I have reached my skill limit

SketchUp 3D Printing
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This is not saying a lot! I have finished the plane but I am stuck on this part! I have failed a LOT. :slight_smile:

I am trying to make a windshield that curves in every plane! This piece will be the removable battery hatch of the RC plane so it is the “hood” and the windshield of the airplane in one piece. (Curviloft whooped the “hood” just fine)

I am trying to merge multiple parts and do an “intersect faces” to get the windshield formed and merged into the ‘hood’

I cut these parts out into a separate file along with the relevant portion of a 3 view so I could attach it becasue the full file is like 16 meg. I also included a few aborted attempts so you could see how I was doing it wrong!

I am sure one of you will you make this look super easy! :slight_smile:

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windshield.skp (2.1 MB)

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I am missing some thing. I looks like the three views do not have the scale. To get the profiles you want won’t you have to get them from good ortho views??
Try TIGs extrusion tool set when you have some good edges to follow?
Sorry If I have miss-under stood?

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"To get the profiles you want won’t you have to get them from good ortho views?? "

Oh! I generally do the ortho in my head from the basic three view and try to duplicate it!

“Try TIGs extrusion tool set when you have some good edges to follow?”

Ooooo! A new tool set to try! That is why I love these fourms and this product- the tools- the lovely tools!

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Ooooooo, I am getting Closer! (I wish I was not so ■■■■!)

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I am sure I did it the hard way as it took me days but it is DONE!

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Pretty cool. When I was in 6th grade, I enlarged plans for a Bell 47G-3 from an 8 1/2 x 11 spec sheet and built a balsa model from scratch about 15" long. I carved the bubble out of a solid balsa block and a local company vacuformed a clear plastic one from that. Of course, that was completely old school (not computer modeled) craftsmanship to form a compound curved surface.

BTW, Alfred Scott, who wrote the massive “Wild Tools” plug-in for PowerCADD has a company that makes a kit airplane called the Falco. I guess because of his background, he included a tool called a “Faired Curve Tool” which I never needed. The options dialog looks like this:

IIRC, this method is how sections of the Mustang fuselage are drawn?

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“Of course, that was completely old school”

I love old school! I thought this would be faster. I have been drawign this plane for months now so I thing the traditional balsa stick and sheet was faster than all this computer stuff! :frowning: I wish I had not spent so much money on a 3d Printer now!

I know of the Falco! I looked hard at building one before I went with a Velocity XL