Spline Loft Sculpture

[ZooHead]

Going just by eye it looks like 5mm would be a good minimum thickness.
No need for Booleans for this model so I'm working on a full model of Element 2.

No subdividing needed here either so it's much less complicated.
But there are a number of ways to get a rounded edge
depending on how you want it to look in the end.

For this I used the Shell Tool first because I wanted a 90 corner on the
inside and then I used the Bevel Tool to round outside edges...more later

Here's my version of rusting painted metal ready for sandblasting and refinishing.
What finish?

 

[ZooHead]

There is a Shell Tool and a Shell Modifier, here I'll use the Modifier.
Shell, like Normal Move works perpendicular to the polygon surface.

2- 3mm panels will be used, so I set the Offset to .06 for 6mm.

 

[ZooHead]

As you can see the Shell Modifier creates new surfaces and moves them perpendicular
to the polygons so some cleanup is needed after the object is made editable.

 

[ZooHead]

Here I Loop Select the edges that are out of alignment and using the Transform Tool
with Gadget Mode, I "scale" it flush to the point I've snapped the tool to.

For more on the Transform Tool and Gadget Mode see Cheetah 3D help.

 

[ZooHead]

Here's a trick if you want to round an outside corner without affecting the inside corner.
You can also just delete the polygons at each end and then use the Fill Hole Tool after beveling.
It's also a good idea to use the Scalpel Tool to add edges at the corners.

 

[ZooHead]

I applied the same rounded edge to the long four corners of Element 1.

Now my focus has shifted to setting up for rendering which means lighting, background and materials.

With HDRI image based lighting there's rarely a reason for elaborate lighting setups.

The HDRI file I used for this is named Studio F, but I can't
remember which forum member created it. ( thank you )
I think it was made with PS and It's a good one to have.

The previous rusty renders where done with the Cheetah
renderer's Ambient Occlusion, which worked great for that.

But because of the change in materials I needed to switch to the Falcon
renderer, as ambient occlusion will sometimes produce ugly artifacts.

The sculpture will be a combination of white, gray, red and green,
and I noticed the sections where blending together too much.
I might normally adjust the Smooth Angle to get a more faceted look,
but the rounded edge gets faceted as well and I don't want that.

Here I'm trying to compare the blending and faceted looks.
Element 1 in the foreground is faceted and Element 2 is blending.

 

[ZooHead]

This is the part I was avoiding, unwrapping the curved parts for laser cutting.

I'm not convinced this will work because there are some non flat polygons
and I don't know how that will affect the outcome.

Here's the first really bad one.

Here's a PDF of the first four sections.

 

[Helmut]

I have a dim suspicion that planning / executing the kerf cuts for these bent "sails" will be a PITA. It also will not result in a smooth curvature unless carefully sanded to remove the ridges.

* It may be possible to use acrylic sheeting and a heat gun to soften individual panels recut to size. These then could be locked into some carefully designed moulds and fixed with clamps until cooled off. The advantage with acrylic sheets would be that they maintain their curvature without requiring internal stabilising fins.
* However, I guess that the OP, @GS089, will reject the option to mix different materials in this model. For careful and precise cuts of acrylic sheets you also require special tools (US trade name = CutAwl by AmeriKEN).

* Another alternative may be to consider using foam-core (I think that is the US trade name for cardboard + polystyrene / polyurethane sandwich panels) for the entire model. There is a German firm, KAPA in Osnabrück, which produces such panels in varying sizes and thicknesses. Locally these are available from well stocked artists´ supply shops, eg the Boesner group which runs about 12 shops in Germany´s major cities, from Kiel to the Bavarian "Deep South".
* This can be cut using a (razor sharp) Stanley knife for straight & mildly curved lines. There are also specialised cutting tools available to achieve notches, grooves, etc. In theory, there may be a single sided sandwich panel available which could be used for curved elements, but I don´t know. Use only with simple wood glue, else the foam will get dissolved! Needless to stress, this would only work for 2D curved surfaces, tubular and conic. As far as I remember, there are no spheroid sails in this model.

