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I am working on making an intake manifold out of sheet metal but I have been struggling to draw up the shape unwrapped as if it was a uv just from pictures, I turned to using blender however I am painfully new and not particularly good at it.

I want this blender

To look more like these with a radius like these

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

How would I do this?? or if anyone has a suggestion on how to get the same shape to cut out of metal without going through all of this and then uv unwrapping that would be much appreciated. Cheers -- Joe

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    $\begingroup$ Hello, this is a very interesting shape to model, but if you're new to hard surface modelling, I suggest you try simpler shapes first, or break it down into very simple shapes. Once you know how to model a cube, model a cylinder, then a faucet, or a door handle, and so on. also, you'll need to use reference from at least 3 directions if you want to make sure width, depth and length are up to par with reality. + you may be intersted in subdivision modelling docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/modifiers/generate/… $\endgroup$
    – Gorgious
    Commented Jun 15, 2021 at 12:25
  • $\begingroup$ You should have started with a cylinder, although I'm not sure how it would worked out. As for now I would try beveling those edges to get that shape. $\endgroup$
    – Nand 27
    Commented Jun 15, 2021 at 12:26
  • $\begingroup$ select the edges that you want to round and press Ctrl B to bevel, then open the Operator box (bottom left of your 3D view) and tweak the factors, maybe you'll get something close to what you want? $\endgroup$
    – moonboots
    Commented Jun 15, 2021 at 12:27
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for the responses guys, I dont have a reference from 3 sides which I was I was going to play around with different radii of the plenum and find one that suits the application $\endgroup$
    – Monk
    Commented Jun 15, 2021 at 12:43
  • $\begingroup$ blender.stackexchange.com/questions/1503/… $\endgroup$
    – Duarte Farrajota Ramos ♦
    Commented Jun 15, 2021 at 14:09

2 Answers 2

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I would keep it as simple as possible, making the front profile from a 12-sided cylinder, no cap, duplicated, and rotated to match the reference..

enter image description here

Cut them in half, and work under a mirror modifier, back-to-front.

With the Header option 'Automerge' checked, and Snap set to 'Vertex' and 'Active'

K Knife, with C to constrain to horizontal and Z to cut through, cut across the top of the upright cylinder. Cut away the excess of the tilted cylinder, and go round, snapping vertices. Which verts you snap to, and which from, should be clear, bearing in mind you want to preserve the curvature at the front of the object.

Once done, cut through vertically, to get something like the right image. From a top view, maybe correct the width.

Now count the vertices in the back edge, and make a sphere that will match, when quartered. My sphere had 16 segments, for 1/4 of its equator to match 5 vertices.

Discard the 3/4 you don't want, scale and locate for the other end of your object:

enter image description here

ShiftD duplicate its front edge along the length of the object, scaling vertically to reference:

enter image description here

Then, with all open loops selected, CtrlE Edge menu, Bridge Edge Loops:

enter image description here

After a couple of levels of Catmull-Clark subdivision, you're nearly there.

enter image description here

The rest is tweaks, maybe a bit of relaxation in the front curve.. extrusions, a Bevel modifier above the subdivision..

enter image description here

The general rules:

  • Keep the polycount to a bare minimum.
  • Make the tricky bits first, (exactly circular radii, etc)
  • Count vertices, match for transitions
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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for the well-made explanation! $\endgroup$
    – Monk
    Commented Jun 16, 2021 at 6:43
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    $\begingroup$ @Monk Thank you. I should just add.. if you want to extend your model to other continuous parts, forget all that bevelling and extrusion of detail. That comes later. Again, consider transitions. For example, there should be one face-ring along the length for each vertical exhaust-pipe, unlike my illustration. My bad. $\endgroup$
    – Robin Betts ♦
    Commented Jun 16, 2021 at 7:17
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From what you have, you can use bevel to come close to what you want. Select all the edges that you want to round and then CtrlB (tweak the factors in the Operator box on the bottom left of your 3D view):

enter image description here

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