Cornice with Dentil Molding

[Anonymous]

I was exploring ways to create a cornice with dentil molding and I thought I'd share my results. 

It uses the 'railing' family for the building blocks. The key is using a third 'rail' for the backboard of the dentil blocks and the blocks themselves are balusters. The extrusion for the balusters was oriented to the default slope of the baluster family (orthogonal to the slope) and the profile was drawn in the 'Right' view. There are a few other issues I resolved but those are the primary points.

The horiz spacing of the balusters and the vertical spacing of the rails were adjusted for the specific slope to match the spacing on the horiz cornices. (Baluster spacing is based on vertical center lines so the spacing is reduced on a slope) The face of the balusters was located on the path of railing so the spacing would stay consistent on a radius wall. (Requires an offset of the path to the relative edge/location). The railing family can host to any surface so after the family was built, it was super easy to populate the project. 

The images illustrate all the basic conditions, this is not a real project. The top of the cornice (railing) begins about 4" below the top 'slab/roof/floor'.

The images also illustrate cutting an arched opening in a curved wall (4ft thick). The void that cut the opening was created using a 'sweep blend' to manage the changing width of the arch thru the wall. The peak of the inside arch was adjusted to match the peak of the outside arch so the height of the spring point of the arch actually changes thru the wall. 

Cornice and Arches - ElevationCornice and Arches - IsometricCornice and Arches - Detail

[barthbradley]

I think mine is more bigger  better than yours,

More colorful at least.   

I could be wrong. Its happened before.

[barthbradley]

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[Anonymous]

Line based family with repeating blocks is certainly one way to go but I wanted a family that defined all the parts of a cornice style with the profiles and the dentils together. As an architect, if I need a cornice, I'll need a little more detail than just a series of blocks... 

[barthbradley · Accepted solution]

Looks good to me.  Railing is an approach we use as well.  

[Anonymous]

I wish there was a video to go along with what you guys did...

[Anonymous]

This is beautiful! Any chance you'd be happy to share your file? I'm an interior design student and I've love to use this in my assessments if you're happy to!