Hi All,

I am trying to construct a tile which will connect seamlessly with identical copies in any rotation.

My difficulty is trying to create the section that lies between the two cones outlined in magenta. I have tried a number of tools and I inevitably end up with a visible join where the surface connects to the cone and also a crease from the centre of the cone (seen on the right) to the cyan colored profile curve ( this particular example was constructed using the sweep method). The construction is made more difficult due to the fact that the cone surface and the edges in magenta need to remain unaltered for the design to work although the cyan profile can be altered if necessary.

To remove the crease and join I am thinking that my best solution would be to create a network using profiles to control the surface although I am unsure of the best way to go about this
.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

Jim

Hi Jim, please check out these previous posts which are probably applicable:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=1398.18
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=1398.19

I haven't closely looked at your particular case yet, so this may not apply (let me know if it does not), but I'd think your best bet would be to construct the pieces that you need to be smooth out of a larger extended piece built all in one go and then slice it up to make the fragment pieces, rather than trying to create a fragment independently. Hope that makes sense.

- Michael

Hi Michael, thanks for your reply. I had come to the conclusion that this surface would be need to be created as a whole and then trimmed. My issue is that I am unsure on the best method to create the construction curves for a network. I did try to make a series of modified loft curves almost like a height map that were offset from the outer edge that connects the two cones. When lofted the surface breaks up as it reaches the end points on each cone.

Jim

hi Jim,
this may help.
1) Sweep the cone slope line around profile.
2) Trim with circle that goes thro cone points.
3) Blend edges.

Barry

Hi Jim, Sorry I did not fully understand your question at first. Barry's Blend technique looks like a good solution, please let me know if you are still stuck.

Thanks Barry!

- Michael

Many thanks Barry, you have come up with a simple and elegant construction method. There is still a ridge where the curve changes direction on the cone but this is a problem with the smoothness of the line whichis emphasised by the sweep, i am pretty sure with a slight modification will improve results.

I am still quite new to 3d modelling but I have found this software a pleasure to use, many thanks Michael.


Jim