Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
Blender 3D Incredible Machines
Blender 3D Incredible Machines

Blender 3D Incredible Machines: Design, model, and texture complex mechanical objects in Blender

Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Brito Profile Icon Christopher Kuhn
Arrow right icon
$60.99
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.4 (19 Ratings)
Paperback Feb 2016 392 pages 1st Edition
eBook
$33.99 $48.99
Paperback
$60.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Brito Profile Icon Christopher Kuhn
Arrow right icon
$60.99
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.4 (19 Ratings)
Paperback Feb 2016 392 pages 1st Edition
eBook
$33.99 $48.99
Paperback
$60.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
eBook
$33.99 $48.99
Paperback
$60.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Blender 3D Incredible Machines

Chapter 2. Sci-Fi Pistol - Adding Details

In this chapter, we'll cover some additional topics as we work on our pistol. These include the following:

  • Scaling along face normals
  • The Shrinkwrap modifier
  • Cutting shapes into curved surfaces
  • The knife project tool
  • The inset tool
  • Proportional editing
  • Pivot points for rotation
  • Scaling along individual origins
  • Creating pipes with torus objects
  • The Array modifier

Finishing the handgrip

Right now, our handgrip (or handle) looks fairly plain. Let's work on this for a while, and see if we can get a better look at it.

The first thing we'll do is select the large face at the side of the handgrip:

Finishing the handgrip

We'll duplicate this by pressing Shift + D and move it back a bit:

Finishing the handgrip

To add a little more detail, let's run a couple of loop cuts across this face by pressing Ctrl + R + wheel up (rolling the mouse wheel changes the number of edge loops):

Finishing the handgrip

Then, we can drag the lower section back a bit by selecting the bottom-right edge and moving it to the Y axis:

Finishing the handgrip

Next, let's run another edge loop vertically so that we can start forming the shape of the cut-out (for the grip):

Finishing the handgrip

We'll delete these unneeded faces. Next, let's grab this front edge and pull it forward:

Finishing the handgrip

Then, we'll extrude everything across the whole plane to get the basic shape. Before going further, you'll want to remove the faces inside of the mesh (right where...

Cutting shapes into our gun

To add detail (and enhance realism), we'll want to cut various shapes into the side of our gun. First, we want to create a circular cut-out in the middle of the body. Let's start by adding a circle in the Object model and lining it up where we'd like the cut to go:

Cutting shapes into our gun

Next, we're going to add a Shrinkwrap modifier to the circle. This is an incredibly powerful modifier to create cuts or recesses in mechanical parts.

We need to first select the name of our gun object in the Target box. Then, we'll need to set the mode to Project. Finally, we'll need to specify the axis that we'd like it to project on. In this case, it will be the X axis.

Once these settings are selected, you can drag the circle up against the gun, and it will conform to this shape.

Note

The more geometry (vertices/edges/faces) an object has, the better it will be able to conform to the shape of something else.

Cutting shapes into our gun

Let's pick our gun object again, and Tab back into...

Circles, angles, and edge splits

If your Edge Split modifier is set to 30° (by default), then you should never add circular shapes with less than 13 sides to them. Why? Because a 360-degree circle divided by 13 sides equals approximately 27.7° per side.

Circles, angles, and edge splits

Any fewer sides and your angles are going to break the 30° mark and become sharp. So, 13 is the mathematical minimum. In practice, however, it's not an easy number to work with.

You can't cut it into halves or thirds, and each angle is a long decimal number (27.6923076...). This makes it hard to rotate something (such as a cut out) around a cylinder by "one side".

Instead, I suggest using a minimum of 16 sides per circle. It's easily divisible by factors of 2, and the angles work out nicely.

Next, we'll add a Shrinkwrap modifier to our circle object, and press it up against the gun. This is exactly the same process that we just used cut out the large circle.

Circles, angles, and edge splits

Just like before, apply the Shrinkwrap...

Adding final details

At this point, the gun is really starting to take shape. Let's add a little more detail to finish it up.

A great way to add detail (without too much work) is to run loop cuts across the existing faces, and then scale these new edges in by pressing Alt + S. This gives the appearance of a panel line or cut between different the portions of an object:

Adding final details

You can also create one such cut, and then rip the center edges. This will enable you to create a second line or cut that doesn't go all the way across the geometry:

Adding final details

Here, we'll create some additional vents for fins by picking a series of faces on the upper barrel and eliminating them:

Adding final details

Then, we can pick the two edges at the top and bottom and fill in a face. With a series of loop cuts across the face, we can easily create our fins:

Adding final details

We'll continue the detailing by adding a series of basic shapes to our gun:

Adding final details

Then, using techniques that we've already covered, you can go ahead and detail these small...

Finishing the handgrip


Right now, our handgrip (or handle) looks fairly plain. Let's work on this for a while, and see if we can get a better look at it.

