Sopwith Swallow (it’s Sketchup, Pepakura, Paint.net story [restart])

[Nh3ave2009]

I am eating this UP!!!! thanks I have been looking for something like this for a very long time. PLEASE DON"T STOP!!!

Thank You!!

[nando]

When the general geometry of the fuselage is completed, I go to design the bulkheads.

I draw the first bulkhead into the fuselage group, drawing one rectangle and one arc, then I select and group both.



Now I have to modify the bulkhead I just created, deleting the useless lines and shrinking the general dimensions to fit the bulkhead with the thikness of the paper. To do so I use the “offset” tool and I set the distance at 0,5 cm



Then I deleted the external border of the bulkhead.
Now I created a gap between the fuselage and the bulkhead.



The same for the other bulkhead.



Now I can export the fuselage to Pepakura and test the unfold and possibly the fit by building a prototype.

[nando]

Pepakura is a wonderful tool to unfold and to organize the parts of your model. As You can see at the Tamasoft site: “Pepakura Designer allows you to easily create papercraft models from 3D data you create from your favorite 3D software.”

WARNING: pay attention at the version of Sketchup. The current version of Pepakura Designer (v. 3.0.7a) is compatible
only till the version 7.0 of Sketchup, the current version is 7.1 and the previous free one is available in other sites other then Google.

Step 1: Export from Sketchup the 3D model in the .KMZ format (Google Earth).
Step 2: Open the exported file with Pepakura Designer
Step 3: Settings

set the “Other settings” like this



Set the “Print & Paper” like this



Set the Unfold options like this



Step 4: Unfold

I unfolded the model. I set the Flap’s Height to 3 mm, I arranged the parts editing flaps, joining and disjoining rotating and moving the faces, to obtain an acceptable layout, and I put the unfolded reference pillar in the second page.
This is the result.



Step 5: Print/Export

Now I can print directly the first page only, and try to build to verify the fitting.
Otherwise I can print using PDF995 virtual printer to obtain a .pdf file.
Those are the settings




And then I can convert the .pdf file in an image file using PDFEDIT995 software, by setting the Pixel/inch value at 600, to be conform
with the value that I before set in PDF995.



So I obtain an editable image file like this:



Next Texture and Color :D

PS: A riddle for you: what is my next project?

[Ron0909]

I could be wayyyyy off but it almost looks like part of a radio telescope

[nando]

Originally Posted by Ron0909

I could be wayyyyy off but it almost looks like part of a radio telescope

A Clue: It is related with the space but particulary with concerns about safety ... :D

[nando]

There are two ways to texture and to color a model, at least from what I know:

• design the model and apply color and texture on it, then unfold and correct details on parts
• design the model, unfold and then apply textures and colors on the parts

I chose the first mainly because i didn’t find a viable way to use vectored graphic and because i liked to obtain a preview of the completed model directly in Sketchup.

The ways to apply colors and textures in Sketchup that I used are:

• apply materials/texture directly on the surfaces
• use the “stamp” method

Materials

It’s the simplest way to colorize a surface, using the “paint bucket” tool.
Since I have chosen to decompose the model in subprojects, I had had the problem of use the same color / material into each subproject.
I solved the problem, creating an independent component that I imported in each subproject as a palette. Below an image of this palette.



When I need to colorize some surface, I can use the “paint bucket” with the Alt-Key depressed (eye dropper) to select the color / material that I whant, and then I can use the color with the same tool (Alt-Key released) on the selected surface.

[nando]

With the previous method I can colorize the surfaces but I cannot put on those any particular.
There are two types of surfaces on this model: the round and flat one.
In particular I had the problem to texture the cylinders of the engine. To do it I used a method I found in the tutorial 3D Gallery, here the link (How to wrap a texture around a cylinder )

Following the instructions I did a pair of images for the round and top surface of the cylinder.



Then I imported the images in Sketchup file of the cylinder.

Those are the following steps:

1) create a face with the exact size of the surface of our cylinder
2) Import the image as texture and carefully apply it on the face by scaling it to totally fit.
3) right click on the face and go to Texture > Position. All sorts of positioning pins appear, but don't touch them just hit Enter (or right click > Done).



4) Choose the Paint bucket tool and press Alt (it will turn into an eye dropper tool).
5) Sample the positioned texture from the face and release the Alt button
6) Apply the positioned and now sampled texture on the cylinder.



The image of the top of the cylinder can be imported as texture and applied on the top surface, well positioning her.

The same I did with the guns, round and square part.




Next the "Stamps" :D

[nando]

This way I did all marks on the model, making the most of the intersection of a group with the model in Sketchup.
You can find some hint in this tutorial that I found Stampers Tutorial ), but I can show to You how I did the national marks on the
fuselage.
I start drawing a circle on the fuselage.



Then, using the “Offset” tool, I draw other circles inside the first.



I delete the useless surfaces and using the “Push/Pull” tool, I create the “Stamps” that I need and I make a group, as usual.



Now I hide the components that aren’t interested by the national marks, and I push the “Stamp” group into the fuselage.

Finally I select the Fuselage group and Intersect with the model.



I closed the group, I Hided the “Stamp”, and I imported the “palette” component.



Finaly I modified the “Fuselage” group, and I used the Palette’s Colors on the model.



This way I did all the marks and the particulars of the model.

Here eg, the stamps that I used on the wings.



Next Paint.net :D


Wow!
It’s more tiring explain what I did, then make it.
Next Paint.

[nando]

I recall the process summary that I described above, just to underline that now we are between the 6th and 8th step:

1. design the general geometry
2. Define the Groups and Components
3. Work on the subprojects for refine and for engineer the geometry
4. test to unfold the single component, if necessary return at the previous step (3.)
5. test build the unfolded component, if necessary return at refining the project (3.)
6. apply a texture and colorize the component
7. unfold and build the component
8. put the unfolded component in the general model sheet
9. return to work at next subproject until the model will be complete (3.)

I choosen to colorize and to detail the model using Sketchup, but we can choose to detail and colorize the model using a graphic editor like Paint.net. Anyway we have to arrange the single parts in few sheets, and we have to correct and refine what you obtain from Sketchup and Pepakura, like the lines over the round upper surface of the fuselage.

What we have at the end of the process is a collection of graphical files (typically .jpg), each one containing the parts that make up each component. Now we can put each component together the others, and arrange them following the logic of the proximity, or the logic of the material they are made (paper or cardboard).



We can put some title some note and we can associate a number to each part for to refer to them in the instructions.

It is useful in Paint.net to use the level, adding to the file a level each time you add a component with its parts. In this manner You can arrange the new parts so they not interfere with the original ones. When You end to work the parts, You can join the levels and save the file in .jpg format.

When you save the file, you have to choose the 100% quality of the JPG files, and finally the file has to have those properties:

• 4960 x 7017 Pixels
• 51,67 x 73,09 Inches (21,00 x 29,71 cm)
• 600 Pixel per Inch

I used Google PICASA (crop to fit, no border no caption, Printer PDF995, 600 dpi) to print with PDF995 each file jpg, with the same setting I used when I printed in Pepakura. In this manner I obtain a pdf file in A4 format that I can combine with the others that I need, using the “combine/extract” function of PDFEDIT995 software.

Next “The Cover and the instructions” :D

[nando]

Some more progress in my new project.



I think that now It's easy to understand what I'm doing.

I tought that it could be simple, but the textures are a nightmare, and wanting to do all the components it's hard to fit well them all.

more follows :D