So far the hardest part was figuring out blender in the first place. I have never really used a 3D modeling program before. I have tried, on multiple occaisions, to use 3D CAD software like Sketchup or 123D Make. So far Blender is treating me much nicer.
The model I decided on doing is the Calgary Alberta Temple. I picked this one because that is where my wife and I got married a little over a year ago. Also If I can get this 3D Printed, it would be a nice memento.
Modeling should be somewhat easy. The temple design is fairly blocky with lots of symmetry. So I started with the ubiquitous cube. Scaled it up a bit and deformed it slightly. Then I put a plane on the top of it to allow for the first raised level on the top.
After extruding that plane, I added another to allow for the next level that will also be part of the spire on the top. To start the spire, I added a cone that was reduced to 4 sides and that was placed on the top. So far so good.
Next I added the side elements. I created a cube, and then mirrored it on the x and y axis. Then I brought it to the sides of the larger box and narrowed them a bit and made them taller. Afterwards, I extruded the faces to make a series of boxes that wrap a bit down the top of the main box.
I also had to make the base box a little larger and had to do some other slight adjustments.
Next I added the additional blocks that appear near the top of the structure. As with the other parts, I mirrored them and then moved them around.
The challenging part came from the upper edges of nearly the entire structure. Blender has a bevel tool, but it doesn't seem to reverse it very well.
I eventually decided on doing the reverse bevel later. So I got started on doing the window regions instead. Each side has indentical window configurations. Even this proved to be challenging. I had to create new edges that would be where new faces would be. And that involved lots of dividing edges and relocating verticies.
Next up was to add the vanes that appear where the windows are inset. This was much easier than expected since I was getting a better handle on Blender at this point. Although for some reason, the verticies would get duplicated whenever I was trying to add faces to the object that I was working on. But after some trial and error, I managed to get the vanes put into place.
Next I went and added the windows that would appear on the spire. The faces here were a bit tricky. I eventually had to subdivide the faces into smaller quadrilaterals to prevent the inset face from being covered.
Next I had to put in the door to the building. While I worked on this I also fiddled with light sources as well. By now I was getting the hang of the whole modeling thing much better.
To start with the door, I first built that overhang that covers the door entrance.
And with that, I called the project completed. More details would be far too time consuming. For example, the upper edges of the main building are beveled. But the issue is that the bevel is reversed, which Blender doesn't do very well. So I had to forgo that detail.
