Creating a fuselage in FSDS3

[scubakobe]

I have read the tutorial provided with FSDS to create a fuselage. They said to use a tube for making the fuselage, and I guess that's the most reasonable choice for the fuselage.
Problem is that I am working on a Cessna 152. It doesn't have a very round shape to it
I saw a screenshot of one being made in FSDS3 (Not in a tutorial or anything, just to show off their product)


That's a VERY nicely designed fuselage and 152 I would have to say. I haven't seen such a nicely designed one made as freeware, so I am creating my own and I plan on spending more time on it to detail it a bit more.

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Now, on to the fuselage part.
I created my fuselage as a tube, and I have to admit it looks pretty bad

Yuck!

This is where my problem is. What other method should I use to create the fuselage? By the looks of the professionally designed one I doubt they used a tube ;D

Also since some of you have gone about this route before, I thought this would be the best place for posting this.

Thanks much

[MCDesigns]

LOL, yeah, it never looks good when you first start. You need some 3 view guides or you are just going to keep moving vertices till it is totally out of shape.

Start a new project and just practice making shapes, any shapes, it will get you comfortable with modeling. I created 4 aircraft the first time I used FSDS and made them flyable, but man did they look bad, LOL.

[scubakobe]

Hehe ;D

Well I do have a backdrop I am using and that's what I shaped it to. I would like some nice 3 view technical drawings for a 152 but oddly I can't find one .
So I am finding pictures on the internet that are taken from the side of the airplane and other angles. Problem is that I can't find a shot from the nose of the airplane. Guess that's a job for me to do when I go back the airport Saturday


Is there anyway to round off the edges of a box if I made the fuselage from a box?

[scubakobe]

Here are the 3 views of my project.


As you can see, I think I need a better picture for the nose. I want to shape the nose to that picture but the Cessna is not facing straight forward.

Argh.

[jimslost]

Not having progressed to this point yet, I hesitate to say anything, but you should have a half-decent set of three views in the POH for the airplane you're using for your flying lessons. I would think they might be a bit better than photographs for this purpose.

You do have a POH, don't you? If not, you need to get one.

[scubakobe]

Well....*cough cough*...ahm...no.

There's only one I know about, and it's the one required to be in the airplane at all times. The instructor gave a preflight checklist though, but not the POH. I doubt he has a copy on hand so is there anyplace I could look for one?

Is there a reason why I should have a POH on the 152? I guess to read about the airplane's characteristics would be a reason to have it.

[MCDesigns]

Here ya go bro!
richard.ferriere.free.fr/3vues/cessna152_3v.jpg

[scubakobe]

WOW! Very nice drawings!

Thanks VERY much for those I appreciate it alot!

[jimslost]

Send me your snailmail address and I'll mail you my dad's 152 manual. Or my wife's; better let me know exactly which model of the 152 you're flying.

[scubakobe]

I am flying the 1977 (Maybe 1978, but it's one of those two 152 II.
I believe you can send me an email by clicking the thumbnail under my profile picture. If not, I will send you a PM right now.

The 152 I'm flying has the wheel pants on the two main tires but not the front tire. (It may have came with a pant on the front tire but they took it off for some reason, I don't know how they were manafactured.)

Last edit of the day hehehe,
Here's a link to a picture of the 152:
i28.photobucket.com/albums/c229/scubakobe/IMG_0172.jpg

[spad54]

Here's a link to Free Flight Design Shop and there is a tutorial on how to shape a fuselage. The tube is the best shape to use for the fuse.

www.freeflightdesign.com/tutorials.html

A couple of suggestions:

Accuarcy in aligning points is crucial. The time you take initially to be very exacting will pay off when the time comes to cut in doors and windows and will help avoid stretched polygons.

