This tutorial is about modeling the dune buggy shown to the left. An effort has been made to use as many distinct form•Z tools as possible.
1. Building the roll cage with the Axial Sweep
Use the V-Line tool in the Shapes palette to draw the cage shape as shown below. Try to keep the lines as connected as possible with the Join tool. Then use the Fillet tool in the Edit suite to round some of the corners. It is okay if the cage you drew has some variations com- pared to the one we show.
Draw a number of small Circles (Shapes palette) to use as sources
and sweep them along the lines of the cage with the Axial Sweep tool in the Derive 2 palette,
Union the pieces, if desired. The result should be as shown.
2. Modeling the muffler as a 2-Source Sweep
Draw a Spline in the curving shape of the muffler, then draw two pro- file shapes--one in the shape of the front and one in the shape of the rear of the muffler. We used a Circle and a Rectangle with rounded corners by use of the Fillet tool.
Activate the 2S Sweep (Two Source
Sweep) in the Derive 2 palette and select the two drawn objects, followed by the path. The result is shown to the left. 3. Creating the shocks with the Helix tool Draw a Line on the Z axis. Activate the W-Helix tool in the Derive 2 palette. In the Tool Options select “Wire Helix Along Path” and set the appropriate # Of Cycles and Radius for your model. Click on the previously drawn line to create the helix. Adjust the scale and Tool Options if necessary.
Draw two small circles that will act as the width of the spring and the piston, one slightly larger than the other. Activate the Axial Sweep tool in the Derive 2 palette and sweep the larger circle along the straight path, and the smaller circle along the helix. The results should be as shown above.
4. Modeling the car body as a nurbs object
Draw cross sections for the car body using the V-Line tool in the Shapes palette, roughly as shown, using the top, front, and side pro- jections. Again, these profiles suffice to be similar to the ones we show, they do not have to be the exact same.
Using the Pick tool, select each profile from front to rear. Then acti- vate the N-Loft tool in the N-Surfaces suite and click anywhere on the screen. In the Tool Options, we used By Loose Lofting and the Degree was checked From Source.
The generated nurbs surface can be adjusted by moving the control
points, if necessary. 5. Cutting out the wheel-well and windows Draw a 2D path in the shape of the wheel well. Position the path over the body of the car (but not on the body). In the same projected view, use the Slice tool in the Modify palette to cut the shape of the line into the car body. Delete the sliced object.
We will use the same process above for the window and the wind- shield to produce our desired results.
6. Adding the scoop in the car body
Create a Cylinder (Generate palette) that overlaps the edge of the car body. Activate the S-Split tool in the Modify palette and select the car body, and then the cylinder. Use the Delete tool to remove the excess cylinder material and leave the indentation on the body. Do the same proces to both sides of the dune buggy.
7. Trimming the body with molding
Activate the Derive Segment tool in the Derive palette and select a window outline. The body of the buggy will now be ghosted and the outline of the window should be apparent. Axial Sweep a small Circle around the derived outline to create the molding and then make the body visible again in the Objects palette. Repeat this process for the other window, the windshield, and the outline of the body. 8. Modeling the wheel with revolutions and trims
Use the 2D drawing tools in the Shapes palette to
draw the profile of the wheel and the line of revolution, as shown to the left.
With the Revolve tool active (Derive 2 palette),
click on the wheel outline, then click on the drawn axis of revolution. The overall shape of the wheel should be completed.
Draw the 2D profiles of the negative areas that will be used to define the spokes of the wheel using tools in the Shapes palette. Select the Extrusion tool in the Derive palette to make the 2D profiles into 3D objects. Allow these objects to intersect the the revolved wheel we created in the previous step. Use the Difference tool in the Modify palette to remove the extruded objects, leaving their shape in the wheel. Use the Round tool on the wheel spoke edges, if desired.
Lastly, draw a 2D profile of the tire and Revolve it around the same axis that was used for the rim to complete the geometry of the wheel.
9. Create a car seat by subdividing a cage
The car seat will be molded by first generating a cage approximating the shape of the seat and then subdividing it to derive its final form. Again, it is not necessary to for your to be exactly the same as ours, just try to be close.
Generate a cage shape, roughly as shown below. We drew five
boxes (Rectangle tool, 3D Extrusion selected in the Tool Options), Unioned them together, and then moved some of its faces and edges to give its final shape. Use snaps throughout this process. Activate the Subd tool in the Subdivision suite and click on the cage to subdivide the rough shape. You can then edit and move the points of the cage to achieve the desired shape.
10. Modeling the steering wheel.
We will start off the steering wheel by drawing
some reference lines using the Circle tool and Spline tool, as shown.
Draw a small Circle that will serve as the cross-
sectional diameter of the steering wheel.
Activate the Axial Sweep tool in the Derive 2
palette and sweep the smaller circle along the larger construction circle. Use the same small circle to sweep the 4 spoke splines but in the Tool Options, select Scale and set the X and Y to 0.5. The resulting object is shown to the left.
Generate a Sphere that is slightly larger than the
diameter of the steering wheel cross-section, as shown.
Rotate (T-Form palette) the sphere with the
Multi-Copy selected in the Tool Options to create the grip along the steering wheel. In our example, we used 25 copies of the sphere.
Activate the S-Split tool (Modify palette) and pick
all the objects of the steering wheel except for the 4 spoke objects.
In the Modify palette, select Stitch and stich
together all the surface pieces of the steering wheel.
Use the Round tool in the Derive 3 palette to
blend the steering wheel grips (the spherical objects) with the rest of the geometry. 11. Modeling the lights (housing and lens) Activate the Sphere tool in the Generate palette and create a sphere that is 4”x4” (or to scale with the rest of the model). When the sphere is gen- erated, in the Tool Options under Closure pick None, and set Horizontal from 0° to 180° and Vertical from -90° to 90°.
Create a 3D extruded Ellipse that will intersect
the middle of the housing, as shown. Use the S-Split tool in the Modify palette on the two objects and then Delete the part of the extruded ellipse that was inside the housing.
Stitch the two objects together (Modify palette)
and then use the Round tool in the Derive 3 palette to give the housing and elliptical post continuity. The result should be as shown to the left.
To model the lens, create another Sphere with
the same diameter as the sphere we created for the housing. Use the I-Scale tool in the T-Form palette to flatten the sphere into the shape of our desired lens.
To model the ring that attaches the lens to the
housing of the light, generate a Torus from the generate palette. Again, the major diameter will be the same as the lens and the housing. It might be easier to create this object directly on the housing. After the diameter is established, make the minor radius significantly smaller to obtain a geometry roughly as shown.
This completes the individual parts of the dune buggy. To finish the model you will just need to Move, Rotate and/or Scale the above objects into their proper places.
