I'm trying to model a wing shape. To achieve that, I can model separate cross sections ("airfoils") of the wing and loft over these with the loop tools. I would like to be able to manipulate the airfoils after the fact, though.
So I would like to achieve the following: keep a bunch of linked duplicates of the airfoils on the side where I can see them and line them up and neatly manipulate them as needed; the linked duplicates in the actual wing and the lofted shape should update accordingly.
The Catch-22 is that for lofting, I need the airfoils to be joined into one object; on the other hand, for the linked duplicate thing to work, I need them to be separate objects.
Another point of view would be: is it possible to linked-duplicate only part of an object? I could then go the other way around, first model the whole wing and then extract linked duplicates of the airfoils for ease of manipulation.
Thanks!