To model the cockpit,
you begin by shaping the fuselage in the cockpit region, then extruding
polygons in that same region. This is the basis for the cockpit
canopy, which becomes a separate object.
Set up the lesson:
- Continue working on your scene from the
previous lesson, or
open \modeling\p47\p47_03.max,
- If you open the file,
select the P-47.
On the ribbon
Polygon
Modeling panel, click Modify Mode.
Collapse the stack:
Now that you’ve created
the horizontal stabilizers and the wings, the Symmetry modifier
has done its work, so you can collapse the airplane model back into
a unified object once again.
- Right-click the P-47, and from
the Tools (lower-right) quadrant of the quad menu, choose Convert
To
Convert To Editable
Poly.
Outline the cockpit:
- On the ribbon
Polygon Modeling panel, click
(Vertex).
- Press Alt+X to
turn on X-Ray display again.
- In the Front viewport, region-select
the top vertices just behind those at the front of the cockpit,
and
move them to match the cockpit
outline in the blueprint image.
NoteNow that the model
is collapsed, when you region-select the top row, you are selecting
three vertices: both sides and the middle of the fuselage.
- Region-select the vertices immediately
below these along the lateral edge, and
move them forward so the
mesh is a bit more regular.
- Region-select the top vertices behind
the ones you moved in step 2, and
move them to match the blueprint
outline as well.
- Region-select the vertices immediately
below these along the lateral edge, and
move them forward to adjust
the mesh as you did for the more forward edge.
- In the Top viewport,
pan and
zoom in so you have a good
view of the cockpit area.
- In the Front viewport, region-select
the row of vertices at the leading edge of the cockpit, and then
in the Top viewport,
scale them along the Y axis
so they match the shape of the cockpit (the dark-blue area) in the
blueprint image.
- Repeat the preceding step for the other
three rows that define the area of the cockpit. Use the Front viewport
to region-select the vertices, and then use the Top viewport to
watch how you scale them.
Extrude the cockpit canopy:
- On the ribbon
Polygon Modeling panel, click
(Polygon).
- On the
Modify panel
Selection rollout, turn
on Ignore Backfacing.
- In the Top viewport,
click and Ctrl+click to select the polygons
that make up the cockpit area.
- On the ribbon
Polygons panel, click
(Extrude). In the Perspective
viewport, extrude the polygons: Watch your work in the Front viewport,
so you can make the extrusion about the height of the cockpit canopy
in the blueprint image.
- On the ribbon
Align panel, click
(Align Y).
If you need to,
move the polygons so that
in the Front viewport, they are the same height as the canopy in
the blueprint image.
- On the
Modify panel
Selection rollout, turn
off Ignore Backfacing.