tutorial series. This Tutorial is great, using it for hull plating on a ship model.
I'm glad you liked it. Is there a particular topic you would want to see?
@Commando Jessica That's not a topic I'm familiar with. I do all my texturing in Substance Painter and Photoshop. Sorry.
Fantastic work! Learned alot. Much appreciated.
Excellent tutorial. Your level of detail is top notch. Thank you for sharing your technique's and work flow.
Dude that is an excellent tutorial well prepare and explained. That what am talking about finally some one got the time to explain a workflow that actually works.💪
If you use the option Parallel (all) with the space Loop Tools command. It will space every parallel edge in a patch in one go.
I never noticed that option! Wow. Much more efficient. Thanks.
@@Mark_Alloway Great work by the way.
I came across this channel by chance. We have similar interests and I’m happy I can learn from you. I hope you one day will continue to make more tutorials like this. Your level of detail is blowing my mind.
I'm glad you find it helpful. Do you share your blender work someplace?
@@Mark_Alloway Actually I just started this recently, but I would like to do it full time someday, but as of now it's just a hobby. I admire your work because you put more detail than you even need to in everything its cool, like that V2 Rocket you had on the first video. I'd like to get to that level.
@@seekndstroy9224 Best of luck. Be sure to share your work at art sites like BlenderArtists where you can get lots of help and feedback on your work.
I'm trying to make a AD-5 for 3D printing and you really open my eyes on the best way to make bulkheads
I'm really glad to help. Best of luck with your project.
excellent method, used this to come up with a slightly different method, if you create just the bodywork as its own mesh, duplicate it and hide it as a backup, combine the planes as 1 shape to then boolean cut the copy then separate those cut areas out to separate objects, decimate to clean apply, subdivide and shrink wrap on the other mesh and solidify
I also do something similar sometimes.
I didn't include it in the video since it was already pretty long and I think people prefer shorter tutorials.
Thanks for sharing the additional technique.
@@Mark_Alloway Sorry, but I have to disagree with you on the last comment. You could make an hour long video and you wouldn’t hear a complaint out of me.;)
you must be working in the movie industry I believe. Thanks for tut. ;)
OK, my mind is blown. On and off for the last couple years I've tried to use blueprints to model airplanes and got frustrated with making endless loopcuts and extruding like I see in tutorials. Mostly I wound up frustrated. I'm going to have to spend a little quality time with your methods, but i can see it used in so many ways. Thanks for the lesson.
quick tip: @12:50 just hover the cursor over the vertex group field name and press ctrl+c, then hover over the modifier name and do ctrl+v. (no need to click, select, copy, repetitively)
It works with numbers and colors fields too.
I actually do know about that cut/paste feature, but for some reason, I haven't developed the habit of using it consistently. Thanks for sharing the tip. It is a good time saver.
Man, thanks for your tutorial. It's very useful information. Clever workflow.
Well this is a criminally under-subscribed channel. Lots to learn here, yet very few people looking. I'll see if I can change that by putting out the word.
That's very kind. Thanks.
WOW! Please make more!!!
Its amazing how you explain stuff! Thank you very much!
Thanks for sharing Mark!
Gracias amigo, nadie mas explica esto en youtube.
YES just what i was looking for ...thank you
Glad I could help
Exactly!
Exactly what I was looking for thank you
All The Best in The New Year!
Great Work Mark! Congratulations!
Very interesting video tutorial too!
I have a question for you.
If you can be so kind and show us how you did Cabin and turret frame and glass panels from base mesh?
Maybe a short video would be nice?
Longer one wouldn't be a problem 🙂
That's a good idea. I'll start thinking about it.
@@Mark_Alloway You cand do the whole process. Base mash is already clear but from there until texturing would be very nice. Substance Painter stuff too please.
Different maps and so on.
Please do consider it.
@@omerhalilhodzic8711 I will try to put together some ideas. I just don't know how long it will take. Thanks for the encouragement.
Wonderful tutorial, you did a very good job explaining your workflow. However, I have a question:
What method did you use to create the control surfaces? Did you create them from the "base mesh"?
