Hello everyone!
I’m not a sketchup user, I only registered to ask a question that’s very important to me.
I desperately need to convert an .skp file into a solid I can edit and then 3D print, but I really don’t know how. The model is really complex, and I need to take only a little part of it. Can someone please help me?
Also making the conversion for me would be fine, I’m not really interested in how to do it!
Thanks a lot !
Try sharing the model here. If it is less than 3MB upload it using the seventh icon 
above where you type your post.
If it is bigger, upload it to the 3D warehouse (3dwarehouse.sketchup.com), or a file sharing site like Dropbox, OneDrive or Box, and post a link.
Also, indicate which part of the model you want converted to a solid.
Hi and thanks a lot for your reply!
The model I’d like to convert is this one:
The point is I need a solid version of a large sailship’s hull. I’m not really interested in details, nor in decks, only in the external shape… Keeping it hollow is not crucial for me, although the best for me would be to have the hull made of thick walls, and not a filled body.
If this model is, for some reason, too complex to convert, I’ve selected some others that could be easier, even if the’re not the best ones for me.
I really hope you can help me someway!
I think we need to know which 3D file format your printer will accept. it might be necessary to hack a new exporter.
Actually, I need to make some further modifications to the model… I need a file I can edit easily, such as:
I wrote them down in order of preference… The thing is I’m quite new to 3D modeling, and for the task I’ve in mind I’d like to use 123D design, the simplest program I know. A solid in .STEP format can be easily imported and modified there, without loosing any detail in converting meshes into solids.
If I have a closed. STL, although, I’m able to convert it before into a Fusion360 solid and then export it as a .STEP file, but, as I said, the mesh must represent a closed an filled solid.
Again, thanks for your attention!
Perhaps my brain isn’t tuned to the way you work.
Surely you make any necessary changes in Skp before you export.
Well, you’re right, in a standard situation I should. But this time editing the sketchup file isn’t the best solution for the following reasons:
That’s why I really do need to have that hull converted to an editable solid, and not to a mesh.
I know it could sound strange, but I’m not an expert user and the easier way for me isn’t the obvious one.
I think you are assuming Skp is a difficult system. It is probably the easiest system out there. If you don’t feel you can ‘Have a go’ after watching some of the tutorials available within a few days I’d be surprised.
I’m already working on learning sketchup a bit, but I definitely can’t get the experience needed to build up the object I need to create in a reasonable time. That will be the hull of an rc ship, which must be assembled with no - glue joints, will contain a lot fo electronics and so on…
I see using sketchup could be a solution, but I’d rather use a program I’m familiar with already. No way I will risk the money I will invest on that project because I could not be able to complete the project.
That’s the reason I’d like to edit that hull with another software. I hope you understand I’m not refusing your advice, which is in general absolutely wise, but I’m only concerned about my own skills.
I only want to be sure I don’t fail with it.
That said, can you help me with the conversion? I have no idea how to do that, your or someone’s help would be precious.
Why don’t you just hire someone to do the job for you? If you had done that when you first posted, it would be finished by now.
you should maybe jump over to DELFTship free:
http://www.delftship.net/DELFTship/images/Delftship/DELFTship%20free.png
Because I’m a student, and I can’t afford to pay someone to make a job I’m sure it’s quite easy to do if you know how. It’s expensive enough to mantain an hobby without a job, imagine if I must have someone payed to help me!
I’ve asked to the community because I need help from skillful users, and I didn’t know who ask to…
I don’t really need a well - done job, only a solid that has approximately its external shape.
I hope there’s someone who can and wants to help me…
You mentioned in your first post that you only needed a small part of it.
If you show us what section you need someone may do it for you.
But it is quite an effort to clean up all that specific model.
I need only the external shape turned into a thick wall or a filled solid’ it’s the same
I’m not interested in any other detail, such ad decks, ornaments or squared holes for the guns.
If the model is too hard to convert, I’ve also selected two more that are way less intricated. They will be fine too! Here they are:
These models have no ornaments, they’re the pure shape of the hull, which is exactly what I need.
Hope you’ll help me with them!
The forum is really about teaching people how to do things rather than doing them for them.
Having said that I had a few minutes to clean up the model for you. I will point out it is not a great model to start with.
But here it is as a whole solid. A thick walled solid wold be more difficult with the bowsprit.
Box3-4-13-B.skp (413.2 KB)
Thanks a lot!!! You’ve ben very kind!
I’ll check the model as soon as I get back home.
Meantime, how did you convert it? I’d like to learn how to do too, so next time I’ll be able to do that by myself. I agree that learnig is better than having things done…
@sketch3d_de
Sorry, I didn’t see your message on my smartphone before! Delftship was my first choice fora shaping the hull, you’re right!
But then I realized it would take me a lot of time to shape such a complex hull, and I chose to download it instead.
However I’m still working on that program to learn how to use it!
Thanks for your advice!
The conversion is nothing, done with a plugin that exports as .stl
It is making it a solid that takes time, there is no instant fix for a model like this. There are tools that help but it is basically about manually adjusting the model so that it forms a solid.
BTW here is the .stl as I only gave you the .skp in my previous reply.
Box3-4-13-B.stl (1.6 MB)
Sure, sure, I meant how did you create the solid?
I know there are a lot of models on 3D warehouse, and learning how to make them solid would be great! I could use and edit them…
Maybe someone on the forum already created a guide, or a discussion about that?
That’s my point, there is no one way to make them solid, each model is different and finding the errors can be mindnumbingly complex.
Plugins help, but experience is better.