Part one...
Using poly modeling techniques it is fairly easy to model details for nacelles. This first part will simply show you how to create a basic nacelle shape. This isn't going to be an accurate representation, but more of an overview of some of the principles involved in modeling things from a basic primitive.
Later on we will investigate how to build more complex models and break up the details
This is what we are aiming for:
Step 1.
We're going to start with a pretty basic cylinder with a number of height segments which we will convert to an editable poly and then use a slice plane to cut it down the middle
Step 2.
Next we are going to select one half of the cylinder and extrude it out by a number of steps from this
to this
Step 3
Now we select the top and bottom faces and, in this case I have simply used bevel to extrude and scale the faces. Obviously this is a really, really basic shape and more effort could be put into shaping this into a more curved outline. Part two will discuss alternative starting shapes to make this easier
Step 4
Select the faces in the middle of the object as follows
These faces are going to be our grills, so they could do with being indented a little, instead of being flush with the rest of the model. Use an extrude with a negative value, but select local instead of group and adjust the value until you are happy
Step 5
To make the grills, select the horizontal edges of the extruded part. The easiest way to do this is to select one edge segment for each horizontal line and selecting loop. You should have something like this
Step 6
To give the grills depth, we are going to extrude the edges. Adjust the height and base to give the desired look.
The edges are a little sharp at this point, so add a small chamfer to make them more rounded.
You can add more chamfers to smooth things out further. I also chamfered the outer edges to smooth things off a little more. Some better planning here may have avoided having to do this!
Here's a quick render of how it looks now
To add more detail you can use extrudes, bevels and chamfers. Try selecting alternating polys on the top as follows:
Applying an inner bevel to these polys will give you the following for example
Pretty basic so far.
In part two we will look at some other ways of creating nacelle shapes using poly modeling