For control surfaces, I duplicate the base mesh and then use the Knife Project tool to cut out the basic shape of the control surface. Clean up the mesh so it has nice topology and then apply the shrink modifier. You can probably get rid of all the vertex groups too. Next, add faces around the open sides to make it a solid piece. You'll probably need to do some extra modeling and beveling to properly shape it. Does this answer your question?
@@Mark_Alloway Thank you for your response and explanation! However, what about the rest of the wing? If I wanted to have the rest of the wing as a single mesh instead of panels, could I also use the knife project tool to remove the control surface and keep the remainder? Or would this cause problems with topology?
@@damagedengine2090 Leaving the rest of the wing as a single mesh would be fine. Just cut out the control surfaces and clean up the topology on the wings and the controls. You can leave the shrinkwrap modifier on the non-control surfaces to help maintain the smooth shape. Depending on the shape, you may not even need to keep the shrinkwrap modifier. Toggle it on and off a couple times to see if the wing changes shape. If the shape doesn't change much, you can just apply the modifer and be done with it.
@@Mark_Alloway This has answered all my questions. Thank you, you helped me a lot with my project!
Thanks, Great Video!
Excellent work!
Btw, for the metallic paint of any aircraft, do you use a bit of metallic value? or is it full dielectric?
I don't think I've ever used a metalic value for paint.
Excellent method! And explained in a clear and calm (non-standard UA-cam) way.
Little problem though: my panels are rather "large" relative to the size of the aircraft (eg. the tail of a small GA aircraft) and some bend from the top to the side at about 90° (with a rounded corner).
When applying the Shrinkwraps and Subdivision, the front and back edges tend to "shrink" a bit towards the center, thus creating an ugly bend in the other (the longitudinal) axis.
The only solution I found until now is adding more loopcuts towards the front and back.
But on some occasions I can't get close enough, because the Bevel won't work anymore.
Any suggestions?
I also experience that, when adding a loopcut adjacent to a Vertex Group, the new points seems to add automatically to that group.
Nothing to do with the 1st problem imo, as I clean out the Vertex Groups often since I discovered this, and I disable the front/back shrinkwraps once applied.
I'm on version 2.93.0 btw
Figured it out: the Subdivision modifier needs to go down, after the Shrinkwraps and just before Solidify.
I'm glad you found a solution.
It is sometime necessary to modify the order of modifiers on the stack since the shrink wrap modifier will behave differently when it is before or after the subdivision.
In the video, I showed my loop cuts to be evenly spaced, but for parts with tight bends like yours, you may need to add a denser section of loop cuts in order to have enough geometry to handle the tight curve.
You may also have to duplicate and apply the shrink wrap modifiers a couple times to really snuggle the part into the space you want it to. For larger parts, there will be some shrinkage and movement the first time you apply the shrink wrap. Each time you apply the shrink wraps, the shrinkage is reduced and the part eventually fills the space.
The vertex group issue is just the way vertex groups are assigned to new loop cuts. If you have a line of vertices set to 1.0 next to a line of vertices set to 0.0 and then add a new row between them, the new row will be assigned a value of 0.5 (the average). In this case, you need to select the new loop cut and remove it from the vertex group.
@@Mark_Alloway Thanks for clarifying. IMO the latter issue with the Vertex Groups was the cause of the distortion. I guess that the "virtual" vertices added by the Subdivision are also given a weight of 0.5, thus also being pulled towards the edges by the Shrinkwraps (when those are after the Subdivision). This creates a bulge.
Most important: I realize now that a Shrinkwrap modifier isn't some "magic magnet" that keeps the vertices stuck to the target forever, but that vertices can indeed be pulled away from their target by a next Shrinkwrap.
Correct, until you actually apply the shrink wrap modifier, the vertices aren't really shrunk down.
That blueprint is really detailed and seems to be a reasonably high resolution. Where did you get the blueprint from? I'm trying to find a high quality blueprint for a cessna 152.
I think that one came from a book that's been long out of print. Sometimes it takes a lot of searching to find good plans. The Internet is my primary source for plans, but finding a good book is sometimes much better. You might also try a pilot's forum or even contacting Cessna. Somebody there might have access to maintenance or engineering documents.
