How would I go about creating these curves on a body

[tim.lavelle]

Good morning! 

I'm trying to replicate this curve onto my model so I can get a similar effect, but as I look at my sketch and body, I'm stuggling to figure out what the correct workflow is. 

And this is my sketch and body which I've created for the first half as I will end up mirroring this to get the final one piece lege (which I'm sure I'll need to do more edits to get the interior curve)

Now that I look at it, would I mirror the other side first, then work on the curves, or am I approaching this all wrong and I should be looking into a different workflow? 

Any insights or suggestions on how to tackle this would be great! 

Thanks as always!

[davebYYPCU]

From the top view pic, looks like a distinct flat face is the dominant feature, making an assumption that it would be 3 distinct bodies aligned to make that full object.

But your sketch is crossing that imaginary boundary.

It is symmetric, so only two pieces to figure out, I would do most of it in T-spline, and split the bodies at the flat face.

Might help....

[davebYYPCU]

Not impossible with solid modelling, but I think your sketch is a bit narrow - undefined so not worried about that.

Might help.....

[TrippyLighting]

Can you share the 3D object of desire you show in your screenshot ?

To me, it looks like someone lofted between two profiles (top and bottom) and defined a couple of rails.

[davebYYPCU]

Mine was 3 Lofts.

File attach is gone.

[tim.lavelle]

Thanks @TrippyLighting and @davebYYPCU - So let me rejig my sketch then with some lofts and I will look into the rails bit as I've never done that before. 

I've also attached the STL file I'm trying to recreate... I know I could probably just make this mesh taller, but I want to learn this curved techique so I'm opting to remake it myself

[TrippyLighting]

Looking at the .stl file, the person modeling it also really did not know what he was doing as it's quite a hack.

[tim.lavelle]

Ok, good to know and makes me happy about re-modelling it.

Would you do this with two profiles and a loft with rails? I'm struggling to see how I would do the interior arc... but now that I think about it... can I loft on multiple x/y planes?

[davebYYPCU]

With the mesh to assist, position it so the centre mirror plane is on the Origin.

Yes - Offset Planes, Plane on angle and 3 point planes so far.

Construct half and mirror in the late stages.

Matching your long leg section defeated me so far, with modelling tools, as Trippy said difficult contours to play with.  

Back later.....

[TrippyLighting]

This  is not a trivial shape to model and I can't say I am very satisfied, but it'll do for now:

 

[TrippyLighting · Accepted solution]

See attached model

[tim.lavelle]

Thanks @TrippyLighting - I'll checkout how you did the curves for reference! Appreciate it

[tim.lavelle]

That file was a good reference on how you did the lofts and rails, thanks @TrippyLighting 

I've been working on it this morning and am close to the look I'm after, but am having trouble with a rail which gives me an error of can't be tangent to profiles. 

I'm trying to create the interior arc but seems like I can't have rails on different angles and I'm guessing that's why you started to work with surfaces?

[tim.lavelle]

So I did some more work and ended up create a top sketch profile, and then cutting down to get the curve effect I was looking for. Not sure if the right workflow, but keen to hear thoughts. 

[TrippyLighting]

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@tim.lavelle wrote:

So I did some more work and ended up create a top sketch profile, and then cutting down to get the curve effect I was looking for. Not sure if the right workflow, but keen to hear thoughts. 

---

 I am assuming the initial intention was for the part to be symmetric about the vertical axis.

The person modeling the initial .stl file did not maintain that and then "hacked" around on the shape to get it to look more symmetric and blend the shapes.

There isn't really a right or wrong workflow if the model is symmetric and behaves stably.

If I had a better understanding of what the function of the part is I would be very tempted to model the shape with a T-Spline. 

[tim.lavelle]

Thanks @TrippyLighting  - The model will hold a Cricut Explore Air paper cuter and I needed to extend the height so it can hold a printer above it and a printer sit beneath it as well. 

https://cricut.com/en_au/cricut-explore-family 

[davebYYPCU · Accepted solution]

Your rail problem can be sorted by using the top edge of body 10.  Fixes the flat top that is not in the original.

Might help....

[tim.lavelle]

Thanks @TrippyLighting & @davebYYPCU - Both of your files helped me some methods I wasn't even thinking about. @davebYYPCU , really liked the surface sketch you did, I need to get more comfortable with those!

Thanks both for your insights and references, very helpful! 😁