A6M Zero - First Model

A6M Zero

The first model i will be making is a A6M Zero which is a Japanese fighter plane. I began by editing the blueprints in photoshop to give me the top, side, and front all on separate layers. I then added a plane to the workspace and selected UVW mapping from the modifier list. I then added added the blueprints through the material editor, and dragged one onto the plane, to make sure the image size is the correct scale i then clicked on bitmap fit and found the file location of the selected blueprint, this then gave me the a orange boarder where the edge of the blueprint should be, to change the scale of the plane, i clicked on plane under the modifier list and changed the length and width accordingly.

 Once the blueprints were set up and each worka are was set up so i could see each blueprint i added a plane to the work area and changed it to an editable poly, i then selected the polygon and moved it over the wing, i then adjusted the vertices to fit against the plane in all 3 work areas, by the then selecting a line on the polygon and holding shift i was able to drag out more polys and edit the vertices to fit the edge of the wing, i then repeated the process all over the win once the two sides met i selected each vertices one at a time and used target well to attach the vertices to the one opposite.
 

Unfotunately when i added a turbosmooth my computer crashed, although the file was saved somehow i wasn't able to remove the turbosmooth, which meant i had to model from now on off a turbosmooth, which isn't very convenient as the amount of polygons has dramatically increased.

I kept repeating the process of added more planes and moving the lines and vertices to fit around the reference planes, my plane is now starting to take shape.

Once the main hull of the plane was complete i added a nose cone, this was again done by adding planes to match the reference planes, i added a slight lip as this would be where the engine is stored.

It was tricky to get the nose cone to be circular, it took alot of time and patience to get it just right.

Now that the front half of the plane is complete, it's time to start on the rear, on some screen i found it easier to make the polygons see through so that i could see the reference planes, i did this by pressing alt + X.

I firstly selected one line and made a new poygon which formed the side of the rear flap, i then selected the top lines by holding ctrl and clicking on the relevant lines, then holding shift i dragged the new polygons away from the side forming the top and bottom of the rear flap. i then extended the side all the way around and used target weld to attach the vertices.

Once the side flap was complete i started on the tail, repeating the same process of adding polys and adjusting the vertices to fit the reference planes.

Now that the main shape of the plane is complete, i just need to add the cock pit which i will carry on with next week. once that is complete i can select all the polygons and use mirror and connect the vertices to give me a complete plane.