 

[ZooHead]

Here's the results of unwrapping all curved elements at once.
I hope this will be helpful in building these curved sections.

 

[GS089]

Hi,

I have a dim suspicion that planning / executing the kerf cuts for these bent "sails" will be a PITA. It also will not result in a smooth curvature unless carefully sanded to remove the ridges.

Yes, this will be the fun part.. But with filler und sanding it should be doable... I hope.

* It may be possible to use acrylic sheeting and a heat gun to soften individual panels recut to size. These then could be locked into some carefully designed moulds and fixed with clamps until cooled off. The advantage with acrylic sheets would be that they maintain their curvature without requiring internal stabilising fins.
* However, I guess that the OP, @GS089, will reject the option to mix different materials in this model. For careful and precise cuts of acrylic sheets you also require special tools (US trade name = CutAwl by AmeriKEN).

I once worked with plexiglas, and it's a nightmare, I think plexiglas comes directly from hell.

* Another alternative may be to consider using foam-core (I think that is the US trade name for cardboard + polystyrene / polyurethane sandwich panels) for the entire model. There is a German firm, KAPA in Osnabrück, which produces such panels in varying sizes and thicknesses. Locally these are available from well stocked artists´ supply shops, eg the Boesner group which runs about 12 shops in Germany´s major cities, from Kiel to the Bavarian "Deep South".

I know KAPA and can't imagine to build it with KAPA. I have to sand it, I have to fix things, and it's too fragile to fix other elements to it.

* This can be cut using a (razor sharp) Stanley knife for straight & mildly curved lines. There are also specialised cutting tools available to achieve notches, grooves, etc. In theory, there may be a single sided sandwich panel available which could be used for curved elements, but I don´t know. Use only with simple wood glue, else the foam will get dissolved! Needless to stress, this would only work for 2D curved surfaces, tubular and conic. As far as I remember, there are no spheroid sails in this model.

Thanks a lot for your detailed thinking, very cool.

 

[GS089]

For now, I will some first tests with paper with ZooHeads elements.

 

[GS089]

The first think I would try is to build it with some "rips"(edit: ribs ), the rips I can fix on a rod, then the inner structure is fixed, the the outer elements could be placed on that...

 

[ZooHead]

The first think I would try is to build it with some "rips", the rips I can fix on a rod, then the inner structure is fixed, the the outer elements could be placed on that...

Oh, I see rips is ribs, now I understand. I will send you the curved elements PDF and work on the ribs.

 

[ZooHead]

Sliced Ribs with Boolean Sauce.

I'll make 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 ribs for each section.

 

[ZooHead]

Three ribs for each section.
No problem with this one...

 

[Helmut]

Well, Adam was modelled with 13 ribs. It seems that one or two of his ribs were, well, pinched and recycled for a later model. Muchly improved with bumps on the front...
* They are also animated cleverly via a muscular gadget, the diaphragm.

 

[ZooHead]

For the first curved element I can fit four 6mm carbon rods.
Here's the setup for Boolean operations: burn some sage
then do a cleansing ritual and then try the Boolean.

 

[ZooHead]

Here's the results on the first rib, blue Crease line indicates
3mm wall thickness so that's the edge of the rib.

Some adjustment is needed so the holes aren't too close to the edge.
Now how does the UV map look?...

 

[ZooHead]

In this test I found sometimes in the model the holes looked
fine but in the UV editor one of the holes was distorted.

I used Point Slide to move some points around/under
the Boolean zone and that seems to have worked.

 

[ZooHead]

Here's the same problem, some distortion in the
UVs when I cut the hole but the model looks fine.

This is the curved element the ribs are being made for.

I'm going to move some points around where the hole will
be made, and apply the Boolean again to see if that works.