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I'm getting stuck at making the grid of the radio below.:

enter image description here

I can make a hexa grid using Array modifiers, but I don't know how to deform it like in the picture.

Here's what my base mesh looks like:

enter image description here

I find it hard to make the grid follow the curvy shape circled in Red. My best attempt is this:

enter image description here

You can see that that part is heavily deformed. This attemp I use two curve modifiers to follow two curves, one horizontal and one vertical. I think that with this sorts of situations, the best way is to use Shrinkwrap to wrap the grid around the curvy shape, but that method results in heavy deformation. Circles don't look like circles any more. What is the best solution for this?

Here's my Blend file if necessary: retroRadio.blend

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    $\begingroup$ if we take a look at some close-up pictures of this radio, the grid actually doesn't look like what you've done: zupimages.net/up/19/40/hjj9.jpg so maybe you should try to build a mesh that looks like that, then I guess it would save a lot of memory to bake this mesh and only keep a simple rounded beveled surface $\endgroup$
    – moonboots
    Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 8:53
  • $\begingroup$ Thank you, moon. I'll try re-make the base mesh, but still, how can I deform the grid like in the picture in your comment? $\endgroup$
    – LOTR_7193
    Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 9:00
  • $\begingroup$ Looking at your picture, I think it may work to use Mesh Deform modifier. The idea is to use a mesh to deform the grid, then attach it to the radio. What do you think? $\endgroup$
    – LOTR_7193
    Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 9:02
  • $\begingroup$ I'm looking how to do it, maybe with Cast modifier? Old tuto by CGMaster about a microphone, it may help youtube.com/watch?v=2NhawJgrBKw if it's not very important to stick to the real thing you can also fake it. Another problem is to find how to make round holes... $\endgroup$
    – moonboots
    Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 9:11
  • $\begingroup$ @moonboots: You may check these answers for making the hexa grid. bit.ly/2pf0gBv. Btw, I still cant see how to use Cast modifier to achieve that shape yet. The broader question would be, how can we make a hexa grid follow an arbitrary curvy surface without the circles being deformed? The way I see it, the cast modifier is limited to three shapes, so I think it's not a long-term solution. I think the answers are very likely to lie in the Shrinkwrap modifier and a combination of a deform modifier such as Mesh Deform/Lattice/Surface deform and Proportional Edit. $\endgroup$
    – LOTR_7193
    Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 9:18

1 Answer 1

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I think you can get something rather good with this method:

  • First here is a close-up shot of your radio.

enter image description here

  • Create a mesh > Geodesic Dome with these parameters (or similar):

enter image description here

  • Select all, bevel the vertices with shiftctrlB. Then delete Only Faces.

enter image description here

  • Keep only 1/8th of the ball, you have your corner. Enable the Snap (Vertex mode) and the Merge Vertices options. Begin to duplicate the borders to make the flat surface.

enter image description here

  • At the end give it a Subdivision Surface and a Solidify modifier. Maybe a Shrinkwrap if you want to correct the shape a bit.

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you for this black magic. I'll try it for this model, but still, I will try to find a long-term solution for these sorts of situations. Will comment here if I figure it out. $\endgroup$
    – LOTR_7193
    Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 16:08

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