How can I model this handle?

5rettski · Sep 6 2025

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/c8/cqmd5h9xbper.png

Hello,

I have asked this in the "How The F*#% Do I Model This?" thread, and I haven't exactly gotten the answer I'm looking for.

The part I am most stuck on is when it comes to extruding this cylinder bit right here. It confuses me because it is an infinite spiral loop, so I don't know where to make the ends stop.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/ok/my1ard572wvn.png

This is what I have tried so far, it seems off to me.

I am making this for a college assignment due this coming Wednesday. My file with what I already had got corrupted, and I have already been trying to figure this out for 3 days. I am very anxious to figure this out already. Please help.

pior · Sep 6 2025

In order to solve any part, you need two things : first, a solid understanding of your modeling toolset ; but secondly (and more importantly) a good understanding of the design you're attempting to recreate. These are two very different things.

So in order to understand/solve this object, you could for instance sculpt it freehand using any sculpting tool, or redraw it from various angles until you understand it. Whatever works !

As for it being for an assignement : the logical course of action would to ask your teacher for advice. And then just do your best, even if it's not perfect. The deadline is irrelevant as people are just providing free help on their own time ...

All that said, good luck - I am sure things will end up clicking.

Noren · Sep 6 2025

First of all, there was no need to open a new thread for this, and secondly, this question simply was not solved by the concept artist. It's up to you, and you have gotten at least two suggestions on how this could look in the other thread. A third would for example be a more gradual approach with the cuts starting thin and shallow, ignoring the concept in this regard, but that's what they get for leaving us with this conundrum. That is, if you'll get a chance to defend your decision in this matter. A perhaps easier but ultimately counterproductive approach would be to simply not solve this either and never show the area in question if the manner of your presentation allows for it. Counterproductive because problem solving is a large part of this work and people make mistakes all the time. Yes, I'd consider this a mistake on the concept artist's part (at the very least they didn't think it through) but it's also an easy mistake to make and you'll make plenty as well.

Another approach to what pior suggested would be to keep your model very basic and procedular and break it down to the simplest repeating forms and play around with that without any concern for topology. Just have parts sticking into each other and see how they look with (radial) symmetry applied, where you have to break symmetry if you decide that that's the way to go etc. Use Booleans, bend flat pieces into your tube shape, whatever allows you to try out different solutions quickly and see how that affects the final repeating form.

okidoki · Sep 8 2025

If you have soo many problems with this and you came not up with the idea to ask your teacher.. or simply look a some real life references.. for example any twist drill available in any hardware store..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Drillbits.jpg

..then you may have to overthink your path to be an 3D artist.. maybe doing something "more real" as a start to understand things in the real world, how they are made or how one can reach some goals before making it into the virtual world.

(This is no harassment but a real advice.)

Also not anythign drawn or painted is possible in the real world..
..
expect..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBY4HaAngaA

..but there is a trick (in real life; not via cgi)

Noren · Sep 8 2025

I wouldn't be quite so harsh (for a change). Especially when starting out, it's easy to assume there is a perfect solution and that this solution is expected. So the central sentence is this part:

okidoki said:
Also not anythign drawn or painted is possible in the real world.

If that's not understood, then the drillbits (already mentioned in the other thread), don't help, either, as the concept artist went with one variant, but used the profile of another, likely without thinking about how that would work in 3D (and if they did and had a specific solution in mind, an additional closeup would have been a good idea). Again, problem solution and analytical thinking is a big part of our jobs, and some might be better suited for it than others, but I can totally understand how this might stump someone who is just starting out and simply wants to create a model that's true to the concept.

okidoki · Sep 8 2025

Noren said:

If that's not understood, then the drillbits .. don't help, either..

But this would be a real world "solution" and so one can understanf whats possible and so might be able "to read" the concept..

(Maybe i understood this incorrectly (non-native-english ) but of course i didn't meant it harsh

)

Another example for such possible probblem is: "blueprints".. I always have some which do not line up. And i do not mean the measurements; there is one thing in one view which different in another. And of course if you have detailed photos then they are also from some different version :

So again experience in the real world so one can imagine what something could look like and notonly "drawing something" (which of course is also not that easy). For drawing and painting this is called (mental) visual library.. and for 3D modeling you also need some understanding how things are build in the real world; you do not need to be an artisan but it helps and you do not need to build every nut, bolt or hole

Noren · Sep 8 2025

Agreed.

How can I model this handle?

Replies