This is very cool. How would you leave a bigger gap between the panels? I'm thinking for 3d printing in all applications.
Two ideas:
1. Use parallel planes between panels and shrink adjacent panels to nearest plane. Adjust the gap by moving the planes closer or father apart.
2. Add thickness to the planes between the panels by putting a Solidify Modifier on it. You could adjust the gap by adjusting the Thickness attribute of the modifier.
Hi, I tried another sequence of shrink wrap modifiers. As a first on I use panel edges and as the last one is the surface to maintain shape of the base mesh. it produce better result without duplicating and applying another set of modifiers.
Thanks for sharing!
Amazing video and workflow! Just a question. When you add loopcuts on the panel, the shrink wrap correct the surface, but not the edge on the foreward side, that is not longer "circular" how to fix? 17:20
Good observation. I should have addressed that. Sorry.
If that happens, you can create a new cylinder and place it in the center of the cowling so I fills the hole. Put a subdivision modifier on it to make it smooth. Then shrink-wrap the edge of the cowling to that cylinder.
@@Mark_Alloway thank you Mark, that is exactly what I did. Glad to see that was a good idea! As Aerospace CAD Designer, many compliments for all your works. They are amazing and incredibly detailed.
Great video man.
Would mind sharing the technique you used to make the bolts for each panel? Doing it manually is very time consuming so I am wondering if you have used any sort of procedural or automatic methods when making them.
The rivets on each panel are done using 32-bit TIFF bump maps. I use 32-bit TIFFs for my bump maps because they produce smooth bumps (lower quality file formats like JPG don't contain enough data and cause jagged stepping along the bump maps). I also use UDIMs to spread my texture files across multiple UV areas. This allows me to use larger files, which in turn allows for better detailed bumps.
I use Substance Painter to paint my models because I can paint directly on the 3D model, but you could also use something like Photoshop to create the bump map.
Does this help you?
@@Mark_Alloway Hey man thanks for the reply!
I understand this part. I generally meant the technique you used for painting them. Did you manually paint each rivet using a "rivet" brush in substance painter? Or did you use some sort of an automatic or procedural method to paint them in the correct spot?
Thanks again!
@@mohamedatef9688 I have a couple brushes setup in Substance Painter that create dotted lines. I just click on one end of a panel and draw a dotted line along the edge of the panel. A procedural solution would be nice, but I haven't discovered one.
Mind blown
Hi Mark ! Very interesting ! And your channel is wonderful !!! ( I have always loved airplanes ). But how do you make rivets WITHOUT Substance Painter ? ( on the exterior surface of the airplane, of course ) Can you tell me in what video you treated this topic ?
Unfortunately, I don't have a video showing how to create rivets without using substance painter. If you have access to drawing software like Photoshop or GIMP, you can use them to create rivets, but it will be more difficult.
1) Export your UV layouts from Blender into PNG files (with alpha turned on)
2) Import the PNG file of your UV layout into your drawing program. This will be a guide as to where to place the rivets. For best results, make your bump file a grayscale file. You don't need color information.
3) Create a background image filled with 50% gray. This is the baseline for the bump map.
4) Make sure the PNG UV layout image is stacked above the 50% gray base so you can see the UV islands.
5) Use the Pen Tool to create a series of dots wherever you want rivets. You can use different brushes to create screws, rivets or other details. If you want the rivets to stick out from the skin, make them lighter than 50% gray. If you want them recessed into the skin, make them darker than 50% gray.
6) When you are done drawing the rivets, export the file as a 32-bit TIFF. This will prevent the drawing software from compressing the data and will give the best results.
In order to have well defined bumps, you need to have bump files large enough to contain clean grayscale data. If you bring your bump map into Blender and it looks pixelated, it is probably because you didn't make your bump file large enough. I typically make 4K files. 8K provides more details, but Blender can struggle with a file that large. If you don't have enough resolution at 4K, you'll need to break your bump images into multiple files so you can increase the size of the UV islands. UDIMs are the best approach for this.
