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Guest PhLem

Gmax newbie. Some questions.

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Hey folks. Decided to take the plunge. Anyrate my questions are more model specific than generic. Yes, I have read alot of the tutorials available, but my eys are beginning to cross and nothing is sinking in now. Ok I want to try and model my favorite aircraft...the Aerostar. I'll do the best I can on it, because I don't really plan on uploading it whenit's finished. Just for my personal use. Based on the amout of Aerostar available, there doesn't seem to be too much interest in the plane. Not sure why, it's so fast and sexxy lookin! Sorry, I'm digressing. Myquestions: The Aerostar has a unique nose/fuselage;inthat, the nose is most cylindrical, and it begins after the cockpit windscreen. However, if you look at the main cabin. it actually has more of a rounded rectangle shape. So should I try and make 2 seperate parts. IE: make the nose section using the cylinder; and then some othe creator tool for the main cabin and empennage sections. And then I guess I would weld these 2 together eventually? Or, would I be able to just work with the cylinder reshaping vertices. I not even sure if Gmax has a roundeed rectangle tool(I forgot).Next:OK when doing the wings, the aerostar as does the 421 and Baron etc...have the engines attached to the wings. So when doing the wing, do I want to include the engines as well..or do them seperate? also, I haven't seen anything on control surfaces,other than animation stuff. So, when doing the wing, do I want to leave a cut out for flaps and ailerons; as well as,elevators and rudders. Not clear on this. And if so, do I then have to make the parts..ie: the ailerons rudder etc. I think on the flaps if I remember, you have to set the animations in Gmax..and then use part naming stuff to tell fs to animate the part...am I correct on this.Finally, the Aerostar has a 2degree diheadral..not sure how to set this on the wing. Whew! Well thats it for know. Sorry for the long post, just alot of confusion. Any help appreciated.Dave

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Guest

>And then I guess I would >weld these 2 together eventually? Or, would I be able to >just work with the cylinder reshaping vertices. I not even >sure if Gmax has a roundeed rectangle tool(I forgot). Yes, GMax can create a rectangular planar object with rounded rorners. You would then apply the 'extrude' modifier to extend it to a 3d object."Welding" can be done, but it is quite tricky... if you don't have the selected vertices darn near perfectly aligned, it will cause 'warping' of the surface where the weld is.>I haven't seen anything on >control surfaces,other than animation stuff. So, when doing >the wing, do I want to leave a cut out for flaps and >ailerons; as well as,elevators and rudders. Not clear on >this. And if so, do I then have to make the parts..ie: the >ailerons rudder etc.There are multiple approaches to this also. You can shape the entire wing and then 'cut out' the control surfaces, or leave a space for them and build the movable parts separately. I think the former is the easiest in the long run, as then you are guaranteed that the parts will have the exact same dimensions and airfoil shape.>I think on the flaps if I remember, you >have to set the animations in Gmax..and then use part naming >stuff to tell fs to animate the part...am I correct on >this.That is correct, all you need to do is make sure to have the pivot point set properly. The easiest way is to select the part, and use the "Effect Pivot Point Only" and "Center Pivot Point to Object" features on the rollout. Then manually drag the pitot point to the hinge point of the part under *high* magnification.>Finally, the Aerostar has a 2degree diheadral..not sure >how to set this on the wing. Whew! Well thats it for know. The simplest approach to this is to build the wing flat and then apply a 'bend' modifier to the stack after setting the pivot point to dead center of the wing.

