In part one of this tutorial series I will show you how to model a Warhammer in Blender.
Handle Base
I have provided a very simple reference
I will bring in the reference image and begin by making the handle
I begin by adding a circle with 16 vertices
In edit mode, I move the handle to the top of the reference – but keeping it inside the center part of the hammer head
I scale it and then extrude it up along the Z-Axis
I add a face to the top
With the face selected, I add a small bevel to round out the top of the handle
I select the bottom edge loop and duplicate it
I move it down along the Z-Axis – keeping it inside the center part of the hammer head
I then scale and extrude the handle
To prepare for texturing, I add a simple material to the handle
I also make sure the normals are all facing the correct way (the faces should all be blue)
If anything is red, I can go into edit mode and use ALT + N to flip the normals
If you are new to UV unwrapping – I do have a dedicated video that you may want to watch first – link is in the description
Under the UV Editing workspace, I select the top and bottom edge loops and a vertical edge loop on the back of the handle
I then right-click and mark seams
I make a new 2K UV map
I select the handle and unwrap it
Under the overlays menu, I activate “display stretch” to make sure I don’t have a lot of stretching on the UV islands
In object mode, I right-click and choose “shade auto smooth”
I also use CTRL + 1 to add a subdivision surface modifier with one level of detail
Handle Decoration
I will now work on the handle decoration
I add a circle and in edit mode, I move and scale the circle
I then extrude the circle along the Z-Axis
I add an edge loop in the center and scale it along the X- and Y-Axis
I then add a bevel to round out the geometry
I unhide the handle
I select the top and bottom edge loops
Using the E and S-keys, I add some thickness to the decoration
I select the top face loop and scale it to zero along the Z-Axis just to make sure it is flat
I select the top inner edge loop and extrude it up along the Z-Axis
I repeat this process for the bottom inner edge loop
I add edge loops to each of these extruded faces and scale them along the X- and Y-Axis
I then add a bevel to round out the geometry
Using the E and S-keys, I add some thickness to the decoration and connect it to the handle
I also make sure the normals are all facing the correct way
Under the UV Editing workspace, I select the top and bottom edge loops and an edge along the back of the decoration
I right-click and mark the seam
I then select the decoration and unwrap it
I continue duplicating these decorations along the handle
I also add a face to the very bottom piece of decoration since it will be seen
I select all of the decorations and unwrap them
Under the overlays menu, I activate “display stretch” to make sure I don’t have a lot of stretching on the UV islands
I give the decorations a simple material
In object mode, I right-click and choose shade auto smooth
I also use CTRL + 1 to add a subdivision surface modifier with one level of detail
Handle Bottom
I will add the loops to the bottom of the handle
I add a Bezier circle – rotating it around the Y-Axis 90-degrees
In edit mode, I scale the circle down and place the top just inside the bottom handle decoration
Under the object data properties tab, under the geometry panel, I add a bevel [0.1]
I change the resolution preview to 3 so it won’t be a dense mesh when I convert it
I duplicate the circle and rotate it around the Z-Axis 90 degrees – moving it into place
I also make sure the normals are all facing the correct way
In object mode, I right-click and convert the circles to a mesh
Under the UV Editing workspace, I select the center edge loop and mark the seam
I then select the objects and unwrap them
Under the overlays menu, I activate “display stretch” to make sure I don’t have a lot of stretching on the UV islands
I right-click and choose shade auto smooth
I also use CTRL + 1 to add a subdivision surface modifier with one level of detail
I also give the rings a simple material
Handle Leather
I can now make the leather for the bottom part of the handle
I unhide everything and add a plane and rotate it around the X-Axis by 90-degrees
In edit mode, I move it into place
I scale the plane to a slightly smaller size and move it to the right-side of the handle
I then delete the two right-side vertices
With the leather selected, I add a screw modifier – changing the Axis to “Y”
I can now use the screw option to begin wrapping the leather around the handle
I then increase the number of iterations to add length to the leather
I now add a shrink wrap modifier with the handle as the target
I then add a solidify modifier with an offset of 1 and an even thickness
I can then increase the total thickness
In object mode, I apply the modifiers – starting from the top
