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I'm trying to model a turtle's shell. I wonder how I can start with a Circle and create the shell?

David
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Meri
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  • You may start with a circle with 10 vertices, model a flat patern, then inset some faces and use a proportional editing to make a plane look like a shell. It's quite simple. Give me 5 mins and I'll show you how to do it fast :). – Paul Gonet Aug 20 '15 at 13:05
  • Thank you for your answer. Where can I see the vertices? I wait. – Meri Aug 20 '15 at 13:18
  • I see "Vector X,Y,Z...... – Meri Aug 20 '15 at 13:31
  • I see "Vertices Data" in Edit mode, right side "n" – Meri Aug 20 '15 at 13:34
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    Meri, your question isn't clear. Could you please change the question to something like: "How to model a turtle's shell starting from a circle/ using a circle?", so people who'll be searching for an answer in future may easily find it.. – Paul Gonet Aug 20 '15 at 16:20

1 Answers1

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Add a Circle and set its vertices number to 10. enter image description here

Scale and rotate it to fit the picture using snapping tool (click on a magnet icon and set its type to Increment). Hold down Shift while rotating to do it precisely. [In this case i rotated a circle 18 degress]. Being in Edit Mode select the whole circle (A), then pres W-->Subdivide. enter image description here

Delete one half of a mesh and give it a Mirror Modifier. Extrude the vertices to fit the reference image. enter image description here

Apply a Mirror Modifier and then add a Subsurf Modifier. Select the outer edges and press Alt+Shift+S (with a cursor snapped to an origin point) to make them spherical. enter image description here

Now set the pivot point to Individual Origins. Select the faces as pictured below, then press I and I again to inset the individual faces. Repeat the process with other faces. enter image description here

Select the edges as pictured below, press G then Z. Select all edges and sharpen them using Shift+E shortcut. enter image description here

Give it a proper shape using Lattice Modifier and proportional editing. Give it some thickness using Solidify Modifier. enter image description here

enter image description here

Paul Gonet
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  • This is your best answer yet. Well done. An extra plus for using the lattice modifier. – David Aug 26 '15 at 03:06
  • This is super cool! Is there are general rule for when you should use a lattice modifier versus when you should model with proportional editing? – ajwood Oct 08 '15 at 13:08
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    @ajwood I think there are no rules :). It depends on a task. I prefer using lattice modifier with proportional editing enabled at the same time :). This explosive mix gives you an ultimate control over mesh transformation. – Paul Gonet Oct 11 '15 at 17:11