APA-168
10-04-2008, 09:34 PM
Ok, I know a lot of people are put off of designing by the high cost of many CAD programs. You need not be. Sketchup is a fantastic 3d program from Google that is available for free. Coupled with some free plugins and an SVG image editor like Inkscape and off you go.
Sketchup is, however incapable of doing hulls effectively. I know there are some other free programs available that are used with fantastic results (Metaseq comes to mind) for ship hulls, but I have yet to investigate them fully. So for this tutorial, we will be doing a simple landing craft using free drawings found online through internet search engines.
What you will need:
Google Sketchup, http://sketchup.google.com
Flights of Design SVG export plugin, http://code.google.com/p/sketchup-svg-outline-plugin/
There are a number of unfold tools, however my favorite is one that plugs directly into Sketchup. http://sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2007/08/plugin-unfoldrb.html
This is the one we will be using in this tutorial.
Finally, you need a program like Inkscape or Paint.net for editing your models. All of these programs can be dowloaded for Mac and PC or are cross-platform. Let me know if you have any problems with install/downloads.
Most of the same principles will apply to aircraft and armor, so if you don't do ships, don't go away. I have you in mind and we will also be building a simple tank for your landing craft to carry.
Feel free to ask any question along the way. This is my first tutorial and this will be a learning experience for me too. No question is dumb, feel free to PM me also for help if you need it. Next update tomorrow.
Sketchup is, however incapable of doing hulls effectively. I know there are some other free programs available that are used with fantastic results (Metaseq comes to mind) for ship hulls, but I have yet to investigate them fully. So for this tutorial, we will be doing a simple landing craft using free drawings found online through internet search engines.
What you will need:
Google Sketchup, http://sketchup.google.com
Flights of Design SVG export plugin, http://code.google.com/p/sketchup-svg-outline-plugin/
There are a number of unfold tools, however my favorite is one that plugs directly into Sketchup. http://sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2007/08/plugin-unfoldrb.html
This is the one we will be using in this tutorial.
Finally, you need a program like Inkscape or Paint.net for editing your models. All of these programs can be dowloaded for Mac and PC or are cross-platform. Let me know if you have any problems with install/downloads.
Most of the same principles will apply to aircraft and armor, so if you don't do ships, don't go away. I have you in mind and we will also be building a simple tank for your landing craft to carry.
Feel free to ask any question along the way. This is my first tutorial and this will be a learning experience for me too. No question is dumb, feel free to PM me also for help if you need it. Next update tomorrow.