2016

BournemouthUniversity

RussellWade

CREATINGSOLIDMODELS
USINGSURFACETOOLS

1|P a g e

Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................................2
Stage1TheHullTopSketch.............................................................................................................3
Stage2CreatingHullShape.............................................................................................................7
Creatingthebackoftheboat...........................................................................................................11
MakingthehullSolid............................................................................................................................13
Method1ThickenTool..................................................................................................................13
Tidyingupthemodeltolearnmethodstwo,threeandfour...........................................................14
Method2Intersecttool.................................................................................................................16
Method3Knittool.........................................................................................................................18
Method4Shell...............................................................................................................................20
Creatingthefloor..............................................................................................................................21
TheCabin..............................................................................................................................................23
Railsusingprojectedcurve...................................................................................................................27

2|P a g e

Introduction
OvertheyearsIhavefoundusingsurfacemodellingtocreatesolidmodelstricky.Therefore
I decided to put in print the many techniques I use to create solid models form surface
models.IhavedecidedtocreatethisbecauseInowuse3dprintingwhichrequiresmodels
tobesolid.IhavealwaysturnedsurfacestosolidsasIcreatethemthroughthemodelling
process.Ihavetriedtodetailthe4techniquesIuse.
You may have other methods so if you would like them added please let me know. The
modelgoesthroughthestagesofturningatoyboatintosolids.Thenextpostwilllookat
the3dprintedmodel.

3|P a g e

Stage1TheHullTopSketch

Drawtheaboveonthetopplaneusingthelineandsplinetool.Drawacentrelinestartingat
the origin ensuring it is horizontal. Be sure to add a tangent relation between the two
beforemirroringacrossthecentreline.

Onthefrontplanesketchtheabove.Asbeforeusethelineandsplinetools.Besuretoadd
thepierceconstraintbetweenthissketchandtheprevioussketch(ifthisisnotdoneyour
loftwillnotwork).
Yoursketchesshouldlookliketheimagebelow.

4|P a g e

Nowcreateanewplane.Offsetthisplaneoffthefrontplanetoroughlythepositionshown.

5|P a g e

Onthisnewplanedrawwhatisshown.

Drawthissplineandusethepierceconstrainttoconnectittothetopandsidesketchesyou
havecreated.Toshowthecurvaturecombsshownhereinyellow,rightclickonthespline
andscrolldownthelistandselectcurvaturecombs,seebelowimage.Thiswillgiveaquick
visualimpressionofthesmoothnessofthecurveyouhavecreated.

6|P a g e

Select spline handle 1 and make this horizontal by pressing the shown horizontal button.
Selectsplinehandle2andselecttheverticaloption.

Usethemirrortooltomirrorthesplineacrossthecentreline.
Youarenowreadytocreatethehullsurfaceshape.

7|P a g e

Stage2CreatingHullShape
YouwillneedtoaddthesurfacingtoolstothemenuBar.

Toaddthesurfacingtools,rightclickonanyofthegreytabs,e.g.theFeaturestabandyou
willseethebelow.

TickSurfacesandthesurfacingtoolstabwillbeaddedtothe
menubar.

Youarenowreadytocreatethehullshape.

Fromthesurfacingtoolsmenuselectthelofttool

8|P a g e

Tocreatetheloftshapeyouwillfirstlyneedtoselectonlyhalfofthetopsketch.

This is done by selecting the surface loft button then right clicking in the model area and
selectiontheselectionmanager,shownhere:

Selecthalfofthetopsketchandacceptbypressingthegreentick.

9|P a g e

Thiswillnowshowasopengroup1intheprofilesbox.

Nowselectthesketchyoucreatedonthefrontplane.

Tocompletetheloftagainuseselectionmanagertoselecttheotherhalfofthetopsketch.

10|P a g e

Youhavenowselectedontheprofilestocreatethehullshape,shownabove.
Nowclickintheguidecurvebox(nexttothepurplebar)

SelectthesketchyoucreatedonPlane1toaddittotheguidecurveselection.
Yourloftisnowcomplete.
Youwillnowhaveamodellikethis.

11|P a g e

Creatingthebackoftheboat

Createanewplaneattherearoftheboatbyoffsettingitfromtherightplane(Reference1)
andselectingthevertex/pointshown(Reference2).

Onthisnewplanesketchalinefromthelefthandsidevertextotherighthandsidevertex.
Make sure the line ends display a coincident constraint. This ensures the ends of the line
andthevertexeshavenogaps.

12|P a g e

Usingthefilledsurfacetoolselectthesketchcreatedandtheedgeshown.Thistoolwillsee
theenclosedshapeandcreateasurface.

You now need to join these surfaces together. Using the knit surfaces tool select the
surfacesshownandacceptusingthegreentick.

