How to model this light fixture???

[voltron7]

I need to show this but I have no idea how to make one.
So, please let me have any ideas about how to go about this one...
I only have max9 to work with, FWIW.

http://www.equilibrium-in-light.com/products/chi.html

Thanks in advance!

[beestee]

You might get a good starting point from using the "splinePainter" soulburn script with an elongated sphere as the canvas? It will probably take at least a little hand sculpting outside of that also to get a convincing result. Good news is that it looks like the sculpture has symmetry in quarters, so once you are happy with part of it, you could then use a few symmetry modifiers to finish it off perhaps?

[voltron7]

Thanks for the pointers, I'll try that script, too...