Setting Up Viewport Backgrounds

Modeling an Airplane

Adding the Stabilizer and Rudders

 

Autodesk 3ds Max Tutorials >  Modeling Tutorials > Modeling an Airplane > 

Creating the Wings

There are many different modeling approaches you could take to building the wings. Here, you'll use a Box primitive with a Taper modifier.

You'll be continuing from the previous section, Setting Up Viewport Backgrounds or open p38_calibrated_start.max from the \tutorials\p38_lightning folder.

Create the wing using a box:

1. On the Create panel, on the Object Type rollout, click Box.
2. In the Top viewport, do the following to draw a box from upper left to lower right, approximately around the front wingspan:
   • Click once at the upper left, then drag to the lower right with the mouse button down. As you move the mouse, the values for length and width change in the parameter fields.
   • When you release the mouse button, you have set the length and width of the box, and now are setting the height, which you can see increasing in the Perspective viewport. Moving the mouse up creates a positive height, moving down creates a negative height. As you move the cursor the values change in the parameter fields.
   • Click again to set the height.
3. On the Create panel, you can immediately adjust the values in the Parameters rollout. Enter the following values:
   • Length=3.048m
   • Width=15.85m
   • Height=0.305m
   • Length Segs=3
   • Width Segs=12
   • Height Segs=3

   

   The Box with 12 width and 3 length segments.

   You need to increase the number of segments so the modifiers for tapering and bending the wings will work correctly.

4. In the Name and Color rollout, type wing.

   The object is now named wing.

   Next you'll change the shape of the wing's profile so it looks like an airfoil.

Shape the wing into an airfoil:

1. Activate the Left viewport, and make sure the wing is selected.
2. From the viewport navigation controls, click Zoom Extents.

   You'll zoom in on the wing object.

3. From the menu bar, choose Modifiers > Mesh Editing > Edit Mesh.

   You'll need this to perform some sub-object editing to the vertices that make up the wing.

4. In the Selection rollout, click the Vertex button.

   Look at the box in the Left viewport with vertex selection on. Each tick you see is actually twelve vertices lined up on top of one another. When you want to select and move them, you need to drag a selection window around them. Otherwise you will only select one vertex, rather than all of them.

   

   The vertices appear as blue ticks at every intersection of the model.

5. Draw a selection window around the upper right set of vertices.

   The X,Y,Z tripod jumps to the selection set and the selected ticks turn red.

   

   Selected vertices display in red.

6. Hold down the Ctrl key and drag a selection window around the vertices at the lower right.

   The Ctrl key allows you to add to an existing selection set. The X,Y,Z tripod jumps to the center of the selection set.

   

   On the main toolbar, click the Select and Move button and move the cursor over the X axis of the tripod. Click and drag the cursor to the left so the leading edge of the wing looks beveled.

   

7. Click Select And Non-Uniform Scale. Then scale the vertices along the Y axis to 75%.
   TipWatch the Y field of the coordinate read out at the bottom below the time slider.

   

   Scale the vertices to start rounding off the leading edge of the airfoil.

8. Drag a selection window around all the vertices in two center columns of vertices.

   

9. Move this set of vertices along the X axis to the right about 0.5m.

   Again, watch the coordinate readout at the bottom.

   

10. Drag another selection window around the vertices at the upper left corner. Then hold the Ctrl key and drag a selection window around the vertices at the lower left corner.
11. Move this set of vertices along the X axis to the right about 0.8m.

    

    The airfoil is beginning to take shape.

12. Click Select And Non-Uniform Scale, hold down the Ctrl key and drag a selection window around all the left-most set of vertices.

    

13. Scale this selection set along the Y axis to 75%

    

    Now you've got a pretty good approximation of an airfoil.

    Now that you have your airfoil, you'll make further changes to the shape of the wing using a Taper modifier.

Add a taper modifier:

1. Activate the Top viewport, and make sure to turn off Vertex mode.
2. From the menu bar, choose Modifiers > Parametric Deformers > Taper.

   An orange taper gizmo appears in the viewport over the box.

3. On the command panel, in the Taper Axis group, change the Primary value to X.
4. In the same group, turn on Symmetry.
5. Set the amount of the taper to -1.3.

   

   The box is starting to resemble the P-38's wing shape.

   Next you'll move the Taper Center to refine the wing’s shape.

6. In the modifier stack display, expand the Taper hierarchy by clicking the box marked with a plus sign. When the Taper expands, click Center.

   

   At the Center sub-object level, you can adjust the location of the center of the Taper. Moving a modifier’s center will alter its results.

7. In the Top viewport, move the center of the taper forward along the Y axis toward the nose of the plane, until the wings’ shape more closely matches the background image.

   

8. When you've finished moving the center, click Taper in the modifier stack to turn off the Center sub-object selection.
9. The Taper has affected the height of the wings. In the modifier stack, click Box, then increase the wing height to 0.4318m.
   NoteBecause you're making a change that affects a topology-dependant modifier, Edit Mesh, you'll see a warning. Click Yes to make the height change. If you're not sure, click Hold/Yes. Hold/Yes creates something like a clipboard copy of the entire scene. If the change you make is undesirable, use Edit menu > Fetch to restore the scene to its state before you made the change.
10. Activate the Front viewport and move the wing along the Y axis so it is centered over the background bitmap.

    

    Move the wings up in the Front viewport.

    Next you'll convert the box to an editable polygon object, and then move some vertices to round off the wing tips.

Convert the box:

1. Save your file as myp38_wing.max.
   TipGet in the habit of saving your scene frequently at key points. Saving before converting the box is a good time, because the conversion removes the stack parameters. If, at a later time, you find that you have to make further adjustments to the Box geometry or Taper modifier, you can reload the saved model.
2. In any viewport, select the box, if it's not already selected.
3. Right-click and choose Convert to: > Convert to Editable Poly.

   The box is now an editable poly object.

Round off the wing tips:

1. On the Selection rollout on the command panel, click Vertex.

   Some vertices from previous operations are already selected.

2. In the Top viewport, draw a selection window to select the vertices in the upper-left corner of the wing. While holding down the Ctrl key, drag another selection window around the same set of vertices at the opposite wing tip.

   

   Select the vertices at each end of the wing.

3. On the main toolbar, click Select And Non-Uniform Scale. Then use the Transform gizmo to scale the vertices in the top view so the ends of the wing tips are rounded.

   

   Scale the vertices to round off the wing tips.

4. Repeat the vertex selection and scaling until the wing tips are rounded.

   

   The wing tips are rounded.

In the Top viewport you need to select all the vertices on the outside edges of the wings. You can accomplish this by using the selection rectangle with the Ctrl key.

Add a Bend modifier:

1. In the Selection rollout, click Vertex to turn it off.
2. Click the arrow to the right of the Modifier List. In the drop-down list, find the Object-Space Modifiers group, and choose Bend.
3. Set the Bend Axis to X.
4. Change the Bend Angle to -20.

   

   Bend the wings up.

5. Just for fun, spin the Direction spinner. Watch the wings stroke in the air. Right-click or press Ctrl+Z to undo when you're done having fun.
6. Save your work as myp38_wing2.max.

   Next, you'll add the stabilizers and rudders. These are easy to do.