I HATE drawing 3D instruction sheets! (Completed)

[Rusty White]

Well here it is. The final and most difficult instruction sheet I have done to date. I really appreciate all the kind words, suggestions and general feedback. I'll be getting a LOT of 3D practice in the coming months with 6 more kits following this one.

[Cadman]

Very nice! Easy to read and informative.

One thing. Add an "on" to the sentence about the powder scoop placement.

[Rusty White]

Very nice! Easy to read and informative.

One thing. Add an "on" to the sentence about the powder scoop placement.

Thanks for the heads up. It has been corrected.

BTW, expect a model sample of the kit for review soon.

[Rick E Davis]

About 40 years ago I had a job "Hand Drawing" ... on paper with INK ... 3-D technical drawings for manuals. I laid out a perspective grid and worked from there translating 2-D drawings. Talk about hours of tedious work. Undoing one ink error was maddening.

The Computer Drawing programs are a BIG improvement on the process. Your instructions look great!!!

[DrPR]

Rusty,

Nice instruction sheet.

I know what you mean about time required to make the drawings. I have been working about six years on my CAD model of the USS Oklahoma City CLG-5, and part of that time has been spent creating dimensioned 2D drawing sheets for the various parts like radars, winches, directors, etc. It can take a month or more to disassemble a complex assembly and show the dimensions of every part. I am nearing completion of the 3D model, but it will be several years before I have a complete set of 2D assembly drawings for the whole ship.

Phil

[tea monster]

About 40 years ago I had a job "Hand Drawing" ... on paper with INK ... 3-D technical drawings for manuals. I laid out a perspective grid and worked from there translating 2-D drawings. Talk about hours of tedious work. Undoing one ink error was maddening.

The Computer Drawing programs are a BIG improvement on the process. Your instructions look great!!!

I used to do Illustrations with brushes, Rapidographs and ruling pens (remember them?). I still to this day am unable to suppress a slight shiver of glee when I can hit 'Cntrl-Z' to undo something that I've made a mistake with. I remember I spent more time trying to unclog a Rapidograph than I actually spent using it.

Rusty - I know you don't like the time involved, but gotta say, those are some of the most professional instructions I've ever seen for anything - and I've built a few model kits in my time.

[Rusty White]

Here's the instructions for the 1/32 scale Mortar Barge kit soon to come. A particular pain in the butt with the angled bulkheads. Suggestions welcomed.

[tea monster]

That does look beautiful! I still think you should investigate some sort of CAM route. It wouldn't save time on the diagrams, but if you work it right, it would save time on the physical construction of the prototype .

The only thing I could suggest is some sort of 2D vector drawing programme like Inkscape or Illustrator. You could take a digital pic of the model and 'trace' over it in inkscape. I have no idea if this would be any faster or not. Both Inkscape and Illustrator have a method of automatically 'tracing' photos and kicking out a line-art drawing, but it's very much 'garbage-in/garbage-out'. It could take a lot longer to either make the drawing or clean up a vectorized scan than it does to make the model and render it. You'd just have to see how it turned out.

The other option is to take nicely lit and posed digital pics during the construction phase. Set up a little cyclorama and some professional lights and click away. Then feed them into Photoshop and fiddle with them till you get something nice and clear. You would have to be very carefull about lighting and contrast though, but it would save you lots of time in Max.

Owen

[navydavesof]

Rusty,

For hating it as much as you do....you are awfully good at it! These instructions make me want to buy a kit to see what the kit looks like! If the instructions are this good, the kit must be killer!

[Rusty White]

That does look beautiful! I still think you should investigate some sort of CAM route. It wouldn't save time on the diagrams, but if you work it right, it would save time on the physical construction of the prototype .

The only thing I could suggest is some sort of 2D vector drawing programme like Inkscape or Illustrator. You could take a digital pic of the model and 'trace' over it in inkscape. I have no idea if this would be any faster or not. Both Inkscape and Illustrator have a method of automatically 'tracing' photos and kicking out a line-art drawing, but it's very much 'garbage-in/garbage-out'. It could take a lot longer to either make the drawing or clean up a vectorized scan than it does to make the model and render it. You'd just have to see how it turned out.

The other option is to take nicely lit and posed digital pics during the construction phase. Set up a little cyclorama and some professional lights and click away. Then feed them into Photoshop and fiddle with them till you get something nice and clear. You would have to be very carefull about lighting and contrast though, but it would save you lots of time in Max.

Owen

Thank you so much for the suggestions. I explored as many avenues of instruction production as I could, and in the end what you suggest wouldn't cut any real time off the process because all the points must still be set to produce the drawing. I considered using photos of a build for the instructions, but after you spend the time on set up for each shot, not to mention building the kit, you have spent at least as much time as it would take to draw up the instructions in 3D.

[Rusty White]

Rusty,

For hating it as much as you do....you are awfully good at it! These instructions make me want to buy a kit to see what the kit looks like! If the instructions are this good, the kit must be killer!

Thank you for the kind words. As I mentioned earlier, the reasoning behind the improved instructions is give you, the modeler , more value for your money. The number one gripe I hear about cottage industry kits is the instructions. Anyone who has built one will tell you a good kit can easily turn into a nightmare build without good, clear instructions. Once upon a time I built an expensive HMS Hood kit for a client. And while the kit was nice, the instructions really lacked valuable details. So much so that I couldn't build the kit without purchasing an Anatomy of the Ship book to fill in the holes left out in the instructions. As long as my profession deals with 2D and sometimes 3D drafting, I couldn't see any reason why I shouldn't put that to use.

The kit is very unique(being somewhat biased). I don't think there is another mortar barge kit available from anyone. Especially in 1/32 scale. The potential for dioramas with all the 1/32 scale civil war figures out there is endless.

[Roscoe]

Your instruction sheets look great, all kits should come with one's that nice...
2D drawings weren't meant to be fun, were they ? That's got to be my least favorite CAD thing to do, like you said, very time consuming....
And I'm really liking that Mortar Barge.

Dean

[dbmoens]

Rusty,
I have also observed that you do these instructions really well. You have really raised the bar for any other manufactures who genuinely care about quality of instructions. I did see a small typo on the painting. You probably meant bare timber on the insides.
Dave

[Rusty White]

Rusty,
I have also observed that you do these instructions really well. You have really raised the bar for any other manufactures who genuinely care about quality of instructions. I did see a small typo on the painting. You probably meant bare timber on the insides.
Dave

Thanks for pointing that error out. I'll make the change.