Hello and welcome!

Today Ill be teaching you how to make a very basic modelor shell, th as I like to call itof a 5 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.

Id seen classmates making similar models and decided that after Id harnessed my own skills a little more, Id 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, Ive 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 were modeling in panels and not as a solid chunk, well 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 wont 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 doesnt 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. Well 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 wings 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 xaxis 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 wasnt 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. Youll 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 dont play nicely with subdivision modifiers, but in this case its necessary and wont interfere terribly with the topology.

Continue extruding down around the wheel arch, over the gillswell cut those in laterand 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 archyou 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. Ive 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 youre 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 isnt for any particularly special reason; I just had trouble making the part near the tail lights out of quads without triangles and though Id 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 weve got most of the basic shape done, well revisit the front and begin adding slightly more detail. So, make edge loops where necessary to smooth out curves.

Now well 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 wont 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 its 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 theyre 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 views reference.

Now that weve got the general shape of the car, well apply a smooth shader from the tool bar (press T in object mode). Youll immediately see that it looks hideous, but bear with me; were going to fix this.

Add an edge split modifier. If youre satisfied with the model at the default edge split, great, youve 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 dont 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; well 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 roofs 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.

Ill 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 weve 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!