Week 3 Pt.2 - Phantom Wings

In comparison to the rest of the model that I have created so far, the TIE Phantom's wings are far more complex and detailed: therefore, I am writing a separate blog post to detail their creation. Fortunately, I only have to craft one; I can then group the components and duplicate the group to create the other two.

First, I created the base that the wing is mounted onto. This is made up of three cubes and a cylinder. To make it easier to create, I used the "Live Surface" function, allowing me to draw each object directly on top of the previous one (see the Week 1 post). The rear of the base is sloped slightly; rather than using the Boolean - Difference tool, I simply moved the vertices of the cubes and rotated the rear face of the cylinder to create the desired slope.

Fig.1: A close-up of the wing mount from the front, showing the shapes that comprise it

Fig.2: A close-up of the wing mount from the side, showing the sloped back (note: the top part of the wing mount has a harsher slope, equal to the slope at the back of the wing; this will be done once the wing has been added)

The wing itself was constructed from a single cube, with the bottom edges stretched to create its uneven trapezoidal shape. To provide additional detail, it has been framed with slightly thicker edges, also constructed from cubes (these are highlighted in Fig.3 for clarity).

Fig.3: The assembled wing, with extra details highlighted. If you look closely, you will see the top of the wing mount, which was not sloped in Fig.2, is now sloped at the rear.

Even now, the wing is not complete: there is a laser cannon mounted beneath the wing tip. The edge jutting out of the front of the wing provides a good guideline for positioning the wing-mounted laser, hence why it was not tapered off.

The main barrel is made from two cylinders, with the second, shorter one being tapered off slightly. Moving this second cylinder once it had been tapered with the Flare tool led to it being warped noticeably; to correct this I had to move the Flare handle in tandem with the object itself, preserving its original form. Beneath the barrel is a second, thinner cylinder secured to the wing with three hexagonal prisms of varying thickness: I created one such prism, then duplicated and scaled it to make the other two.

Fig.4: The gun barrel on the end of the wing. Notice how the edges of the wing have been tapered off compared to Fig.3

There are two additional laser barrels mounted to the chassis, just below the cockpit. These have a slightly different shape, as seen in Fig.5. Again, one was created, then duplicated to create the second. It is possible that I could have crafted each barrel out of a single cylinder by subdividing it, but I find it easier and more precise to use multiple cylinders.

Fig.5: The underside of the ship, with the twin guns highlighted

With these added, the last major detail left is to add the remaining two wings. First, the components of the existing wing are grouped to create a single, moveable object. This object is then duplicated and moved into position on each side of the craft.

Fig.6: The wing as a single group

Fig.7: The "finished" model, with all three wings

The TIE Phantom model is now more or less finished. It still requires colouring and/or texturing, and there are also several minor details that could be added, but for now I need to prioritize working on the other two models. Starting with my next blog post, I will be detailing my work on those models.