I searched for answers to my dilemma about the creation of this object. I finally decided that I would need to think it through carefully. I wanted to arrive at a solution that made sense to me.
Baby Fred saw building blocks. She sat for a long time trying to figure out how to put them together to form this shape. All she had to work with was one humble cube. Baby Fred has done some earlier learning, as you might remember. Albeit only theory, she needed to allow that memory and logic to kick in.
Baby Fred wanted to play with the building blocks. They looked like fun. Take one humble cube and glue all the other cubes and there you have a shape. To convert this theory to Blender terms, there are a few cubes and one base cube (the humble cube as I call it). Each cube is manipulated and attached to the base cube. Possibly by snapping faces together. There goes my AutoCAD thinking again! This is not a practical method of modeling. It is longwinded and not productive. It certainly did not make sense to do it this way.
I decided to look at the logical method. The one that was “good enough for purpose” and suited to this specific task. My “mentor, guru guy” taught me the concept of “good enough for purpose”. He also taught me about devising a plan of action or a project road map, no matter how small or big the project. (See this article about how to start a large 3d project)
So! What is the logical method? This is the logic according to Baby Fred. I threw the building blocks away and went ahead, thinking on a more technical level. Can I stretch and manipulate the humble cube to look like the final object? Yes, of course, I can. Getting to know which tools to use is important. I visualized my plan of action. This was when I went to war on the cube. I needed a strategy that would work for this project.
I started by looking at different modeling techniques. I came across a concept called box modeling. This fitted in with my ideas and I went ahead.
Box modeling is the idea that you can model anything from a simple shape such as a cube or a cylinder as a basis. Various tools are used to divide or extrude, for example, to reach a specific shape. I don’t know where the “box” in “box modeling” fits in because any shape, not only a box, can be used as a base shape to work from.
I feel clever now, but as it is with the humble cube, I must remain humble and grounded. If not, I will surely be brought right down to size again.