Week 3 - Phantom Cockpit

Having created the base of the TIE Phantom model, I now started constructing the cockpit. This is made simply from three stacked cylinders, with the outer two tapered into frusta. While I could have created these frusta by using the Boolean - Difference tool to cut the top from a cone, I used two different approaches. For the first, larger frustum, I experimented with using the Flare tool, which allowed me to linearly taper down the end of the cylinder.

Fig.1: The first two cylinders comprising the cockpit. You can see how the second has been tapered with the Flare tool (the Flare tool window is shown in the bottom-right for clarity).

I found the Flare tool to be too imprecise to create the second, smaller frustum, as it works within a certain area rather than on the shape itself. To create this second frustum, I instead simply selected the outer edge by double-clicking then scaled it down, using a fourth cylinder (which was later deleted) as a guide. This approach is even easier than the Flare tool and is probably the one I will use in the future.

Fig.2: The third cylinder at the end of the cockpit. The outer edge has been selected and scaled down.