Hard-Surface Tips: Modeling & Texturing a Used Putty Knife

Introduction

Hello everyone! My name is Bohdan, I’m 21 years old, and I’m from Ukraine. I was into 2D drawing at first, but after some time, I realized that it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do. Later, I switched to 3D graphics. I chose this path because I felt that 3D offered much broader possibilities, and since I was very interested in video games, working in 3D graphics made the process much more exciting for me. I’ve been working with 3D graphics for over three years, and so far, I’m really enjoying it.

Modeling the Putty Knife

I chose this model because I didn’t have much time to make something complex. I wanted to pick something simple in terms of modeling, but interesting for texturing. The main criteria for choosing the model were:

1. Simple modeling process.
2. Having at least 3 different materials, including metallic ones.
3. A high level of damage/wear.
4. The object should be in my real life (yes, I have a putty knife).

Once I chose the object, I used standard subdivision modeling to make the putty knife as quickly as possible. I applied the same strategy to most of the following stages. Only half of the blade was modeled, and just 1/4 of the handle, the rest was done with the Mirror Modifier to speed things up. I followed the same approach for creating the low-poly version.

Texturing 

Since this is a portfolio piece and I had very limited time, I didn’t spend too much effort on topology, UVs, or baking. I kept these steps quick and simple. For UVs, I used Blender and RizomUV, and for baking, I used Marmoset Toolbag 4 (all standard, nothing unusual).

The main stage I wanted to focus on was texturing. As I mentioned earlier, I used to draw, and even though that’s in the past, I actively apply the skills I gained in 3D as well. Specifically, the academic approach: from general to specific, and developing the whole work step by step at the same time.

Here’s how I usually approach texturing: first, I define the main materials of the model (in this case, plastic and metal). Then I create their “base”, basic values of Color/Roughness/Normal, with a little neutral detail. Once the main details are finished, I move on to the less important or secondary materials (such as metal darkening and paint). After that, I start adding variation through procedural texturing, so I don’t have to redo things from scratch if needed. Finally, when procedural methods are no longer enough, I move on to working with stencils.

It’s important to note that I don’t finish fully one material before moving to another. Instead, I work on all parts of the model simultaneously, keeping them at the same level of completion. Simply put: if the putty knife's blade is 50% done, then the handle will also be about 50% done.

This is especially useful in commercial projects with deadlines. If you run out of time, usually you end up with some parts of the model fully finished while others remain barely touched, which looks bad. With my method, you can stop texturing at any stage, and even if the model isn’t fully complete, all of its parts will still look evenly finished.

For personal projects, I don’t use formal naming. I keep it simple and clear for myself; to make it easier to navigate and find layers, I also use different colors for naming. Each color indicates what type of content is on that layer.

For example, on the paint, I used Anchor Points. This tool is very handy when you want to add dirt under some bump or detail that was created with texturing instead of geometry or baking.

All of the materials in this project, except for a little bit of rust, were made by hand, so there are a lot of layers. Here’s a small part of how I worked on the paint:

Rendering & Lighting

Once the texturing is done, I move on to rendering the model. I render both in Marmoset Toolbag (I constantly check it there during texturing) and in Substance 3D Painter.

Most of the time, I use a simple white plane or a plane with some material as the ground. For lighting, I use an HDRI map along with one or several point light sources from the side.

I don’t like to overcomplicate rendering, so I keep it very simple. After rendering, I do some light post-processing: adjusting contrast/saturation, adding a slight vignette, and sharpening the image a little. And that’s it, the work is done.

Conclusion

Overall, I’m happy with the final result. I got great practice in texturing and managed to add a new piece to my portfolio in a very short time. This time, I didn’t encounter any major difficulties, the whole process went smoothly and comfortably.

For beginners, my advice would be to texture based on what you see, not just what you know. Focus more on your eyes and references, rather than blindly following how someone once taught you to create a specific material in a YouTube course.

Thank you for your time! I hope it was interesting to learn about this putty knife creation process. Good luck!

Bohdan Ivanovich, 3D Artist

Interview conducted by Emma Collins