Sorry I don't have a video dedicated to this. I'm sure somebody does.
@@Mark_Alloway Wow ! Thanks a lot ! Your channel is the best about plane modeling and you clearly prove that you are an expert in this field
what do you use the shrinkwrap modifiers named "inboard" and "outboard" for ? In the example, you only used back,bottom,front and top.
I would use the 'inboard" and "outboard' vertex groups if I was working on a horizontal panel, e.g. a panel on a wing would typically have "front", "back", "inboard" and "outboard" edges. Panels on the fuselage typically have "top", "bottom", "front" and "back" edges. You can use any names you like. What ever makes sense to you is what really matters.
I'm new to blender and I am interested in creating an aircraft for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, but I have been really worried about adding too many vertices Anne making the aircraft unplayable. My aircraft that I have started has way less verticies than the one in this video. Is it normal to have that many verticies or would this aircraft not be good for gaming?
I don't do models for gaming, but I'm sure that fewer vertices would be better. Some people make a high detail model and then bake the details into normal maps that can be applied to simpler models. That helps preserve the appearance of details without having to have tons of geometry.
Very cool. Im just starting out and wondering where do you get your aircraft plans?
Most of them from the Internet, but sometimes from books and museums.
@@Mark_Alloway Thanks for the response 😀
Sorry if this is addressed in the video: do you keep the basemesh and render everything with the panels on top, or are the panels themselves sufficient to stop leaks? And do the window cutouts function basically as transparent panels?
Sorry for not getting back to you quickly. I had a lot of stuff going on.
Sometimes I keep the base mesh. Sometimes I don't. It all depends on how good the panel looks without the shrinkwrap modifier enabled. If I can get away without the shrinkwrap, I disable it since that speeds things up.
Windows are typically transparent panels with a glass shader applied to them, but sometimes I use an alpha channel for windows in lower-poly models since it reduces the amount of geometry I have to create around the window.
@@Mark_Alloway Not at all! Thank you so much for replying :)
How did you set up the shortcut for your LoopTools add-on's Space function? And thank you for such an awesome, in-depth tutorial!
You can create shortcuts for operations by right clicking within the menu for that function and selecting "Create Shortcut". For example, to create a shortcut for the SPACE function, select a mesh, go into edit mode, select a vertex, right click on the vertex, hover over the Loop Tools option and then right click on the Space option. You'll see a new menu that lets you create a shortcut for that function.
@@Mark_Alloway Awesome! Here I was looking for it in Preferences. Thank you so much, Mark!
Hi Mark, this is a fantastic video, and you very clearly explain your process, but I seem to be having a really consistent and frustrating issue when trying to create panels that are more or less cylindrical (for a soviet AA-9 air to air missile): in short the geometry of the solid seems to radically alter away from the base mesh when using a shrinkwrap to control the "back" vertices, have you ever encountered a similar issue? How do you resolve discrepancies between wrap methods?
I'm having a hard time visualizing what you are describing. Is there any way to post a picture or video of what's happening?
@@Mark_Alloway I'm sorry I don't think I explained it very well: it was an issue with the order of operations for modifiers I think but I was actually able to resolve it by reading one of your comments above (about applying modifiers multiple times and changing where the subdivision modifier falls) thank you so much for the rapid response and the phenomenal tutorial though!
Genius
3:18 I was wondering if you used an automated method to draw the rivets in Substance Painter (I assume that's the program you used), or whether you drew them by hand (using line tools)
Because in theory, if you already have all the panel edges, it should be possible to just distribute rivets automatically
@@BillKermanKSP I use Substance Painter to draw them. If you haven't seen my series on detailed modeling, this episode deals with bump & normal maps:
ua-cam.com/video/MZJKKz_9K7M/v-deo.html
You could create some kind of automated or procedural rivets based on panel edges, but they probably wouldn't as accurate as doing them in SP. I guess it all depends on your project's requirements.
@@Mark_Alloway Thank you
You can just press F2 to rename things you know =P
Thanks. I'll start trying that.
Could you quikly describe UV workflow for such model? Do you use UDIMs or single UV sheet? Which resolution? How do you counter light leaks thru panel seams (lowpoly black body underneath?)
