Hello and welcome! Today I’ll

be teaching you how to make

a very basic model—or shell,

as I like to call it—of a 5th

generation Chevy Camaro in

Blender 2.6.

Graystone Hill

I decided to make this tutorial

because I used to make cars

like the following Chevy.

I’d seen classmates making

similar models and decided

that after I’d harnessed my

own skills a little more, I’d try

to teach others to make one a

little more like this next model.

This tutorial assumes you

have a fair understanding of

the Blender interface and how

to use various modeling tools.

These include basic

navigation, extrusions, loop

cuts, use of modifiers, and

good use of reference images.

The first step is to download

blueprints and other reference

images, and to set them up in

Blender. A great guide to

doing this can be found here.

Since this may be new to you,

I’ve also included the edited

blueprints I used, as well as

the .blend source file.

After setting up the views, add a plane

and cut it in two so that one half can be

deleted and a mirror modifier added.

Make sure ―Clipping‖ is enabled so that

the vertices that touch at the center will

merge.

Blender Camaro Tutorial – Graystone Hill

In at least two views (top and front are

recommended), adjust the vertices of the

plane to match up to key points of the

hood.

Add two loop cuts along the x-axis using

ctrl+R to add some detail to the hood.

Using primarily the side view, move these

new edges to flesh out the center portion of

the hood some more. This may require

tweaking in all views.

Using all views, extrude (E key) the right

edge out to create the bulge on the hood.

In the top and front views, follow the rest of

the hood out to the edge simply; loop cuts

will be added later to create more detail. It

is important to maintain topology, so try to

make the loops ―flow,‖ so that the angles

between the edges are fairly obtuse.

Extrude the back edge of the hood to the

reference line in front of the windscreen.

Now start on the front panel forward of the

hood. Just add a plane (you may need to

move the cursor away from the center by

left clicking where you want to add the

plane) and scale and position it according

to the references. Remember to use

multiple views.

Extrude along the front panel. Where you

place these extrusions is quite subjective,

as you want to strike a balance between

following the curves appropriately and

keeping the initial polygon count low.

Extrude backwards to the next reference

line, maintaining the curve and trying to

―color inside the lines.‖

Adjust this left edge so that it lines up with

the opening in the center of the panel.

Then extrude this edge to the center. The

vertices should snap to the center and

merge if clipping is enabled in your mirror

modifier.

Since we’re modeling in panels and not as

a solid chunk, we’ll duplicate the back edge

to the other side of the reference line and

start extruding back.

As we did with the front panel, extrude

backwards using at least two views,

following the curve as well as possible. Try

to line up the edge loops to those of the

hood.

Similarly to the front panel, extrude the

side toward the hood. Again, make sure to

line up edge loops.

Using all views, extrude downward to the

top of the wheel well (keep it smooth), and

again to the sharp edge about halfway

down the side of the car.

Keep extruding down behind the wheel

arches in front of the door. The only useful

view here is the right one, so use

photographs to supplement it and get an

idea of how the section curves.

In front of the wheel well is another panel,

but we won’t extrude that part down just

yet.

I started modeling this other front panel

separately, but now that I look again it

should be connected to the one above it.

With that in mind, extrude downward to

that reference line, and add a loop cut to

match the one on the wing behind it. Adjust

vertices to match in two or more views.

Using primarily the front view, extrude

downward, trying to follow ―parallel‖ to the

curved line on the far right. This may

require tweaking.

Continue extruding forward into the lower

front plate. All views become useful here,

and this is another tweak-heavy section.

Continue these extrusions along the grille

outline and make sure to leave room for

the lights and the lower edge. You may

switch out of edit mode and/or toggle the

smooth shader to make sure this area

stays smooth.

You can either keep extruding to key

points, or extrude to the center and add

loop cuts as needed. In areas like this

where the piece is fairly short, I tend to

take the latter approach, allowing the

vertices to merge at the axis, moving them

into position, and then adding loop cuts

and adjusting those individually or in small

groups. I extruded around the light, leaving

room to make the cutout roughly circular

later on.

In the front and side views, extrude the

rear edge out to the wheel well. You may

notice that the highlighted corner doesn’t

quite match up with the reference lines, but

since this is a lower-poly model, it may be

better to leave out the extra detail of a

couple-millimeter edge.

To create this lower edge, the front and

side views are the most useful. You may

notice that this edge has a slightly sharper

angle at the side of the car than at the

center. Just account for this by adjusting

the angle slightly at each extrusion, making

sure not to do it abruptly and turn out

―twisting‖ the edge.

