As you can see I have built the framework for this six sided console. Now I want to place the sloping panels on top of the trianguar struts but can’t figure out how to draw the panels.
I have tried using the line tool to draw them in but no face appears for me to push/ pull and when I try to use a rectangle, I can’t figure out how to reshape it to fit or how to rotate it to the angle so that it can lie on top of the struts.
I’ve tried everything I can think of but am now stuck. Please can you help me?
Thanks
Thank you! Yes, exactly like that. Except, I want the panels to lie on the struts that I’ve made. So that when I come to build the full size in wood, those struts will supprt the panels.
Cheers! 
Can I ask why you click the end points and draw the lines twice? Sorry, I’m rather new to this.
If you draw an edge along any of the boundary edges, SketchUp should automatically fill in the face. If it does not, either the edges that seem to bound the face actually have a gap somewhere, or they are not coplanar. Give that a try and see what you get. If it doesn’t work, perhaps you could upload the model to the forum so we can look for issues and help you fix them. Use this button at the top of the reply panel:
Thank you. I’ll try again and if I don’t succeed, I’ll upload the model.
Cheers.
Console_0100.skp (482.0 KB)
I can’t get it to work. When I click on the end points I just keep going around and around but nothing is drawn.
As I suspected, there are some problems with the geometry that are preventing you from filling in the panels. For example, look at this corner:
The edges don’t meet cleanly there, so you won’t be able to get a face covering them. Unfortunately, fixing this kind of misalignment is messy at best. It’s no doubt not what you want to hear, but the easiest path may be to start over and pay closer attention to details.
Okay, that’s fine. I don’t mind starting over. I’m still learning and this is a practice piece anyway.
What sort of details do I need to pay attention to?
For starters, why is there that tiny jag in the corner of the center hub? I’m not sure how you drew that side, but it looks like you missed slightly while trying to place the corner.
The sides of the flanges also don’t run all the way to the hub, leaving a gap:
The flanges aren’t centered over the bottom plate corners:
There’s a lot of symmetry in that object. As a learning exercise, you might try drawing 1/6 of it and rotating copies to fill in the rest.
Let us know how you fare!
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Pay attention to the prompts and inferences that SketchUp provides. for example, if you want to draw a new line beginning at the corner of another shape, you should see a greenish dot and the word “endpoint” appear when you have the Line tool in the correct spot. When you draw a line or move an object parallel to one of the axes, a line trailing the cursor or the object will be the same as the axis color; if it isn’t, you’re off-axis.When you want to place an object or draw a line where two guidelines cross, you will see a tiny red X and the qword “intersection” when you’ve hit the mark.
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As a further thought, I notice that all of the measurements in your model are strange values. The base diameter is 2163.2mm and it is 21.9mm thick. Unless those were consciously chosen sizes to match something, they suggest that you need to learn to input precision values via the measurements box. You just start drawing something with the mouse, let go and type the desired value + enter and you will get an object of that exact size. Don’t click in the measurements box, just let go and type.
There’s no way the top panels will sit flat on the hexagonal core and struts unless each strut and core-side are edge-beveled to match the slope of the top panels. And you have definitely undersigned the fit between the struts and the vertices of the base. Or are you just going to pound this together with enough nails to make it stay put however well or poorly the pieces fit?
You should fabricate a base, a strut component, a core side component, and a top panel component and assemble them together if you wish to simulate the actual console, piece-for-piece and bevel-for-bevel.
-Gully
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I drew it twice because I’m new too. 
Here’s the unit constructed from components:
Notice the beveled edges on the strut and core-side details:
-Gully
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Thank you so much for the detailed replies. I take it fully on the nose that I have made a careless mess of building my model. I was not aware that Sketchup worked to such fine tolerances. It all makes sense now and your posts have helped me no end. I’ll go back to scratch and try to apply what I’ve learned here.
Cheers.
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Hmmm… the problem here is I can’t seem to get the accuracy needed. When I try to move things about, they seem to jump all over the place. I came here because I can’t seem to get the answers I’m looking for from the online help manual, which just confuses me even more.
How would I go about making those bevels?
No doubt there are lots of ways to go about it. Here is one way. (There’s a lot going on here. Ask followup questions if necessary.)
-Gully
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You need to take a crash course in inferencing, SU’s system of object snaps and dynamic guidelines. Until you get the feel of inferencing you will remain a helpless baby (sorry). Once you get it, you’ll be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound and put things down on a dime.
-Gully