I use Blender's Smart UV Project function to unwrap most of the model. After using Smart UV Project, I go back and adjust seams for bigger items to make sure the seams are placed in less notable locations. I then use the UV Pack Master add-on to arrange the UVs. It is really good at tightly packing the UVs into a very dense arrangement. It also has tools for trouble-shooting UV problems. Most of my models use UDIM tiles with 4k or 2k textures. I do place flat black planes inside the model to prevent light from showing through.
This might seem like a silly question but I am having trouble understanding the geometry of the base mesh for the fuselage or rather how it is created. Up until now, I've usually started all fuselage models with a cylinder or by drawing the individual bulkheads/frames and then manually drawing the connecting faces. The way your vertices are laid out would suggest that you started modelling using a sphere which was then deformed using proportional edit. Is this true or are you using another method? I'd appreciate it if you could shed some light on how it is done, I found that the flow of the edges of the base meshes has a pretty dramatic effect on how the individual panels line-up in the end.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the absolutely fantastic tutorials!
I actually used a combination of cross sections and quad spheres on this plane. I created cross section for various places along the fuselage. Each cross section had the same number of vertices. Then I lofted the edges between the cross sections to build the bulk of the fuselage. For the front and tail sections on this plane, I cut a quad sphere in half and added one half to the front and one half to the back of the plane. The quad sphere should have the the same number of edges as the cross sections. I connected the edges of the quad sphere to the middle of the plane and then use proportional editing to shape the front and back of the plane into the correct shape. I used a similar technique with the wings. Most of the wing surface was lofted from cross sections and the wing tip is a flattened quad sphere that is grafted onto the main part of the wing.
Does this help?
@@Mark_Alloway Yes, it helps a great deal, thank you very much for taking the time to write such an in-depth reply, I really appreciate it!
Спасибо за уроки
Hi Mark!
I am, for some reason, having trouble using this method in a predictable way - even though I managed to make the entire fuselage of my current project with your method, some of the panels behave strangely (bulge or bend, not following the base geometry), the snapped vertices poke out of their assigned planes and most of the time, seem to not follow the shape of the base mesh. I tried all of the 'usual suspects' - applying the rotation/scale, applying the subdivision, changing the modifier order, resetting the origin of the new panel but I can't seem to get it to work, in some cases. I'd really appreciate it if you could let me know what I'm doing wrong.
Thanks in advance (and thank you for the series of incredible videos, I've learned an incredible amount of stuff watching.)
(Also, sorry if this comment is posted two times - I tried commenting yesterday but there might have been an issue with posting, as I can't seem to find it)
Here is a screenshot of what I'm talking about. Maybe it helps. drive.google.com/file/d/17oE1hh5iyBveheJN1Zdo3x9EjLiNpUay/view?usp=sharing
@@BogdanBlackmore It looks like it might be a modifier problem. If you disable one modifier at a time, does the problem go away at any point? Could you show me a screen shot of your modifier stack?
@@Mark_Alloway Of course, thank you for the reply! Is it ok if I send the screenshot in an email?
I tried switching the modifiers around and I couldn't get much better results than the image on the left of the screenshot. Strangely, in other cases it works incredibly well.
@@BogdanBlackmore Email makes more sense. Thanks for asking.
Do you think it’s better to 3d scan a plastic model of a lancaster with interior or make it my hand like in blender?
Funny you should ask...I've recently been spending some time experimenting with scanning plastic models and importing them into blender to use as a base for detailing. So far, I have had very poor results. At this point, I'm still going to make the models from scratch in Blender, but I feel like scanning them to use as a starting point should work, so I'm going to keep experimenting.
@@Mark_Alloway ok thanks I tried doing a bf109 and only the tail turned out well the rest was very poor quality also nice me109 tutorial also how did you get so good at modelling because I tried modelling a Lancaster from scratch and it looked terrible
@@thelonelyguyinessex6499 I've watched a lot of UA-cam videos and have read a lot of threads on BlenderArtists. My Me109 tutorial series pretty much covers my process. If you watch that, you'll know as much as I do about modeling. Start with good resources and keep practicing.