Add a new plane in edit mode, bringing it in

place to start the roof. Move the vertices to

the corners and the front- and backmost

points. Then add loop cuts and adjust them

in primarily the top and side views to add

shape to the roof. We’ll leave it at this point

for now and move on.

Again, add a plane, this time to the top

portion of the door, scaling it up and

moving vertices in the top and side views

to make a very simple outline of this face.

Add a single horizontal loop cut to match

up with the front wing’s edge loop.

Extrude the door downward. As while

working on the front wing, we can only see

this part from one view, but we do have the

front wing to tell us how far in along the x-

axis to bring the front point, and

photographic references to guide the back

vertex.

Again, add a single horizontal loop cut and

match it up with the corresponding loop on

the front wing.

Now extrude the lower edge of the front

wing down into the triangular portion as

shown, extruding an extra point to

complete the small triangle.

Likewise extrude the door down and out.

Now extrude the lower edge of the door

down and slightly towards the center along

the x-axis.

Returning to the roof, add loop cuts and

move them to the reference to make the

slight depression down the center of the

roof.

Add a plane to the back, making a single

loop cut along the x-axis and several along

the y-axis, and flesh out the shape of the

trunk lid.

Add another plane below the front wing,

and add a loop cut at the same level as the

bottom of the door.

Extrude this back to the rear edge of the

door to create the skirt of the car.

Take the back edge of the door and

duplicate it back to the rear wing.

The top and right views become the most

useful to modeling this portion. As in earlier

sections, try to maintain most of the

curvature while keeping the poly count low.

Continue extruding back along the wheel

arch. It may be difficult to keep the middle

loop smooth, but just keep tweaking.

By pressing ctrl+numpad 1, you can go to

a back reference image. This becomes

quite useful when making this portion that

wraps around to the rear of the vehicle.

NOTE: I hid the rest of the vehicle by

selecting vertices of areas I wasn’t working

on and pressing H; this makes it much

easier to work from the back view.

Extrude once to make the beginning of this

―shelf,‖ for lack of a better term. You’ll

notice at the back of the pillar near the rear

window, there is an edge where you can

match up this extrusion.

Now continue extruding, either from this

new edge or from the wing we made.

You can create a triangular face connecting

this new loop with the wing where they

meet to a point.

I usually advise against using triangles

simply because they don’t play nicely with

subdivision modifiers, but in this case it’s

necessary and won’t interfere terribly with

the topology.

Continue extruding down around the wheel

arch, over the ―gills‖—we’ll cut those in

later—and to the top of the triangular

portion. Use the door as reference for the

position along the x-axis of these vertices.

Still referencing the door, extrude to the

bottom of the triangular portion.

Extrude the skirt back to the rear end of the

triangular portion, then up to just below the

triangle. While the door ends and the wing

is a separate panel, note that this skirt is

one piece all the way back.

Using the top and right views, extrude the

wheel arch—you may do it all at once and

tweak, or do it point-by-point and make

faces as you go along.

Duplicate the bottom edge of the rear wing

and move it down slightly to create a new

section.

Extrude vertices back to the panel beside

the tail lights using the side and back

views.

Optionally loop cut the portion just above

this to match the vertices below.

Like with the front, there are two possible

approaches to making this short back

edge; either extrude to the center and

make loop cuts, or extrude over bit by bit.

I’ve hidden the vertices on the trunk lid, but

these vertices match up to those.

Going back to the wheel arch, extrude

down, keeping the width constant all the

way around.

Continue extruding back, as usual

matching to the vertices above.

Duplicate the necessary edges on the

―shelf,‖ and extrude them up into the strut.

Usually this part requires a lot of tweaking

so that the shaders stay attractive. To

assure they work well, you can toggle

between smooth and flat shading and

check multiple angles.

Continue extruding along the doorframes.

We have an awful lot more vertices than

we need in here, so you can merge

vertices in the middle edge loops, as long

as you’re very careful about the triangles. I

recommend just leaving them as quads.

Rather than extruding from existing

geometry, I made a new plane just above

the license plate and extruded out to meet

the rear wing area. This isn’t for any

particularly special reason; I just had

trouble making the part near the tail lights

out of quads without triangles and though

I’d approach from a different angle.

Change your strategy to fit the situation.

Now extrude the panel around the license

plate.

Make face between the two pieces of

geometry to connect them, adjusting

vertices to ease the angles a little bit,

making the transition slightly smoother.

