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Selecting in Edit Mode

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At first glance, this is a trivial subject, but in fact there are a lot of options that are not a first apparent. Some more useful than others. We will start with the basics. In Edit mode, click on a vertex to select it. Click elsewhere and it will be deselected. [Shift]-Click on another vertex, and any selected vertex will remain selected, and the new one as well. Note: Most of this applies to edges and faces too. Some of it applies to Object mode too. I do not find there are the same issues in Object mode, as I might only have a couple of dozen objects, while one object might have hundreds of vertices. Toolbar Top left of the toolbar is the select tool. If you click and hold on it, you will see there are four option. Tweak: With Tweak you select each vertex as normal, but can then move it. It is only slightly different to the move tool, and frankly probably only useful for doing minor adjustments to organic models. I have never used it. Select Box: This is the one I use most by a l...
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Array in a Circle with Blender

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Blender's Array modifier lets you repeat an object any number of times. I only recently discovered this can be in a circle - previously I have done that with Geometry Nodes, which is far more complicated. In A Line The Array modifier's most obvious use is to repeat an object in a row. You want a row of identical houses? Create one (as a single object!), and add an Array modifier. Want a brick wall? Create two (one staggered above the other), and add two Array modifiers, one in the X direction and one in the Z. You can do this as a "Relative Offset" or a "Constant Offset". With relative offset, the distance between each one is determined by the item size in that direction multiplied by the value. With constant offset the item size does not matter - except that the size transform is applied after the modifier, so it can feel like it does. If you need a specific spacing, constant offset can be better; just remember to apply scale first ([CTRL]-A and then S). On...
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Little Marton Windmill

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This model is available on  Cults3d In some countries, the wind is so reliable you can build your windmill facing one direction. I believe the windmills on Mykonos are a famous example, facing north to catch the Meltemi. In the UK, millers were not so luck, and windmills had to be built to turn to face the wind, whichever way it was blowing. One way to do that was a "post mill", in which the whole (or most of) the) body was turned. Because the grinding wheels were turned too, the mechanism to transmit power from the sails to the grinding wheels was kept simple. A later development was the tower windmill, in which only the very top rotated. The required a way to transmit the power from the moving section to the stationary section. However, it did allow the mill to be built of stone or brick, so it could be significantly higher, and so catch more of the wind. The windmill at Little Marton is a tower windmill, built in 1838, and it is thought there were originally four in the ar...
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Preston Tram Depot

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Preston Corporation Tramways opened the first electrified lines in 1904, and in the same year opened a new depot on Deepdale Road, not far from the football ground. The tram system closed in 1935, but the depot is still standing, now used for buses. As you can see from the photo, the back of it is quite a different design. I believe this was the original structure built in 1904, with the stone frontage built ten years later. A photo here looks like the depot before the addition. I have just modelled the frontage. It is a complex model because there is a lot to it, though there was no specific feature that was that difficult. I left the turrets to last, expecting them to be tricky, but it went smoothly. The bricks were done by using a "curve" modifier on a Bezier curve, and sometimes they can be a real pain to do, but this just worked, with just tweaking the size of the wall. Turned out pretty well!
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Chemical Storage Tanks

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Available on cults3d ! Helping out on a layout at a show last week, the owner of the layout said he wanted a storage tank with a  set of spiral steps to get to the top. I realised that would be pretty easy to do with geometry nodes , just create one step, and then have it repeat in a circle, but as well as rotating, also increase the z-location. The tank itself is just a cylinder with a flattened hemisphere on top. I did one without steps, and also a bridge to link them. Here they are primed, but not printed, from about the same angle. I am - one day - going to build a "vignette" of a chemical site, and will use these, and will paint them accordingly when I do.
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Replacing the vat film

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The 3d printer vat has a transparent film on the bottom through which UV light shines to form a layer; the model is then prised from the film before the next layer is formed. This film is a consumable, and the first one lasted me about two months, but the second lasted over two years. I had some issues with prints failing part way through, and could see resin on the screen when the vbat was removed, but the film appeared to be fine. I replaced the screen protector, but got more failures, and the screen was dirty almost immediately, so I am fairly sure I have a hole. As the film gets stretched during each cycle, a pinprick hole could get enlarged during the process, but be very hard to spot. So I replaced the film. I followed the Elegoo video , and there is no point me repeating it. This is the state of the film, not that bad after 2 years: The screen protector, after just two weeks: I had recently replaced it (see here ), and that was my last one. The cheap ones I ordered are coming fr...
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Blender's Lattice Modifier

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I have recently been using the lattice tool more and more. It is excellent for gently deforming an object. A lattice is a primitive type in Blender. To add a lattice, go to Add - Lattice . Note that the default size is a 1 m cube, so half the size of the default cube. A lattice is a 3-dimensional array of points, and by default is just two in each direction. If you go to the properties pane, you will find it has its own tab, and you can vary the number of points in each dimension, from 1 upwards. In practice, there is not much point is more than five or so. Rather than x, y and z, it uses u, v and w, I guess because it can be rotated. On its own a lattice is not much use. You need to combine it with an object. To do that, add a modifier to the object Deform - Lattice , and then link to the lattice. You also need the lattice to be is the same location as the object, and completely enclosing it, So far the object will not be changed; select the lattice, and go into edit mode. Now move on...
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