13|P a g e

Fillettheshownedge.Ensurethesizeofthisfilletislargerthanthewallthicknessyouwant
theboattobe.

MakingthehullSolid
Method1ThickenTool

SelecttheThickentoolfromthesurfacemenutoolbar.

Thedifficultywhenusingthethickentoolisthatitdoesnotalwaysletyoumakethemodel
tothedesiredthickness.Theabovemodelissmallat125mmlongbecausemyaimisto3D
printthemodel.Thethickentoolwillonlyallowmeamaximumthicknessof1mmwhichis

14|P a g e

printablebymost3dprintersbutthiswillmakeitverythinandeasilybreakable.Iwouldlike
tohaveawallthicknessof3mmsoanotherapproachisneeded.

Tidyingupthemodeltolearnmethodstwo,threeandfour

The following three methods requires the use of the Offset Surface tool found on the
surfacetoolbar.

Usetheoffsettooltooffsetall3oftheselectedsurfaces.

The above shows the problem area in greater detail. By offsetting the surface (2) on the
inside it causes the new surface to overlap itself. This could have been avoided by
implementing a fillet on the original top sketch however we can correct this by using the
trimsurfacetooltoneatenupthetopedges.

15|P a g e

Ontherightplanedrawthisline.
Nowselectthetrimsurfacetool.

Using the line you have just created the front plane as the trim tool to remove the
surfaceshighlightedinpurple.Ensuretheremoveselectionsoptionitselected.

Thiswillleaveyourmodelwithsmoothedgesliketheseatthefrontoftheboat.

16|P a g e

Method2Intersecttool

Drawanotherlineontherightplane.

Use the surface extrude tool making sure the surface exceeds the boat hull surface in all
directions(seeaboveimage)
Youarenowreadytousetheintersecttooltocreatetheboathull:

theintersecttoolcanbefoundonthefeaturestoolbarorby
goingtoinsertthenfeaturesasshownhere.
I will explain how this tool works before you try it. The
intersect tool analyses intersecting surfaces or faces for
enclosedshapes(i.e.imagineacubehasall4sides,atopand
abottomface.Thisisanenclosedshape)toturnintoasolid
feature. This enclosed shape can be created from solid
features or surface features or a combination of both. Now
letstryusingthetool.

17|P a g e

Theintersecttoolshouldfindtwoenclosedshapesafteryouselectallsurfacesasshown(
see1above)howeveryouonlywanttokeeponeofthese,thesolidcreatedbetweenthe
outerhullshapeandtheinneroffsethullshape.Thesolidyoudonotwanttocreatecanbe
excludedbyselectingitusingtheregionstoexcludeshownabove(2)andbelowimage.

18|P a g e

Yourhullshapeisnowcompleteusingtheintersectmethod.

Method3Knittool
To try this method you will need to delete the features in your history tree to the point
whereyoutrimmedthetopoftheoffsetsurfacecreatedearlier.
DeletethehighlightedFeatures.

YourModelshouldlooklikethis.

Tousetheknitmethodtoturnthesurfacesintoasolidyouwillneedtocreateaclosed
shape.Theopeningbetweenthetwotopedgescanbeclosedusingthesurfacelofttool.
Thisisshownhere.

Youwillneedtouseselectionmanagertoselecttheseedged.Thistoolwillnotallowyouto
selectthecompleteedgeandwork.Youcanseeintheimagethatthereisstillanopenarea
attherear.Youwillclosethiswithasecondloft.

19|P a g e

Closetheopensurfaceattherearusingthisloft.Makesuretousetheedgesshown(Edges
3and4)asguides.Ifyoudonotusetheguidesasedgesitcanresultingapsthatwillcause
the knit to fail. Now you have created a fully enclosed shape you are ready to knit the
surfacesandformasolid.

Usingtheknitsurfacestoolselectallthesurfaces.Youmightneedtountickgapcontrol.If
theshapeisenclosedyoushouldnowbeabletotickthetrytoformasolidbox.

Afterusingtheknitsurfacetoolyoumustlookatthemodelinsectionview,shownabove.
Sometimestheknitsurfacestoolacceptsthetrytoformsolidbutdoesnotwork.Itcanbe
seenherethatthistimeithasworkedduetothepresenceofthebluematerialhighlighting
themodelassolid.

20|P a g e

Method4Shell
Likemethodthreeyouwillneedtoremovesomefeaturestotryit.
Delete all the features until tour model is at the
pointwhereyouknittedthehullshapetotheback
andfilletedtheedge.

Yourmodelshouldnowlooklikethis.Tousetheshelltoolyouwillneedtoagaincreateand
enclosedshapebyclosingthetopsurface.

