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Hi there:

 

I've just started experimenting with sketchup as a support for ship modelling. What I would like to do with it is to be able to make lines drawings and (if possible) templates for components - specifically frames. I don't know if all of this is possible - the lines drawing seems ok (once a bezier curve extension is acquired....

 

My question is if I want to print my drawings how can I do so in a particular modelling scale (1/4", e.g.)....I've seen no option for doing this so far and would be grateful if anyone could explain how this works - if it works....Thanks in advance!

hamilton

current builds: Corel HMS Bellona (1780)
 
previous builds: MS Phantom (scuttled, 2017); MS Sultana (1767); Corel Brittany Sloop (scuttled, 2022); MS Kate Cory; MS Armed Virginia Sloop (in need of a refit); Corel Flattie; Mamoli Gretel; Amati Bluenose (1921) (scuttled, 2023); AL San Francisco (destroyed by land krakens [i.e., cats]); Corel Toulonnaise (1823); 
MS Glad Tidings (1937) (in need of a refit)HMS Blandford (1719) from Corel HMS GreyhoundFair Rosamund (1832) from OcCre Dos Amigos (missing in action); Amati Hannah (ship in a bottle); Mamoli America (1851)Bluenose fishing schooner (1921) (scratch)
 
under the bench: Admiralty Echo cross-section; MS Emma C Barry; MS USS Constitution; MS Flying Fish; Corel Berlin; a wood supplier Colonial Schooner Hannah; Victory Models H.M.S. Fly; CAF Models HMS Granado; MS USS Confederacy

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Hamilton,

With your SketchUp you also have something called layout (separate part) that will handle the scaling for printing.

 

Please, visit our Facebook page!

 

Respectfully

 

Per aka Dr. Per@Therapy for Shipaholics 
593661798_Keepitreal-small.jpg.f8a2526a43b30479d4c1ffcf8b37175a.jpg

Finished: T37, BB Marie Jeanne - located on a shelf in Sweden, 18th Century Longboat, Winchelsea Capstan

Current: America by Constructo, Solö Ruff, USS Syren by MS, Bluenose by MS

Viking funeral: Harley almost a Harvey

Nautical Research Guild Member - 'Taint a hobby if you gotta hurry

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Hi Per:

 

Thanks for the tip - I followed up on it and have ow generated some 1:12 scale line drawings of the Edwin Monk Curlew just to get a feel for the software. Not sure how successful I've been.....I'll need to print the plans to find out.....thanks again!

hamilton

current builds: Corel HMS Bellona (1780)
 
previous builds: MS Phantom (scuttled, 2017); MS Sultana (1767); Corel Brittany Sloop (scuttled, 2022); MS Kate Cory; MS Armed Virginia Sloop (in need of a refit); Corel Flattie; Mamoli Gretel; Amati Bluenose (1921) (scuttled, 2023); AL San Francisco (destroyed by land krakens [i.e., cats]); Corel Toulonnaise (1823); 
MS Glad Tidings (1937) (in need of a refit)HMS Blandford (1719) from Corel HMS GreyhoundFair Rosamund (1832) from OcCre Dos Amigos (missing in action); Amati Hannah (ship in a bottle); Mamoli America (1851)Bluenose fishing schooner (1921) (scratch)
 
under the bench: Admiralty Echo cross-section; MS Emma C Barry; MS USS Constitution; MS Flying Fish; Corel Berlin; a wood supplier Colonial Schooner Hannah; Victory Models H.M.S. Fly; CAF Models HMS Granado; MS USS Confederacy

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I'm a big fan of Sketchup. However it might prove cumbersome when it comes to ship design. I know it can be done but I have a feeling it's not the best tool for this. If you ask me, I find it unacceptable to NOT have a built in splines engine after all these years. The extensions you find are kind of old and, as I struggled with them a few time ago, buggy (unless they've fixed some issues in the meantime).

 

You don't need only the 2D tools to draft a plan. You also need surfacing smoothing possibilities, spline curvature analysis and so on. I'm using Sketchup for every project, but when I tried drafting a ship plan I went for something else.

Edited by moflea

Alex.

 

Current build: Constructo's Union, 1:100 Brigantine

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Yes, SketchUp has become very popular since it has a shallow learning curve.

