Raptor 3D Project - Edits 06

The Tail Parts...

Compared to the wings, these were easy. I had already been experimenting with the vertical tails and their actuator fairing, and the horizontal tail surfaces ("tailerons") were nearly a no-brainer. I began with a vertical fin with a symmetrical (or "bi-convex", if you like) airfoil.The buige at the base of the tail was added to the vertical fin, which represents the rudder actuator fairing. I removed the "crease" you see at the base of the vertical fin, (an error) and then, the (BLUE) cutter was used to remove the rudder.

The horizontal tail parts were done by creating a symmetrical airfoil with three sections. (root, center, and tip) I used the "glass" shader to check their proportions against the top view and side view. Simple! Later, I'll give them the "beveled" edge treatment and curvy surface at the inboard end, which aligns with the fuselage.

Fitting the wings to the fuselage:

My plan was to join the wings to the fuselage at this point, so I could finish shaping the fuselage sides. The next few images show the areas on the fuselage that will have to be modified for a really great, realistic fit. (I made the vertical fins invisible in a couple of these, just so I could see those areas more clearly.)

Most obvious parts to adjust are where the flying surfaces join the fuselage, as well as some scale detailing around the thrust vectoring nozzles.

It was during this process that I became unhappy with the current version of the wings. Although they're looking ok in these renderings, the fact is that they've been very difficult to smooth, due to the boolean operation involving the Revell "rib" scans. Also, since I built the wing as a unit, and then made the "cut" at the tip", there's a problem that pops up there... Modifying the tips to a narrower profile means virtually starting over with the smoothing.

Before I can continue with the wing/fuselage joining, cut out the control surfaces, etc., the wing shape needs to be finalized. Since I'm not happy with the current wing, this meant creating some new ones, with my new understanding of the shape. I dreaded doing that at first, but actually, it wasn't too difficult. Here's how it went, which only took a couple of hours.

A little prep for the fuselage:

While I was thinking about how to improve the wings, I went ahead and made the cut on the fuselage side where the wings mate, based on the Lockheed-Martin drawings. This saves a little trouble, by eliminating extra polygons that would have to be edited later, and will make for a cleaner boolean operation when I merge the wings with the fuselage.

Another view of the wing joint cutter.

A couple of top views of the fuselage, showing the polygons that were removed.

After the cut

The new wings:

Thanks to all the previous work, this rebuilding of the wings went quickly. I created 4 airfoil-shaped cross sections, and lofted them in 3D. After that, it was a simple matter of moving and rotating those four sections until the wing was right. When combined with a little anhedral, I then had the shape right, and a wing that (because of the polygonal structure) is a LOT easier to edit.

The biggest benefit of starting over with the wings is that they don't require smoothing. And, if I want to adjust the shape later, the 4 "rib" areas make that easy.

The looping movie here shows where the model stands, as of today.

Soon, I'll merge the wings with the fuselage, and then smooth all the connect points, and the most major parts of the exterior will be finished. The fuselage and canopy has been rebuilt, and all of the wing and tail parts are new, too. Next, I'll clean up the fit with the thrust vectoring nozzles, and move on to detailing all the surface items (doors, hatches, "bumps", and so on. The internal parts can then be done, based on the finalized exterior.

Click the "Edits 07" link below to continue.