AR196 Project in AD2K

[Ivan]

Hi Smilo,

Consider what you are asking: If I have a picture of a tail dragger sitting on the ground in 3 point attitude, should I build my model that way?

The simple answer is NO!!! CFS doesn't allow for adjusting the thrust line in relation to the centerline of the model. If you do the model with the floats level, you will need to adjust the thrust line. That in itself isn't too bad, but consider how you might have to adjust the angle of incidence of the wings and tail to make the model fly level. You REALLY don't want to have to do that. Just adjust the contact points and the model will sit level when in the water. Just another way of stating what Hubbabubba already stated.

Adjust the angle of the drawing! It is pretty easy with GIMP.

- Ivan.

[smilo]

thanks All, for taking the time
to answer the question
and reaffirm what i already knew.
but i have to admit, wasn't sure.

now, i'm trying to decide
whether to bore you
with some more colored flat panels.
maybe tomorrow.

Ivan,
i can rotate drawings by .01 degrees with psp7,
but the line quality is degraded.
does gimp have the same effect
on the overall drawing quality?


time to go get some
will probably wake up at 0:230
and not be able to go back to sleep.
seems to be the way it usually goes.

[Ivan]

With GIMP I can rotate drawings down to 1 pixel no matter what the size (as long as it is small enough to edit). The line quality sometimes is slightly degraded, but you kinda expect that when resizing and moving stuff around anyway. If you put a couple red dots on the front center point and rear center point and email me the drawing, I will edit and send it back and you can see how much degradation there is in the result. I can also send you the spreadsheet I use to calculate the offsets from the CoG.

- Ivan.

[smilo]

well, i've just spent a couple hours
installing and screwing around with gimp.

i'm sure it's a great program
and has lots of features.
i'm also sure that it is easy to use,
once one learns how to use it.

for example, i have tried and tried again
to rotate a drawing, but continually get
a message saying there is no path
for what i am trying to rotate.
really? what the hell am i trying to rotate then?
and where did it come from?
what flippin' path are they talking about?

sorry, i don't have the time or patience for this.
i have enough to do without learning
the subtleties another program.
sure, i could send it off and let you do it,
but that's not the point. or is it?
as i see it, that doesn't teach me
how to use the program.

sorry for being snappy.
i hate screwing around
and wasting hours my time.
i am extremely irritated with myself
for being a dumb a$$

[hubbabubba]

Hello smilo!

If you still have Saint Paint around, it should be easy. I can give you a quick n' easy step-by-step procedure that will do it in less time it took you to write your last post...

P.S.- ... and you're not an a$$; you're a mule...

[No Dice]

Very Happy to see you back in the forum hubba.

Dave

[Ivan]

Don't feel bad. GIMP has a VERY high learning curve. I know how to do certain things in it. Some things I have done before but can't remember how. The rotate thing is something i do so often that I have pretty much had it engraved in my head. I still haven't gotten too far with the idea of painting with GIMP.....

When I get bothered by a non-feature in AF99, I often write my own utilities. The last one was a Component Mirroring tool. I used GNU C to program this, but I would not recommend this approach to a non-programmer. I have been programming stuff since the late 1970's, so this is not much of an issue for me.

You really don't have to learn ALL the tools to use. Just get it done any way you can. The only tools that are a MUST learn are either AF99 or AD2000.

- Ivan.

[smilo]

yes, Dave, i agree,
good to see you, H.

thanks for the offer.
yes, i still have it
and even tried it,
all to no avail.

i think my patience level
was through the floor
and i couldn't do a thing.

apologies all around.

after my earlier hissy fit,
the day got relatively productive.
after much trial and error,
i figured out the rotation thing with psp7,
amazingly, there was no drawing degradation.

next, i spent a lot of time working on bulkhead templates.
first, i made a drawing of a centrally located bulkhead,
then transposed the coordinates for a 12 sider into ad2k.
(basically, a template for a template)
ad2k has a template creator/editor,
so i spent more time trying to figure out
how to make one to match my drawn bulkhead.
i could have made it knat's a$$,
but figured, why quibble over a few pixels here or there.
i now know that next time, if need be, i can do better.

i know it's over kill,
but i got carried away adding bulkheads.
let's just say, i was practicing.

the example below uses 13 bulkheads,
including the cone cover at the tip.
no doubt, i can and probably will,
eliminate a few of them
and do a little fine tuning on the template sizing
in order to smooth out the shape.
actually, the top half of the cone
will be covered by the horizontal stabilizers,
so i don't need to worry too much about that area.

the rudder and vertical stabilizer are only colored flat panels,
added to give an idea of how things line up.

next.....build the elevator, horizontal stabilizers,
rudder and vertical stabilizers.
after that, go to work on the model coding
to make all the parts properly visible in CFS.

piece of cake

oh yeah, hubba,
i'm both,
a mule>the really stubborn type
and an a$$>actually, a horse's a$$

[No Dice]

Ivan,
Are you willing to release any of those tools to the public?

Dave

[hubbabubba]

(...)

oh yeah, hubba,
i'm both,
a mule>the really stubborn type
and an a$$>actually, a horse's a$$

As long as you know which end to kick! LOL!

BTW; nice tail! Once painted, it will look as smooth as a newborn touchy...

[No Dice]

Smilo,
I agree with Hubba, But I really think the tail would look better if the back ground screen shoot was from Corsica and Italy 1941 !!

Looks great...for a tail I guess.

Luv ya dude

Dave

[Ivan]

Hi Smilo,

Looks pretty good to me. You are right though: You have a serious overkill thing going here.

- Ivan.

[hubbabubba]

Hi Smilo,

Looks pretty good to me. You are right though: You have a serious overkill thing going here.

- Ivan.

Look who's talking...

[smilo]

now boys...don't get started.

actually, this example was done out of frustration
after weeks of working with just the drawings,
i had a real need to produce something 3D.

i'm almost tempted to play with texturing.
just for the halibut.

i think i'll go take a nap, instead.+

[smilo]

BTW; nice tail! Once painted, it will look as smooth as a newborn touchy...

as usual, a comment gets me going.
i want to see that newborn touchy...

ad2k has a nifty little feature
that makes texturing a snap.
it actually took less time than writing this post.

within the model editor,
each subassembly offers a choice
of what the polygon type will be,
lines and simple polygons,
or shaded and textured polygons.

selecting lines and simple polygons
allows one to select basic colors
as in the previous examples.

if shaded and textured is selected,
a bmp must be dropped into the working folder,
texture limits must be created in the graphics editor,
then selected and applied in the model editor.
the model is compiled and the results can be seen in cfs.

at this point, i could say
that i'm getting way ahead of myself,
but then again, sooner or later,
the texturing process will need to be done.
besides, by doing it as i go along,
i won't have to come back
and redo the simple polygons later.
all i'll have to do is insert a better bmp.

EUREKA!!!