It's used by wood craft designers. Commonly used in the movie/TV  business as well. 

I use the program for architecture design, together with the Podium for rendering. 

 

Please, visit our Facebook page!

 

Respectfully

 

Per aka Dr. Per@Therapy for Shipaholics 
593661798_Keepitreal-small.jpg.f8a2526a43b30479d4c1ffcf8b37175a.jpg

Finished: T37, BB Marie Jeanne - located on a shelf in Sweden, 18th Century Longboat, Winchelsea Capstan

Current: America by Constructo, Solö Ruff, USS Syren by MS, Bluenose by MS

Viking funeral: Harley almost a Harvey

Nautical Research Guild Member - 'Taint a hobby if you gotta hurry

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I also tried Sketchup for drawing ship plans but found it lacking in many areas as was mentioned lack of splines and problems with circles, bevels and few other things. I have a post with my efforts somewhere on forum; at first it seems easy, feasible and I progressed up to a certain point and began to encounter difficulty do to a lack of tools. Im not new to 3D as I've been a Solidworks user for a long time.  I agree with Alex, I don't think Sketchup is well suited for drawing up plans. I've been recommending Onshape which is free for 3D modeling. It's a lot like SW so the learning curve was small. Search for a post called scantling questions. 

Current project: Retired

www.howefamily.com

 

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It seems like Sketchup is really for square things, or at least really regular things. The number of CAD options out there - not to mention price issues and complexity - make selection a difficult task for the novice....I may try out Onshape as Don recommends - free is always welcome! I'm definitely not in a position to drop a lot of money on this sort of thing....thanks all for the contributions to the post so far!

hamilton

current builds: Corel HMS Bellona (1780)
 
previous builds: MS Phantom (scuttled, 2017); MS Sultana (1767); Corel Brittany Sloop (scuttled, 2022); MS Kate Cory; MS Armed Virginia Sloop (in need of a refit); Corel Flattie; Mamoli Gretel; Amati Bluenose (1921) (scuttled, 2023); AL San Francisco (destroyed by land krakens [i.e., cats]); Corel Toulonnaise (1823); 
MS Glad Tidings (1937) (in need of a refit)HMS Blandford (1719) from Corel HMS GreyhoundFair Rosamund (1832) from OcCre Dos Amigos (missing in action); Amati Hannah (ship in a bottle); Mamoli America (1851)Bluenose fishing schooner (1921) (scratch)
 
under the bench: Admiralty Echo cross-section; MS Emma C Barry; MS USS Constitution; MS Flying Fish; Corel Berlin; a wood supplier Colonial Schooner Hannah; Victory Models H.M.S. Fly; CAF Models HMS Granado; MS USS Confederacy

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For my ship CADing, I use DesignCAD, the 3D version. It is fairly cheap, and functions well. I draw out the frames in 2D, then switch to 3D to place them, then use the spline function to connect the dots.

 

Has a learning curve, but so do all the CAD programs.

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Thanks Ron - just looked into DesignCAD and was pretty amazed by the price....significantly cheaper than most CAD software and figured for a newbie it was worth a try.....we'll see how it goes.......thanks again

hamilton

current builds: Corel HMS Bellona (1780)
 
previous builds: MS Phantom (scuttled, 2017); MS Sultana (1767); Corel Brittany Sloop (scuttled, 2022); MS Kate Cory; MS Armed Virginia Sloop (in need of a refit); Corel Flattie; Mamoli Gretel; Amati Bluenose (1921) (scuttled, 2023); AL San Francisco (destroyed by land krakens [i.e., cats]); Corel Toulonnaise (1823); 
MS Glad Tidings (1937) (in need of a refit)HMS Blandford (1719) from Corel HMS GreyhoundFair Rosamund (1832) from OcCre Dos Amigos (missing in action); Amati Hannah (ship in a bottle); Mamoli America (1851)Bluenose fishing schooner (1921) (scratch)
 
under the bench: Admiralty Echo cross-section; MS Emma C Barry; MS USS Constitution; MS Flying Fish; Corel Berlin; a wood supplier Colonial Schooner Hannah; Victory Models H.M.S. Fly; CAF Models HMS Granado; MS USS Confederacy

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Hi Ron:

 