The first thing we'll do is select the large face at the side of the handgrip:

We'll duplicate this by pressing Shift + D and move it back a bit:

To add a little more detail, let's run a couple of loop cuts across this face by pressing Ctrl + R + wheel up (rolling the mouse wheel changes the number of edge loops):

Then, we can drag the lower section back a bit by selecting the bottom-right edge and moving it to the Y axis:

Next, let's run another edge loop vertically so that we can start forming the shape of the cut-out (for the grip):

We'll delete these unneeded faces. Next, let's grab this front edge and pull it forward:

Then, we'll extrude everything across the whole plane to get the basic shape. Before going further, you'll want to remove the faces inside of the mesh (right where the two have joined at the mirror modifier). We...

Cutting shapes into our gun


To add detail (and enhance realism), we'll want to cut various shapes into the side of our gun. First, we want to create a circular cut-out in the middle of the body. Let's start by adding a circle in the Object model and lining it up where we'd like the cut to go:

Next, we're going to add a Shrinkwrap modifier to the circle. This is an incredibly powerful modifier to create cuts or recesses in mechanical parts.

We need to first select the name of our gun object in the Target box. Then, we'll need to set the mode to Project. Finally, we'll need to specify the axis that we'd like it to project on. In this case, it will be the X axis.

Once these settings are selected, you can drag the circle up against the gun, and it will conform to this shape.

Note

The more geometry (vertices/edges/faces) an object has, the better it will be able to conform to the shape of something else.

Let's pick our gun object again, and Tab back into Edit mode. We want to run a couple of...

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon

Key benefits

  • Develop realistic and awesome machines for your 3D projects and animation films
  • Gain the ability to look at a piece of machinery in real life and then recreate it in Blender
  • Develop a comprehensive skill set covering key aspects of mechanical modeling

Description

Blender 3D is one of the top pieces of 3D animation software. Machine modeling is an essential aspect of war games, space games, racing games, and animated action films. As the Blender software grows more powerful and popular, there is a demand to take your modeling skills to the next level. This book will cover all the topics you need to create professional models and renders. This book will help you develop a comprehensive skill set that covers the key aspects of mechanical modeling. Through this book, you will create many types of projects, including a pistol, spacecraft, robot, and a racer. We start by making a Sci-fi pistol, creating its basic shape and adding details to it. Moving on, you’ll discover modeling techniques for larger objects such as a space craft and take a look at how different techniques are required for freestyle modeling. After this, we’ll create the basic shapes for the robot and combine the meshes to create unified objects. We'll assign materials and explore the various options for freestyle rendering. We’ll discuss techniques to build low-poly models, create a low-poly racer, and explain how they differ from the high poly models we created previously. By the end of this book, you will have mastered a workflow that you will be able to apply to your own creations.

Who is this book for?

This book is intended for consumers and hobbyists who are existing users of Blender 3D want to expand their capabilities by diving into machine modeling with Blender 3D. You are expected to have experience with basic Blender operations.

What you will learn

  • Reacquaint yourself with Blender s modeling toolset
  • Practice fundamental skills that are applicable to a range of modeling projects
  • Know when and where to use various types of geometry—something that saves time in one instance will pose significant problems in another
  • Think ahead and plan your project out to significantly improve both quality and efficiency
  • Create models for freestyle use
  • Overcome challenging modeling problems
  • Create customized game models that can easily be exported to other formats. This is one of the most popular uses of Blender, and the results can be incorporated into game design!
  • Get comfortable with the start-to-finish process to create any type of hard surface model
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to South Africa

Standard delivery 10 - 13 business days

$12.95

Premium delivery 3 - 6 business days

$34.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Feb 29, 2016
Length: 392 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785282010
Tools :

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to South Africa

Standard delivery 10 - 13 business days

$12.95

Premium delivery 3 - 6 business days

$34.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Publication date : Feb 29, 2016
Length: 392 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785282010
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
$19.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
$199.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
$279.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total $ 170.97
Blender 3D By Example
$48.99
Blender 3D Cookbook
$60.99
Blender 3D Incredible Machines
$60.99
Total $ 170.97 Stars icon
Banner background image

Table of Contents

10 Chapters
1. Sci-Fi Pistol - Creating the Basic Shapes Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Sci-Fi Pistol - Adding Details Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Texturing and Rendering Your Sci-Fi Pistol Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Spacecraft – Creating the Basic Shapes Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Spacecraft - Adding Details Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Spacecraft – Materials, Textures, and Rendering Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Modeling Your Freestyle Robot Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Robot - Freestyle Rendering Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Low-Poly Racer – Building the Mesh Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. Low-Poly Racer – Materials and Textures Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Top Reviews
Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.4
(19 Ratings)
5 star 63.2%
4 star 26.3%
3 star 5.3%
2 star 0%
1 star 5.3%
Filter icon Filter
Top Reviews

