The Ship Model Forum

Yes. There are three file types in solidworks, Parts, Assemblies, and Drawings. Drawings contain only views, notes, and dimensions. They contain no geometry. Think of them like a page layout in ACAD that is linked to a part or assembly file instead of being in the file itself. It is very easy to have views of multiple part or assemblies in a drawing without having to put all the geometry in the file, too. It is pretty versatile, and has advantages over ACAD because when you change the part, the drawing updates at the same time. There are very complex things you can do with Bill of Materials and cut lists. That said, I sell 1/100th scale drawings of Scharnhorst that I made in SW but converted to dwg's to print. Loading the entire Scharny file in SW takes a while and uses over 7 gigs of memory, but loading one of the dwg's takes a tenth the time and uses a lot less memory. So each has it's advantages. I like to do the drawing in SW then convert it, it is the best setup for me.

I am curious about programs like Solid Works and Rhino. I have seen a lot of pretty pictures generated by these programs, so they have decent rendering. But are they true full-featured CAD programs? That is, can you do 2D dimensioned plans in addition to 3D modeling. I know you can do both with AutoCAD.

What are the pros and cons of SolidWorks and Rhino?

Sorry, I can't do that.

What an Nice Modell of the USS Buchanan! Superb work

It would be nice to get this Modell for my Silent Hunter 4 Modpack "Fall of the rising Sun "
I worked out an Benson Class for my modpack but your Modell is much more better.

Here my Vessel :



Is there a chance to get your Modell for my project ?

Regards

Christian ( AOTD_MadMax )

I'm with you on Solidworks. I "grew up" with Pro/E. The switch to Solidworks has been pretty painful.

I still use AutoCAD for all my 2D stuff. Can't be beat for mold design reviews!

Thank you for the offer, but I can do all I need in AutoCAD. I have a good friend that uses SW that has worked with me in the past. But other than exchanging files with SW users I don't really like the way it models.

I learned how to use SW at my old job. I was a forging die designer for about 20 years. I was on the drafting board for about 8 years and in '97 we switched over to SW which I was using until '99. Then I made a career move into web programming. The most difficult parts to model were the transom and bow. I would be happy to help you if you like.

I have some experience with 3DS Max and gMax but I am not that familar with Autocad. I think release 13 was the last time I touched it. I am working on a virtual model of CV-62 which is related to my other post the scratch build forum.

Well you figured out how to model a hull, so that is a good start. Keep working at it. Who knows, you may be help design the next plastic kit.

Yes I did. While I was scratch building my USS Zellars I built a model in SW. Of course my virtual model does not have the fine detail as yours does. It's more reflective of the model I was actually building.

AutoCad, just can't get the hang of Solidworks.

Have you modeled any ships yet?

Hi Tim

I was admiring your work and wanted to know if you were using Solid Works or Autocad? I use SW myself.

Don

Thanks. I wanted PE radar, but it got left off. Mostly due to it not being noticed until the frets were done. I guess I didn't worry about it too much as I know there are plenty of aftermarket PE sets available. While the plastic screen may be too crude the pedestal came out pretty nice.

Within AutoCAD it is only 25 megs waterline style. But all the common parts are blocks and are not duplicated for each version of the ship. The file size swells to 100 megs plus when converted to an IGES file. With these 3D models the detail is somewhat simplified, but not too much. It didn't take me long to figure out that having real 3D diamond plate tread on my 40 mm gun mount platforms was a real no-no. The render time increase was ten fold. I resist the urge to work in shaded view as it tends to bog my computer down to the point where everything happens in slow motion. I have been experimenting with adding materials to the models. I have a MS-12 mod material that I can map to the surface, but it is trial and error to map it to the right proportions. AutoCAD is just now catching up to the render capabilities of other programs. But all that is really of no use for manufacturing a kit.

The real fun comes in when you start shelling out solids and breaking parts up based on best molding practices. I was able to do much of this myself thanks to a good friend who has worked with me in my real job. But this can be heat breaking as you watch the program attempt to make the parts ready to mold and soften details and totally wipe out some finer parts. I am still learning though and am getting better each time I do it. I have even learned some things that helped me with my latest casting design for my real job.

That -is- beautiful work, Tim

It's unfortunate that the kit nor upgrade set contains PE parts for the main (search?) radar at the top of the mast...any idea why that is?

Since your 1/350 plastic version grabs all the people attention I wonder how many will ever notice there was an excellent 3d model first.... Do you need 120 megs to accommodate it on the HD.. ? if you don't mind me asking.

Darius
Paper Lab

Now that the secret is out. I wanted to post some USS Buchanan CAD pics. I had a lot of fun building this ship. But it really pushed my PC to the limits.