Fuselage Modeling: Building the wingbox

[gilbenl]

Hey all-

I received a request to post a tutorial concerning how to build the wingbox on a obj fuselage. Like anything else, there are multiple ways to do this, and a number of nuances that will result in modifications to this procedure. So, take this as a basic guide, and be sure to critically analyze what your goal is.

To begin, here we have a basic tube "fuse":

You then switch to the side view (3), and create a separate object that is the outline of the wingbox root on the fuse.

Note how many verticies you use for this, as you will need this number later. (makes things easier) Now, you go down to the menu on the bottom (in edit mode with the outline selected) and hit the retopo button. BE SURE TO BE LOOKING AT THE SIDE YOU WANT TO PROJECT THIS OUTLINE ON TO! Then, simply hit "G".

The outline should snap to the contour of the fuse, and you'll get something like this:

***Before doing ANYTHING else, be sure to deselect the retopo button. Then, select the contoured outline and the fuse objects in object mode, and press ctrl-j to combine the objects. It should look like this:

We then use the kinfe tool ("k") and create vertex loops at the boundaries of the wingbox outline, producing this:

Next, erase the faces occupying the space inside of the outline, to make it look like this:

This should be more than enough to occupy your time for now, and I'm tired, so this tutorial will be continued tomorrow...If you cannot wait, here are the rest of the steps w/o pictures:

8) Continue using the 'k' tool to create vertex loops for all of the verts on the top and bottom of the outline, so that the outline is now fully attached to the fuse.

9) At each end, strategically creat polys to join it to the original boundary vertex loops created in step 6.

10) Go to the side view again (3), and create another outline of the wing root, and space it appropriately in distance from the fuse. This outline should be composed of the same number of verts as the wingbox outline.

11) Strategically use the "k" tool to divide the new face loop into workable sections. For complicated curves in the wingbox (like on the 757), you should need 3-4 longitudinal loops. Less or more depending on the complexity of the curves.

12) Use ctrl-E-->edge slide to adjust their latitudinal position appropriately (left and right when looking from the nose back)

13) Contour/scale each longitudinal loop to create the appropriate contour and shape for your wingbox.

***Note: It's best to use/model only half a fuselage until after this step. Once complete, you can simply use the mirror modifier to duplicate this to the other side.

[Guest xp9videos]

Wonderful Tutorial, thanks Gilbernl Im just a begginer but Im thinking of starting a Embraer 170 I dont know though.

[gilbenl]

Hey all-

After a slight hiatus from my normal activities, I have finally gotten back around to this tutorial. Without further adieu, here's how ya build the rest of your wingbox.

Now that you have re-topoed your wingbox root outline, you should now be preparing to fill in the empty space. To do this, we are going to use the Kife tool "K". The knife tool allows you to subdivide any edges that form a loop, so long as the loop is composed of quads only. This is a big reason why you should always strive to have as few triangles as possible. Anyway, PRO TIP: The closer to you keep your quads to rectangles, the better the mesh will end up being. As you will find, when you use the knife too, it allows you to slide the cut line along the edges freely, but its always best to line up the new vertex ring with the vertex on the wingbox outline. To achieve this, here's what you do:

1) Select the vertex on the wingbox outline that you want the new vertex loop to line up with.

2) Hit "Shift-s" (cursor to selection)

3) Press the "." key.

4) Hit "K" and create your new vertex loop.

5) Now press "S", "Y" (assuming you lined your fuse up with the Y axis), "0" (number zero)

6) Press "Ctrl-." to have the 3D cursor snap back to the active selection

Back to the topic at hand...Now you should not worry about vertical loops, but avoid using the kife to cut horizontally. This is where the practice makes a difference: You need to slide your verticies around the outline in order to have the neatest mesh possible. To do this, select a vertex next to the vertex you wish to slide (on the same edge). Select it, press shift-s, cursor to selection, press the period key, select the vertex you wish to move, and press "S". Enjoy. This is a very powerful tool, but takes some practice to figure out which vertex to select to move the one you wish to move in the right direction. So, now you should have your outline all filled it, giving you this:

Annnd ultimately, this:

*Note: If you notice, there are some vertical loops that have triangles in them. Here's why: If you notice in the first pic, there are a great many vertical loops; these are pointless. So, here's another tip:

1) About 2 verts above the verticies on the wingbox outline, select one vert from each loop for a total of two verticies selected.

2) Shift-S (cursor selection)

3) Period key

4)Alt+Right click on one loop, (Deselect verts on the outline and below the crosshairs). Hold shift, Alt+right click on the second loop, deselecting uneeded verts as mentioned before.

5) "S", "Y", "0" (number zero) (assuming you answered yes the last time we did this)

6) "A"

7) Remove doubles.

Neat, Huh? Now, let's actually make the wing box. As you did with the internal outline, you need to create an outline of the crosssection of the wing root. It is important to use the same number of verts for this outline as you did for the other. Once you have it, appropriately space it from the fuselage (this is the outside extreme of your wingbox). It should look like this:

Simple enough? Good. Now, you simply need to fill in the space between the two loops. It should now look like this:

Unfortunately, this next series of steps are not really anything I can teach...ya just gotta learn how to do them. Basically, slid the verticies around the loops to reach the optimal spacing, and tweaked some lines to make sure the topography was correct. Once I was relatively happy with the shape, I used the knife tool "K" to create two new vertex loops going paralell to the fuse. I finally smoothed out the lines (briefly) and this is what popped out:

Now, two things to get clear: First, this wasn't any particular plane, although it loosely resembles an MD-80...I know its not perfect...but you get the idea. Second, with most planes, the wingbox will have some contour etc. You will need to do this manually, vert by vert.

Anyway, I hope this helped you learn at least the basics. The majority of what makes a fuse, wingbox, whatever...good is the work you do manually, vert by vert. These approaches can make the rough-ing out phase faster, but in the end, you will still need to tweak some things to get it jusssst right.

-Nick

[nimi09]

unfortunately the pictures on the second thread don't show up although i don't have any prpblems with showing pictures in this forum. is it just me, or is there a chance to fix that? would be greate for such a useful tutorial.