Toenclosethetopsurfaceyouwillneedtousethesurfacelofttool.Useselectionmanager
tocreateopengroups1and2.Thisshouldnowcreatetheenclosedshapebyclosingthetop
surface.

21|P a g e

Likebeforeknitallthesurfacestogetherselectingthetrytoformsolidoption.Youshouldbe
familiarwiththeshelltool.Whenshellingselectthetopfacetoremove.
Youwillhavenowtriedallfourthemethodstocreatethehull.Tryingallfourmethodswill
helpyouimproveyourknowledgewhencreatingsolidsfromsurfaces.

Creatingthefloor
Bynowyoushouldhaveanideaonhowtocreateaflatfloorintheboat.Thereismorethan
onewaytocreateitthefloorbutIwillcreateitusingtheintersecttool.

Createthissketchonthefrontplane.

22|P a g e

Extrudethissketchusingthesurfaceextrudetoollikeshown.

Usingtheintersecttoolselectthesurfaceyouhavejustextrudedandthesolidhulland
presstheintersectbutton.Youwillnoticethetoolhasfound5regionsthatcanbemade
solid.

Theonlyregionyoushouldexcludeisthesolidshownhere.Becausethisselectionisinside
thepartyouwillneedtoselectitfromthehistorytree.Makesureyouselectconsume
surfaces.

23|P a g e

Tocheckthefloorhasbeencreatedproperlyandissolidusesectionview.Themodel
shouldlooksimilartothis.

TheCabin

Drawthissketchonthetopsurfaceoftheboatasshown.Ensureyoudrawthelinesonthe
inneredgeorusetheconvertentitiestooltocreatethem.Byusingtheedgeitwillhelpme
showyouanotherproblemwhenusingsurfacesandsolids.

Createthissketchonanewplane.

24|P a g e

Usesurfacelofttocreatethecabinshape.

Usesurfacelofttocreatetheroofbyloftingfromonesidetotheotherandusingthefront
edgeasaguidelikeshown.

25|P a g e

Younowneedtoknitthesidesandrooftogether.Youarenowreadytoturnthecabininto
asolid.

Usingthickensetthethicknessto2mmandselecttheoutsideasthethickdirection.

Thissectionshowstheresultofusingthickenonthecabin.Thegapiscreatedbecausethe
thickenusesthesurfacesangletocreatethesolidandnotinthexorydirection.Thiscan

26|P a g e

alsocreateanerrorwhenmurgeentitiesisselectedbecausethesurfacesarenotactually
joined.Deletethisthickenandwewillmakeaquickcorrection.

Usetheextendsurfacetooltoextendthe3edgesatthebaseofthecabinby2mm.youmay
needtovarytheextensiondistancetogetthedesiredresult.Nowtrythickeningagain.

Byextendingthesurfaceintothesolidbelowyoushouldnowseethethickenlookscorrect.
Ifthismethoddoesnotworkyoumayneedtotryoneoftheothermethodsyouhave
alreadybeenshown.

27|P a g e

Railsusingprojectedcurve

Createthissketch.Thesketchshouldlooklikeyouarelookingattherailsfromabove.

Fromabovethesketchshouldlooklikethis.Itshouldbebetweenthetwoedges,likeitison
theflatsurface,preferablyinthemiddleofthesurface.

28|P a g e

Onthefrontplanedrawthissketch.Imagineyouarelookingattherailsfromasideprofile.
Makesureinthexdirectionitlookslongerthanthesketchabove,theorangesketchwhich
youhavecreatedastherailviewfromthetop.

Youwillnowuseprojectedcurvetooltocombinethesesketchesintoa3dsketch.Goto
insertcurveandprojectedtofindthetool.Makesuresketchonsketchisselectedand
selectbothsketchesandselecttick.Thistoolwillcreateanewsketchbydroppingthetop
profileontothebottomprofile,ineffectmakingitfollowthesideprofileshape.

29|P a g e

Youshouldnowhavea3dsketchthathasbeencreatedbycombiningthetwo2Dsketches.

Nowcreateanewplaneonthislinebyselectingthelineandthepointattheendofthenew
3dline.

30|P a g e

Onthisplanedrawacircle,diameternolessthan2mm.Addapiercerelationbyselecting
thecentreofthecircleandtheline.Thecentreofthecircleshouldnowbeontheendpoint
oftheline.

Youarenowreadytocreatetherail.Tocreateitasasolidusetheswepttoolfromthe
featurestoolbar.Selectthecircleandthelinetocreatetherail.

Yourmodelshouldnowlooklikethisandbeasolid.Themodelisbynomeanscompleteat
thisstagehoweveryoushouldbeabletocreateasetofrearrails,windowsandafrontdeck
etcusingwhatyouhavelearnthere.