Hi Ryan, it looks like you are making some great progress!
> I've now got two questions, and I've tried a few different ways thus
> far - both labor intensive and I'm sure there is probably a better way
> to do this.
>
> I want to create recessed areas similiar to the windows on front of this ship.
A good technique to do that is to use Trim to cut out a small piece of the main surface, then use Extrude to punch that little face out into a solid which is then used as the recessed part.
See this previous post for some illustrations and steps:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=3024.4
To make a raised panel instead of a recessed one, you just extrude in the outwards direction instead.
> I feel like I've complicated the matter a bit by also dealing with a rounded
> surface as well?
Somewhat, but it just means you will probably need to rotate some of your 2d profile curves to adjust how they are projecting on to that surface.
For example if you draw a circle to use as the cutout shape, when you trim using it, the circle will be projected on to the surface perpendicular to the circle. So you may need to rotate the circle around (most likely in the Top view) to make it project on to your curved surface in a more regular way.
So for example say I have this circle drawn in the Front view and want to cut this surface:
But because the surface is curved, it kind of projects on to it in an angled fashion like this:
But if I rotate the circles so that it is oriented more straight down on that local area of the surface:
Then you will get a less angled projection as well:
Rotation of objects is a lot easier in version 2 because there is a new edit frame that goes around the outside of selected objects that gives you some quick grips you can grab on to for scaling and rotation. For v1 you use the Transform > Rotate command to do it.
> My second question, is there a good/simpler way to create panel lines
> like you'd see in an aircraft model?
You'll probably want to model a tubular surface by doing a sweep and then use Boolean Difference to cut your main object with that tube.
Check out this previous post for some illustrations:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=817.8
- Michael