I've been test driving TurboCAD over the weekend and there is, indeed, a learning curve. I've been using Sketchup and so I'm having to both learn and unlearn at the same time! As an experiment I've started with a relatively simple example - the Monk "Curlew" centreboard sloop. I'm trying to model it in 1:12 scale and initially just determining how to set the scale was a challenge. Now I've reproduced (in 2D) the line drawings as well as a corrected transom and sketched the shape and taper of mast and boom. I have not made any attempts yet to experiment in 3D, but will work my way up there once I feel comfortable with 2D drawing - I'll read through the tutorial you link to above! 

hamilton

current builds: Corel HMS Bellona (1780)
 
previous builds: MS Phantom (scuttled, 2017); MS Sultana (1767); Corel Brittany Sloop (scuttled, 2022); MS Kate Cory; MS Armed Virginia Sloop (in need of a refit); Corel Flattie; Mamoli Gretel; Amati Bluenose (1921) (scuttled, 2023); AL San Francisco (destroyed by land krakens [i.e., cats]); Corel Toulonnaise (1823); 
MS Glad Tidings (1937) (in need of a refit)HMS Blandford (1719) from Corel HMS GreyhoundFair Rosamund (1832) from OcCre Dos Amigos (missing in action); Amati Hannah (ship in a bottle); Mamoli America (1851)Bluenose fishing schooner (1921) (scratch)
 
under the bench: Admiralty Echo cross-section; MS Emma C Barry; MS USS Constitution; MS Flying Fish; Corel Berlin; a wood supplier Colonial Schooner Hannah; Victory Models H.M.S. Fly; CAF Models HMS Granado; MS USS Confederacy

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  • 2 months later...

How would one use Sketchup to lay out say a ship's helm. I'm picturing a classic 8 spoke with a bronze hub. The hub is round and has square holes around the perimeter. I understand making spokes round but how do you get a "hole" in the outer rim of the hub into which the spoke would fit?

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Sailor, 

Look into this youtube clip, I think it has the answer you are looking for.

The parts has to be solids before any such "trimming" can done.

 

Please, visit our Facebook page!

 

Respectfully

 

Per aka Dr. Per@Therapy for Shipaholics 
593661798_Keepitreal-small.jpg.f8a2526a43b30479d4c1ffcf8b37175a.jpg

Finished: T37, BB Marie Jeanne - located on a shelf in Sweden, 18th Century Longboat, Winchelsea Capstan

Current: America by Constructo, Solö Ruff, USS Syren by MS, Bluenose by MS

Viking funeral: Harley almost a Harvey

Nautical Research Guild Member - 'Taint a hobby if you gotta hurry

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Sailor1–0,

 

How familiar are you with the Intersection feature of Sketchup?

 

You might want to try creating models of the wheel hub and spokes, individually grouping each element and arranging them as in the final object. (Save a copy of a spoke for later.) Then explode the hub and intersect the spokes with it to define the spoke cutouts in the hub. Regroup the hub, then explode the spokes. Intersect the hub with the spokes to define the spoke socket walls inside the hub. Delete all of the spoke components except for the parts that lie inside the hub. Explode the hub and delete the surface areas inside the spoke sockets. If the work is done carefully, the hub now is solid volume with the spoke sockets arranged where they need to be. If needed, recreate the spokes from the copy and insert them into the hub.

 

The process is somewhat complicated but straightforward. I can provide a PDF with images of the key steps if that will help visualize the process.

 

Terry

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Here is the instructional PDF for creating sockets in 3D objects.

 

Please let me know if there is anything that is unclear, and I will try to explain it. A real power-user of Sketchup may be able to come up with a quicker method. I've been using Sketchup almost as long as it has been around, and I'm afraid I've become entrenched with some habits picked up years ago.

 

Terry

Creating the Hub of a Ship's Wheel.pdf

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Here is a quick-and-dirty build of Galilee's hull I did in Sketchup a number of years ago using an old set of plans I developed back in 2002. Just wanted to see how it would work to display hull form. Unlike parametric 3D programs and for-the-purpose naval architectural software (e.g., DELFTShip), the result shows distinct polygons when you display hidden lines. It is also a lot of work creating the intersections at stations and waterlines.

 

Terry

Galilee Hull.JPG

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