Instructions

1

Visit a site such as Blend Swap, Blender 3D Model Repository or Blender 3D Club to download models in BLEND format (see Resources for links). Blend Swap enables you to filter your search by CC license or category, so you can search only for unrestricted models or, for example, browse the landscape or character categories. Blender 3D Model Repository and Blender 3D Club also categorize their downloads but don't have as many BLEND files as Blend Swap.
2

Extract your downloads to a location in your user directory and launch Blender. Click “File” and choose “Open” -- or press “Ctrl-O” -- to switch to a file browser view, and locate your extracted BLEND files. Double-click a file to open it in Blender.
3

Click “Current Editor Type for This Area” in one of the panels and choose “3D View.” The BLEND file likely contains several panels that display one of the 17 Blender editor views, and the Current Editor selector is a small box in the lower left corner of every panel. Most of Blender's many functions are accessible from the interface -- a feature that can be overwhelming to new users -- but mousing over a button or menu displays a short description of the function.
4

Click inside the 3D View window to move the cursor to a location to which you would like to append a model. Click “File” and choose “Append” -- or hold down “Shift” and press “F1” -- to open the Append window. Double-click a BLEND file to view its models, meshes, materials and other data. The Objects folder contains a project's 3D shapes, so open this folder and double-click an object to append it to your project.
5

Click “View” in the 3D View panel and choose “View Selected” to center the view on the appended object. Its coordinates in the original file may be outside of your current project's perspective so that you're unable to see it until you center your view on the object.
6

Use your scroll wheel to zoom out until you see the rest of your project, or if your mouse doesn't have a scroll wheel, click “View,” point the cursor to “Navigation” and choose “Zoom Out.” Press “G” to move the object with the mouse and click the left mouse button to set it in place. Hold down “Shift” and press “Ctrl-S” to save the project as a new file. Enter a name for your file in the browser window and click “Save as Blender File.”