How to Make a 3D Model of an Airplane

3D models are widely used in a variety of media. Many Hollywood films make extensive use of 3D models. Being able to make 3D models of your own can cut costs for a project your are working on, or increase your earning potential. This articles will show you how to make a basic 3D plane. We will be using Hexagon to build the plane, but the techniques used here can be used within most 3D modeling programs. Before you can starting modeling, you should go online and download a diagram of a plane to roughly base your work on. The-Blueprints has a large selection of free ones available. Here we will be doing a biplane.

Things You'll Need

• Hexagon

Instructions

The Body

1. 

   Open a new document in Hexagon. Go to the Scene Panel, and select "Properties." Now scroll down and deselect front grid so that it disappears, leaving only the back grid. Then click on the check-mark box next to the back grid, and use the browse button to go to the image you saved. This will be projected onto the back grid. If you wish, you can bring in another image to go on the ground grid, or you can make it disappear as well. Now go to the "Primitives" tab, click on the cube, and by dragging it into the view, place a cube in the scene. Go to the Properties panel, and change the z position to 0 to center the cube.
   Use the Fast Extrude tool to extend the faces in front and in back of the cube.

2. 

   Select the face at the rear, and use the scaling function of the Universal Manipulator tool to size it down almost to a point.

3. 

   Go to "Vertex Modeling" and click "Tessellate by Slice."

4. 

   Place the Slice tool along the edges of the object, and begin producing a series of slices to match the image.

5. 

   Chose the Edge selection tool, select the front edge of the plane and use the scaling of the Universal Manipulator to scale it down. Do the the same thing with the next edge down from that.

6. 

   Pick the Item Selection tool and reduce the width of the plane overall to better match the proportions of the blueprint.

7. 

   Select the Faces selection tool and click on the polygon at the front of the plane. Now, go to the Vertex Modeling tab and select "Extrude Surface." Extrude the polygon to get a slight suggestion of an engine cowling.

8. 

   Go to the 3D Primitives tab and create a small cylinder to serve as the hub of a propeller. Resize and reposition the hub as shown.

9. 

   Select the polygon at the top, where the cockpit would go. Go to the Vertex Modeling tab and select "Extrude Surface." Set it to "Insert." Create an insert here for the walls of the cockpit.

10. Select the central polygon of the insert you just made, select the Fast Extrusion tool and push the polygon down into the plane to create the cockpit area.

11. Change the view to Top, go to the Primitives tab and select the Facet tool. Use it to make the outline of one of the the lower/smaller wings.

12. Use the Copy/Paste functions to create a copy of this outline. Select both of these outline objects in the scene tree. Then go to "Utilities" and use "Weld" to make them a single object.

13. Change the selection tool to "Edges," select the upper and lower edges of the wing object, then go to the Vertex Modeling tab and click "Bridge." This will make a new set of polygons connecting the faces.

14. Change to "Left View." Go to "Vertex Modeling," and click "Symmetry." Click near the center of the plane to create a mirror copy of the wing on the other side.

15. Use the same technique used in Step 11 to create the single piece large upper wing outline. But this time, instead of copying, select the new outline, go to "Surface Modeling," and click "Thickness." Play with the settings in the Properties panel, and eyeball the wing until it looks right.

16. Use the same technique to make the tail and the rudder.

17. Go to the Primitives tab, and create a series of cylinders to serve as a wheel and support struts. Resize and position these cylinders using the Universal Manipulator tool. Then use the Symmetry function again to mirror this wheel set on the other side.

18. Use the same techniques as in Step 17 to make the support struts for the wings.

19. Change the View to "Left," and use the Facet/Thickness technique used in Step 15 to create half of a propeller.

20. Then use the Symmetry function to create the other half. And there you have it. A basic biplane that can be further developed for even greater accuracy.

Resources

• The-Blueprints