Filter reviews by




Sandrino Caruso Jun 01, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Good book. Complete, perfect for intermediate level.
Feefo Verified review Feefo
pe Mar 01, 2019
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Ein Buch von einem Blender-Entusiasten, umwerfend, sympathisch, unterhaltsam, lehrreich, viele echt coole Tipps. Dabei ist der Autor gar keiner der ganz Großen am Blender-Himmel. Aber groß in seinem Können, großzügig im Teilen seines intelligenten Workflows. Natürlich muss man manche Techniken für sich umwandeln. Aber was für eine Inspiration!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Michael Dale Harrison Jan 20, 2017
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Another great book by Christopher. If you are into modeling, read this. Excellent techniques explained and an engaging writing style. This is a winner. It is more advanced than his motorcycle book, so if you are fairly new to blender and/or modeling, I would start with that one first. This one is perfect for intermediate hard surface modeler.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Paul Siegel Mar 15, 2017
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I got the book a few days ago and am very satisfied with the purchase. I started learning Blender a few months ago and have gotten to the point where I know where everything is, but was a little shaky as to what the methodology was in building a complex model. For an intermediate user this book is gold. It shows you enough to get you going but not the really basic stuff which was not necessary. Was was great is it gives you a systemfor breaking down complex models into easier chunks. In the beginning he shows how to model something but then shows you details to build and lets you figure it out for yourself. I finished the modeling phase of his steam punk gun and just left off some details I felt were a little overkill. I am working on his spaceship now and everything is going smoothly. I never did want to model people and creatures so him not covering them is OK by me.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Readomatic Mar 14, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This work by Christopher Kuhn is worth every cent you spend on it, and every minute you spend with it. Aimed at the experienced, intermediate Blender developer and it delivers.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is the delivery time and cost of print book? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela
What is custom duty/charge? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customs duty are charges levied on goods when they cross international borders. It is a tax that is imposed on imported goods. These duties are charged by special authorities and bodies created by local governments and are meant to protect local industries, economies, and businesses.

Do I have to pay customs charges for the print book order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The orders shipped to the countries that are listed under EU27 will not bear custom charges. They are paid by Packt as part of the order.

List of EU27 countries: www.gov.uk/eu-eea:

A custom duty or localized taxes may be applicable on the shipment and would be charged by the recipient country outside of the EU27 which should be paid by the customer and these duties are not included in the shipping charges been charged on the order.

How do I know my custom duty charges? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The amount of duty payable varies greatly depending on the imported goods, the country of origin and several other factors like the total invoice amount or dimensions like weight, and other such criteria applicable in your country.

For example:

  • If you live in Mexico, and the declared value of your ordered items is over $ 50, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 19% which will be $ 9.50 to the courier service.
  • Whereas if you live in Turkey, and the declared value of your ordered items is over € 22, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 18% which will be € 3.96 to the courier service.
How can I cancel my order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Cancellation Policy for Published Printed Books:

You can cancel any order within 1 hour of placing the order. Simply contact [email protected] with your order details or payment transaction id. If your order has already started the shipment process, we will do our best to stop it. However, if it is already on the way to you then when you receive it, you can contact us at [email protected] using the returns and refund process.

Please understand that Packt Publishing cannot provide refunds or cancel any order except for the cases described in our Return Policy (i.e. Packt Publishing agrees to replace your printed book because it arrives damaged or material defect in book), Packt Publishing will not accept returns.

What is your returns and refunds policy? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Return Policy:

We want you to be happy with your purchase from Packtpub.com. We will not hassle you with returning print books to us. If the print book you receive from us is incorrect, damaged, doesn't work or is unacceptably late, please contact Customer Relations Team on [email protected] with the order number and issue details as explained below:

  1. If you ordered (eBook, Video or Print Book) incorrectly or accidentally, please contact Customer Relations Team on [email protected] within one hour of placing the order and we will replace/refund you the item cost.
  2. Sadly, if your eBook or Video file is faulty or a fault occurs during the eBook or Video being made available to you, i.e. during download then you should contact Customer Relations Team within 14 days of purchase on [email protected] who will be able to resolve this issue for you.
  3. You will have a choice of replacement or refund of the problem items.(damaged, defective or incorrect)
  4. Once Customer Care Team confirms that you will be refunded, you should receive the refund within 10 to 12 working days.
  5. If you are only requesting a refund of one book from a multiple order, then we will refund you the appropriate single item.
  6. Where the items were shipped under a free shipping offer, there will be no shipping costs to refund.

On the off chance your printed book arrives damaged, with book material defect, contact our Customer Relation Team on [email protected] within 14 days of receipt of the book with appropriate evidence of damage and we will work with you to secure a replacement copy, if necessary. Please note that each printed book you order from us is individually made by Packt's professional book-printing partner which is on a print-on-demand basis.

What tax is charged? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Currently, no tax is charged on the purchase of any print book (subject to change based on the laws and regulations). A localized VAT fee is charged only to our European and UK customers on eBooks, Video and subscriptions that they buy. GST is charged to Indian customers for eBooks and video purchases.

What payment methods can I use? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

You can pay with the following card types:

  1. Visa Debit
  2. Visa Credit
  3. MasterCard
  4. PayPal
What is the delivery time and cost of print books? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela