Blender Beginner Guide

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Chapter 14: Your first 3D model

I was thinking about the best first model for you to understand modeling in Blender, and decided to start with a chess piece pawn.

It is fun and satisfying when you see in the end that you can model it.

So let’s start!

First, we will find an image reference.

I found it on Pixabay.com. (https://pixabay.com/vectors/chess-game-pawn-piece-recreation-26779/).

You can download this one or any other image that you want, just be sure that it is the front side. I will put the picture for download in the description.

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Time to learn how to model with a picture reference. We are currently working in object mode.

First, we will delete everything from the scene with an “X.”

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After that, we will click on ”-Y” on the gizmo so that we can position everything correctly from the start. -Y is the front side.

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Then we will go to Add → Image → Reference.

After that, a new window will open, and you will find the image that you just downloaded.

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Choose the image and click the “Add Image” button when you find it.

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We added the image.

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On the right side, you will see a lot of tools, but the only tool that is important to us right now is the Data → Object data properties.

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Here you can change the size, offset, depth, side, and opacity of the image.

We want to change Depth to Back.

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The next step is to place the pawn in the center and align the bottom of the pawn with the X-axis for easier modeling.

Because our reference image is already in the middle, I will only move it up with “G+Z” for around 2.29 to align the bottom with the X-axis.

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Before we add an object, let’s think about which object would be the best for modeling a pawn based on the pawn shape.

We have: plane, cube, circle, UV sphere, ICO sphere, Cylinder, Cone, and Torus.

The most similar are the circle and the cylinder.

You can choose either one. I will start with the circle

Go to Add → Mesh → Circle

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Switch to edit mode with “TAB”

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and click “F” to fill

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Click on “-Y” to switch to the front orthographic view

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Scroll the mouse wheel up to zoom in on the right side of the pawn.

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Now we will start to extrude and scale the circle, following the contour of our pawn.

Scale it with “S” for around 1.63

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.04

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.015

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.2764

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.985

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.95

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When you reach the first crease, extrude the circle just a tiny bit and scale it so that it fits to inside of the crease.

Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.005

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.9

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.025

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.005

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.47

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.985

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.96

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Here comes the next part of the pawn. Like the last time, we will extrude it with “E+Z” just a little bit so we can scale it after that.

Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.005

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.86

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.035

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.008

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.995

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.97

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.025

page_108_img_1.png

Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.96

page_108_img_2.png

Again, the same thing. Just a little bit of extrude so we can scale the next part.

Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.005

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.82

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This time, we can just extrude this part.

Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 1.11

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.76

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After that, the next part is coming, so just extrude it a bit.

Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.005

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.6

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.06

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.02

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.975

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.05

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.94

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Same thing with the crease again.

Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.005

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.6

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.14

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.1

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.07

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.05

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.03

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.02

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 1.01

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the outside for around 0.995

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.98

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.975

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.96

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.95

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.92

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.9

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.85

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.75

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.1

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Scale it with “S” to the inside for around 0.4

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Extrude it with “E+Z” for around 0.02

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Press “M” to merge at the center.

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Switch to Object mode with “TAB”

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RMB and choose Shade Auto Smooth.

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That is all for today, next time we will learn how to make a plate.

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