When shaping, try and maintain a 3D image in your mids eye. It's very common to think only in one or two dimensions, my most common error. Frequently I'll be struggling to get a shape right only to discover that the solution lay in another view or axis

Learn to use polygon smoothing to your andvantage and to get a cleaner edge. In your model, I would suspect that you have checked polygon smooting in the part properties dialoge box and they are all set at 1. That is why your fuse looks as it does. When you check polygon smoothing, FSDS tries to make your part "round" giving it that appearance. Try making all the polygons on the top of the model group 2 , the sides 1 and the bottom 3. Make the Nose 3 and the tail 3. You'll see that where groups touch there is a line resembling a seam. That is how you simulate panel edges, fuselage ribs, etc. Play arond with it to get the desired effect.

For a first pass your intial fuse doesn't really look that bad. Work it back and forth and side to side. You'll be surprise how quickly you'll learn to shape those point into what you desire and don't be afraid to chuck the whole thing and start over.

Keep us informed and we'll be here for you as you progress. You can e-mail me directly a [e-mail] if you wish

Best and keep modeling
Paul

[scubakobe]

I really appreciate the help I am getting from you and everyone else who lended me a hand. I hope to release a pretty good 152 that a lot of people can enjoy.

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Now, I don't really understand what you are talking about when you said: (You were discussing polygon smoothing)

they are all set at 1

I don't see any options to really change it from 1 to 2 or some other number.

Also, by reading what you said I am thinking that the fuselage is going to be made out of 3 parts. In the screenshot of the 152 I found, the tail empenage,cockpit, and nose were separate parts.

Is this what I should do for my 152?

Thanks again for the help

[scubakobe]

I'm full of uncertainty and very lost

I thought that I should make the 152 fuselage in 3 parts. First the tail area leading up to the back window, then from there to the front window, and the third part would be the nose.
I made the tail, then started making the cockpit area. It's turning out pretty bad, I can't align the 2 parts good enough to look nice and cleanly cut along the edges like the screenshot I saw. Here's what I am talking about:



Would it just be easier to make one long tube and shape it to the fuselage instead of having to make sure each one is right up against each other so each part/section doesn't stick out like a sore thumb?

Also, when I try to add another cross section, the very front of the tube gets inset, and an outer ring is left. I don't know why it does that, but it prevents me from adding more cross sections without ruining the tube.

[spad54]

With respect to the polygon smoothing groups. In FSDS2 you first select the polygon mode. Highlight the polys you wish to effect and then go to polygon properties. In that dialogue box you will see a number highlight the number and change it to another 1, 2, or 3. Click OK and the smoothing group will have changed and you 'll see the effect. There may be some changes in how FSDS3 does that, but I suspect it is very similar.

I would not suggest that you make the fuse out of 3 pieces. Start with a tube, as you have done, whose radius is equal to the largest section of the body, in your case the cabin. Include enough sections so that you can make gradual transitions between sections as you constrain. Then begin to constrain the sections, first in the top view then the side and finally the front.

Once you have made a round fuse that follows the general outline of your model, it will be time to flatten the sides and bottom of the fuse to conform to the general Cessna fuselage shape. I use point mode when flattening sections of a fuse.

Also if it has not been suggested. I strongly recommend that you do all the tutorials that come with the program. The more comfortable you become with the software the easier it wil be to build your model

[scubakobe]

Thanks for explaining that a bit more Spad. I see what you mean now.
I ended up making a whole new project for the fuselage, so here's what I got so far:
This is side view of the fuselage, the red area is where the wing will go when I put the parts together.

Update: After I took this screenshot, I set the tail and nose to polygon smoothing setting 3. I don't know what to set it for the cockpit area, so I left it at 1.

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Here are 2 views, showing how I molded the model to the shape of the fuselage, and the window. I plan on defining the window area as glass, or something, which I have a tutorial for.

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Once again, thanks for the help, and I will keep you informed as I progress. Hopefully I can release a nice aircraft that everyone will enjoy.
And yes, I am including Jim, MCDesigns, and Spad in my credits area when releasing the aircraft.