I right-click the leather and choose “shade auto smooth”
I also make sure the normals are all facing the correct way
Under the UV Editing workspace, I select the inner edge loop and the vertical edge on the top and bottom of the leather and mark the seam
I then select the object and unwrap it
Under the overlays menu, I activate “display stretch” to make sure I don’t have a lot of stretching on the UV islands
I also give the leather a simple material
Hammer Head (Center)
For the hammer head, I will add a cylinder with 16 vertices and no end caps
I rotate it around the Y-Axis 90-degrees and move it into place
In edit mode, I scale the cylinder to the proper size
I add a vertical edge loop and scale it along the Z-Axis
I then add a bevel to round out the cylinder
In object mode, I right-click and set the origin to the 3D cursor
I also use CTRL + A and apply the transforms
In edit mode, I delete one-half of the cylinder and add a mirror modifier with clipping enabled
I enter into wireframe mode so I can work on the front and back of the cylinder at the same time
I select the top and bottom center vertices and scale them along the Z-Axis
I add a single vertical edge loop
I select the vertices that match the diagram for the decoration
I then add a small bevel and use ALT + E to extrude these faces along their normals
I then repeat these steps for the interior decoration
I right-click the center of the hammer head and choose “shade auto smooth”
I select the outer edge loop and extrude it out along the X-Axis
I select the new face rings and use the P-key to separate them
I also make sure the normals are all facing the correct way
In object mode, I apply the mirror modifier
Under the UV Editing workspace, I select the outer edge loops and one edge loop along the bottom and mark the seams
For the decorations, I select the outer edge and one edge that attaches to the center part of the hammer head and mark the seams
I then select the object and unwrap it
Under the overlays menu, I activate “display stretch” to make sure I don’t have a lot of stretching on the UV islands
I also give the center part of the hammer head a simple material
I also use CTRL + 1 to add a subdivision surface modifier with one level of detail
Hammer Head (Rope)
Back in edit mode, I add a vertical edge loop to the center of the ropes and scale it
I then add a bevel to round out the faces
I select the interior edge loop and scale it inward so I attaches to the center part of the hammer head
In object mode, I apply the mirror modifier
I right-click the rope and choose “shade auto smooth”
I make sure the normals are all facing the correct way
Under the UV Editing workspace, I select the outer edge loops and one edge loop along the bottom and mark the seams
I then select the object and unwrap it
Under the overlays menu, I activate “display stretch” to make sure I don’t have a lot of stretching on the UV islands
I also give the ropes a simple material
I also use CTRL + 1 to add a subdivision surface modifier with one level of detail
Hammer Head (Outer)
I select the outer edge of the rope in edit mode
I duplicate it and then separate it with the P-key
In object mode, I set the origin to the 3D cursor and add a mirror modifier – moving it above the subdivision surface modifier
In edit mode, I extrude the edge along the X-Axis and then scale it
I then scale the edge along the X-Axis and add a face
I need to add a supporting edge loop toward the outer face due to the subdivision surface modifier
I also need to inset the face
I add a vertical edge loop and bevel it to make two edge loops
I move the outer edge loop closer to the edge of the hammer head
I then add a bevel to each of the edge loops
Using ALT + E, I extrude the new faces along their normals
I add a vertical edge loop in the center of each of these new face loops
I then add a bevel to each of the edge loops
Using ALT + E, I extrude the new faces along their normals
I repeat this process with a single edge loop in the center
In object mode, I apply the mirror modifier
I right-click the hammer head and choose “shade auto smooth”
I make sure the normals are all facing the correct way
In edit mode, I add supporting edge loops to correct any odd shading issues
Under the UV Editing workspace, I select everything and clear the seams
I select the outer edge loops and one edge loop along the bottom and mark the seams
I then select the object and unwrap it
Under the overlays menu, I activate “display stretch” to make sure I don’t have a lot of stretching on the UV islands
I also give the outer pieces a simple material
I will be using a base mesh I downloaded from Sketchfab as a guide for scale –
I scale the Warhammer to a proper size
I select everything and use CTRL + A to make sure all of the transforms are applied
Under the UV Editing workspace, I select everything and unwrap it all onto one UV map