@@Mark_Alloway ok thank you
Sir, what is your opinion on making panels using hard ops(box cutter) addon?
I've never used it, but the videos I've watched have been impressive. I've been thinking of learning it, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Sorry.
@@Mark_Alloway thank you for your answer. by the ways your tutorials on me109 series have opened my eyes... seriously. I am going to watch and follow all the tutorials very soon. I really appreciate
@@만든다비디오 I'm very happy you have found them so helpful.
If the loops between panels don't connect isn't this method going to be an issue if you want to make something for 3D printing?
I don't know much about 3D printing, but this method may not create the "water-tight" model that I think many printing applications require.
@@Mark_Alloway I'm pretty sure it won't. It'd basically see each panel as a completely separate object. Which COULD be interesting if you also create the internal structural framework to attach them to, but otherwise likely not particularly useful for printing (which is what I really need; a good workflow for panels on a model to be printed, when you need a lot of polys for a smooth surface, but also have panel lines that may not follow your topology).
@@Ambaryerno
Good luck with your project. Sorry this technique probably won't work for you.
In your render all of the panels are separated a little bit, when I use your technique it looks like one seamless object. What might cause this?
There are a couple ways to get more distinct seams:
1. Assign a Subdivision Modifier to the part and add some supporting edge loops around the panel edges to keep them sharp.
2. In EDIT mode, set the Bevel Weight of the edges you want to bevel = 1, then add a BEVEL modifier with LIMIT METHOD = WEIGHT, then adjust the AMOUNT and SEGMENTS values to make the bevel radius you need.
A third method would be to use a BEVEL node in the texture shader. That will create the illusion of bevels without adding geometry.
i followed this guide but i've got gaps in panels and some don't line up. Any suggestions as to what i may be doing wrong?
It's hard to say exactly what your problem is without seeing what your panels look like, but I would check the following things:
1. Make sure your vertex groups are correct. If you create a vertex group for an edge and then add another edge loop or add polygons to the mesh, those new vertices may be assigned some weight and will effect the shrinkwrap function.
2. Double check the planes you are snapping your edges to. Maybe some of them aren't quite big enough or maybe you're not snapping to the plane you think you are snapping to.
3. You may need to apply the shrink wraps several times in order to get them to snuggle all the way down. Applying one shrinkwrap can pull some edges away from their targets. I sometimes have to apply/re-apply the shrinkwrap modifiers several times before they snuggle all the way down.
4. Your panel may not have enough edge loops to support the underlying detail. If your base mesh is very curvy, your panels may need to have some extra loops in them to follow tighter curves.
Can you share a picture of your model? It would make it easier for me to help.
@@Mark_Alloway Thanks. I've recreated the panels four times but it's still not right and i end up with an overlap if i add the solidify modifier. Here's a link to a picture of the panels: drive.google.com/file/d/1T2wDyWIESvQap3NVM0hIXvc7q4r-94t9/view?usp=sharing
Here's a link to the blender file if that helps Mark drive.google.com/file/d/172ANrDIdj4u6iO1Bk2OoYnsM304KXZgT/view?usp=sharing
@@videomasters2468 I can't tell what's going on from just that picture. Would you be willing to share your .Blend file with me so I can take a look at it?
@@Mark_Alloway sure here's the link. Thanks, i really appreciate your help drive.google.com/file/d/172ANrDIdj4u6iO1Bk2OoYnsM304KXZgT/view?usp=sharing
@@videomasters2468 I think the problem may be because you haven't applied SCALE to your panels. The shrinkwrap (and other modifers) can act funny if scale hasn't been applied. Try that and let me know if it doesn't fix the problem. Another thing you can do is to disable the edge shrinkwraps after you have applied them. I often disable them after I've applied them a couple times.
Hi Mark. Is there anyway we can contact you about a project?
You can send me a personal message via the BlenderArtists website.
blenderartists.org/u/Mark06GT/activity/portfolio
We can chat a little more privately there.
Do you have a discord server?
No, I do not.
Do you now?? Haha