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PostPosted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 12:02 pm 
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Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 2:32 pm
Posts: 404
Hi all,

I'm an intermediate CAD user currently using Alibre Design. I really like it for its ease of use, but it cannot do certain things. I would like a CAD program that can do certain things the Alibre cannot, like adding weld lines, surface plating (like on warship hulls), extruding cuts and surfaces to curved surfaces like airfoils and hulls again, and so on. I can make basic hulls in Alibre, but the program cannot do the sort of detailing and surfacing to really make 3-D printing of these parts and models worthwhile.

Any ideas? I have 2-3 hundred hundred dollars to spend, potentially. I'm not averse to doing the bulk of the work in Alibre and then exporting to another program to do the surfacing, so a surfacing or detailing plug in or other standalone program would be fine.

Thanks for any suggestions,

Bob


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 1:53 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 10:15 pm
Posts: 1438
Location: State of Denial
For $200-300, I have no idea, but SolidWorks does all those things and I can't say I ever actually paid for it... :big_grin:


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 8:11 am 
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Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:12 pm
Posts: 344
solidwork/solidedge are good for the inorganic contour, surfaces, curvatures. From my personal experience though, autodesk programs are just as good, and slightly more friendly when you need other programs to help out.

for the weldbeads you'd need something dedicated to organic sculpting, zbrush probably best option right now.

legit copies are expansive, there are always other ways.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 10:20 am 
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Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 4:50 pm
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If you are a sutdent or teacher, you can get an academic license of Rhino for u$ 195 or a commercial one for 995u$. They are no difference between versions.
As for another NURBS CAD, Autodesk Alias design, academic versions are free, but commercial licenses are more expensive.
NURBS CAD systems are not 100% parametric as Solidworks but you can do both; accurate double curvature surfaces and complex intersections that most solid modelers can´t and also more mechanical shapes.
In addition to that Alias and Rhino are compatible with any solid package able to import IGES files, so you can model hulls in Rhino and export it to SW for the engineering.
Below are a couple of Guppy sails I´m doing in Alias.

Saludos

Patricio
Image
Image

_________________
Done:
Victor III 1/350

In the yard:
USS Gudgeon 1/350
Alfa 1/350
Queue:
Guppy II 1/350
Leonardo Da Vinci 1/350
Type 212 1/350
ARA Santiago del Estero 1/144
USS Nautilus 1/350
ARA San Juan 1/350
ARA Chiriguano 1/350
Severodvinsk 1/350


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 1:43 am 
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Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2015 9:25 am
Posts: 2256
Location: Los Angeles and Houston
A quick shout out for Smith Micro's ViaCAD.

It isn't quite AutoCAD, Alias, or Solidworks, but it is a very decent program, and it too can import a variety of file formats from other programs.

I am just now transitioning to it from Maya for doing solid-line/Hard-edge surfaces. I plan to do a few WWII ships for which there are no current kits. And so far it seems to have everything I need.

One other point.

Autodesk's RIVET has a naval architecture package that can be purchased, and then building ships is just a matter of point-click for most things (and then adjusting parameters). But it can be daunting to get fine detailed parts, and it can be expensive to maintain.

MB

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OMG LOOK! A signature

Working on:


1/700 (All Fall 1942):
HIJMS Nagara
HIJMS Aoba & Kinugasa
USS San Francisco
USS Helena
USS St. Louis
USS Laffey & Farenholt
HIJMS Sub-Chasers No. 4 - 7
HIJMS Sub-Chasers No. 13 - 16


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