Now that we have these edges it becomes

easier to see where to put that face.

The next panel can sometimes be tricky,

but you can trace around and fill in faces,

just tweaking vertices to make it smooth.

Since we’ve got most of the basic shape

done, we’ll revisit the front and begin

adding slightly more detail. So, make edge

loops where necessary to smooth out

curves.

Now we’ll add a couple of edge loops to

help smooth out the corner of the hood,

matching them up with the front panel.

Fill in the wheel arch.

Continue making loop cuts to make edge

loops correspond from panel to panel.

This next piece of the wheel arch is easier

to do point-by-point in my opinion,

especially so that the areas between

panels stay accurate. This can be done

from just the side angle, since this is a flat

area.

Extrude the front panel down, making sure

that the ―twist‖ is gradual enough to stay

smooth. By this I mean that, since the

angle increases, it can sometimes look too

angular and become unattractive with

smooth shaders. Just be aware of the

transition.

Extrude the extra faces around the grill,

possibly adjusting vertices around it to stay

accurate.

Continue inward to finish the rim around

the grill.

Add the necessary loop cuts so that you

can delete a face and create the air intake

at the front.

Extrude these perimeter edges accprdomg

to the front and right reference views.

Add detail using loop cuts so the light

housing can be made round.

Returning to the rear end, create the

recessed area for the license plate as

shown. Because it eases back, I have a

couple of triangles toward the bottom.

Create the tail light bay by extruding from

the side and back views. Connect faces to

the boot lid, adding a couple of edge loops

if you need to. The far left face may need

to be made into a triangle to flow smoothly.

The spoiler may take some experimenting,

but the reference images and photographs

should give you a good idea of how to

shape it.

Make necessary loop cuts so that the

frame around the windscreen can merge

into the front wing with quads. Be careful

not to make triangular faces here or else it

won’t look pretty when shaded smooth.

UPDATE: Turns out this step is

unnecessary, as the arch and wing are

separate panels.

Continue making extrusions and loop cuts

to extend the area around the windows.

Likewise, extrude the top edge of the

door, this time trying to make a twist in

the center loop. Use photographic

references to help create this piece.

Now go back to the rear wheel arch and

make loop cuts to create the ―gills.‖

In the previous slide you saw that I deleted

the faces where these gills are, but it’s a

better idea to just extrude those faces back

along the x and y axes slightly. These may

look at first like air intakes, but the Camaro

just uses them for decoration, and they’re

only a centimeter deep or so.

As with the front grill, extrude the edge of

this lower grille inward and back according

to the references.

Extrude the light housing straight back

according to the right view’s reference.

Now that we’ve got the general shape of

the car, we’ll apply a smooth shader from

the tool bar (press T in object mode). You’ll

immediately see that it looks hideous, but

bear with me; we’re going to fix this.

Add an edge split modifier. If you’re

satisfied with the model at the

default edge split, great, you’ve got

a simple car shell! If you want to be

a little more specific with where the

sharp edges occur, turn of ―edge

angle‖ and activate ―sharp edges.‖

This allows us to specify which

edges are shaded as sharp or flat,

and which are shaded as smooth.

In edit mode, select the edges that need to

be angular and press CTRL+E to bring up

the edge context menu, then select ―mark

sharp.‖ Make sure you don’t mistake this

for ―mark seam.‖ Use your photographic

references to determine which angles are

sharp. This can become a tedious process,

but it does have its payout later.

This is what my model looks like after

marking all of the necessary edges as

sharp. Things are really starting to come

together.

We can still do a little bit more to this

though. Continue extruding the grill

housings backward, using photographic

references to shape the inner curves.

Likewise extrude the tail light housing

forward.

Add a plane for the windshield and position

it roughly; we’ll add loop cuts to make it

pretty.

And as promised, some loop cuts! Try

lining them up to the geometry of

surrounding panels.

We can merge the end of the roof’s

groove to a point, making it both sharper

and easier to line up with the windscreen.

Adding a corresponding loop cut to the

hood will help line these up as well as

allow for extra curvature.

I’ll admit I got sloppy here, and this looks

messy; but, extrude the outer edges of the

windscreen to fill in the gaps. This will also

create geometry for the black trim around

the edges.

Now we’ve got a simple shell of the Camaro, and with a few details like wheels, radiator

grills, and lights, it can be turned into a masterpiece. Hopefully the skills learned in this

tutorial will help you become a better modeler, as well as to show you the framework for

creating cars in Blender. Thanks for reading, and good Blending!