Continued from Part 4:
We still have a couple of more things to do to this cylinder before it more closely resembles the secondary hull, though. First, you need to clone the secondary hull path, because you’ll be using these to create Boolean cutouts. Simply copy the path and paste it a couple of times, then isolate one of them for editing. Change to points mode in your app (in C4D, click the icon that looks like an array of dots), then begin moving dots around until the cutout on the bottom rear looks like this:
Again, the cylinder has been removed for clarity. Now, use your extrude tool to extrude this shape in the Z direction (towards/away from you), enough to extend beyond the sides of the cylinder.
Now is where we get to have some fun. On the C4D button bar is a button that looks like a blue dot with six green boxes surrounding it, kind of like a strange looking flower. Click that button and you get a submenu with choices that look like this:
The red circle is around the Boolean function. Yours may be similar, depending on your 3D app, but all Boolean functions work the same. It takes two items and subtracts the intersection point, as well as all of the first item. I’d go into a long, drawn-out explanation, but you guys have done this before (hopefully). Just make sure your main cylinder is the "A" object and the cutout is the "B" object. You'll be doing an "A subtract B" operation. At any rate, here is what this Boolean function looks like:
Well, now it’s beginning to look more like a secondary hull, isn’t it? Here's where using a primitive instead of "lathing" or "skinning" a hull becomes an advantage. Note that, when we cut out the fantail, it left a solid surface as opposed to an empty hole. This way you don't have to add any polygons or stitch any points together. But there are still quite a few things to be done. The hangar deck, for instance. Well, that’s easy. First, rename your first Boole to something else, like “Engineering Hull.” Next, take one of your other secondary hull outlines and do the same thing with it that you did with the fantail.
(Side note: I had to make the secondary hull editable because I wound up with a stray point that I had to edit out.)
It’s starting to look a little more like a starship. We’ll leave the secondary hull for now and proceed to the nacelles. The same technique applies here as did the secondary hull. Get the outline of the nacelle first, and resize it. The length should be 63.67 inches and the height should be 7.65 inches. Place the nacelle at these coordinates: X=18.79, Y=21.475, Z=19.5. This should give you the basic layout of the starship. Now, make a cylinder 63.67 inches long and 7.65 inches in diameter, then place it at the same coordinates at the outline. Make the cylinder editable, then manipulate the points the same way you did the secondary hull. Note: give this cylinder 21 height segments. When you're done with that, duplicate that cylinder, then change the Z coordinate to -19.5. This is the final result:
Those are probably the major assemblies. The dorsal, pylons, and the amp rings for the secondary hull still need to be created, and the smaller structures like the bridge, B-C deck, lower sensor array, impulse engines, and the components that go on the nacelles. But those four structures above comprise the basic shape of the U. S. S. Enterprise.
Coming soon: How to make those nit-noid structures, plus other things.
Note: if you want really detailed measurements that aren't on Alan's latest blueprints, go here:
PUBLIC RESOURCE ENTERPRISE: Alan Sinclair's Enterprise. The page itself might be old, but the measurements are accurate. It's an invaluable help, and the picture files can be saved (although they're not the latest revision). Great resource!