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Guest

Hi Bill, Thank You very much for your kind help. I maybe talking to ya again Ohh yeah. You didn't mention anything regarding the engines. Do I want to do them at the same time I do the wings. They sit both above and below the wing which is a midwing. So, if I did them all at the same time, then the engines would be part of the wing and thus I couldn't select them seperately?Dave

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>Hi Bill, Thank You very much for your kind help. I maybe >talking to ya again Ohh yeah. You didn't mention anything >regarding the engines. Do I want to do them at the same time >I do the wings. They sit both above and below the wing which >is a midwing. So, if I did them all at the same time, then >the engines would be part of the wing and thus I couldn't >select them seperately? I would model the engines as separate parts. In fact, model *one* engine then clone it to use on the other side, so that they'll be identical (you may have to 'reverse' the axis to 'flip' parts that only appear on one side to model correctly).Also, be sure to use the 'grouping' feature as much as you need to make things easy on yourself! You can design the basic shape of an object, and then make the little fiddly-bits of detail, then simply group them together so that they can be treated as 'one' part.You will have fun, but probably make the same parts over and over until you're satisfied. In two short months I've learned at least seven ways to 'make a wing,' each of which has its advantages (and disadvantages) depending on the type of wing you're modeling... :)

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Dave, great questions, and Bill, great answers, as always...I like hearing other people's solutions to some of the same problems I see.Dave, to go back to your first question, I'd probably do the fuselage with two pieces. However, instead of just trying to 'weld' them together, place the two pieces near each other and build the segment between them by drawing in polys. After that, you're just going to have to edit the join section vertex by vertex until it looks right. That's the one thing the tutorials leave out...just how much time you'll spend moving vertices around by hand!Bill, I've got a question about midwing engines that maybe you or Udo or someone else here can help me with...When I exported and viewed my model in FS, I had some serious bleed problems where the wings passed through the engines. Would simply 'grouping' the parts help fix this, or is there something else I might be doing wrong to cause the problem?Thanks,Matt

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Hi Matt, thank you very much for the input. I'm glad you asked about the midwing thing. Because the aerostar is midwing...and I could have the same trouble.Best,Dave

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Guest odog

hi guys,Bleeding, in my experience is caused by one normal covering up another normal. So if your wing intersects you engine, the solution I like best is to Boolean the two parts so the intersection is removed. Then just make sure there are no normals "inside" the two objects.odog

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Guest PhLem

Well, in case of the Saab, I just made the engine and moved it to it's place. I have never experienced bleedthrough. And I have applied the same to the Twin Otter also. My wing intersects my engine with no problem at all. And I have used different ways to make the wings on both models.Bill, seven ways to make a wing ?? I'd sure like to know some. I only know of 3.Joe, did you get my message ???Udo.:-wave

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Guest PhLem

You can make the fuse out of a cylinder. Leave the rounded part like that, and shape the square part out of the cylinder. The Twotter for example has a round nose, but the cabin starting at the bottom of the windshield is squared. I just made a cylinder and shaped the nose and the cabin out of the single cylinder.Udo.:-wave

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Guest odog

>>Joe, did you get my message ???nope, did you send to my avsim inbox or emailyou can email me a faceplant3d@msn.com

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Odog,Thanks, sounds easy enough, so I'll try it.Udo,Strange...maybe we used different methods to make the engine, or maybe I found one of the other seven ways of making a wing . I had the same problem with the wingroot box and the fuselage as well. I think I'll just maintain a separate copy of the plane that I use for exporting, and run all the booleans on that. Would be easier if I didn't have the bleed problem though...I'll have to keep playing with things.Matt

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Guest PhLem

That is a possibility, Matt. On the Saab and the Twin Otter I used a cylinder to make the engine. The one of the latter is better though.The Saab's first wing was made from a box, the Otter's a loft. Neither one of them have shown problems, so I am out of Ideas right now.The Otter, btw, is coming along very nice. I'll post a pic later. The engines are already finished and hav a preliminary texture applied using a new method I first tried on the Saab. I'll keep you posted.Udo.:-wavehttp://ftp.avsim.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboa...d6048f73cdd.jpg

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Ok, I used boolean union to join the wingroot to the fuselage, and that problem has gone away as a result. However, I still have a problem with the wings. I've looked at it in more detail, and it seems even more strange to me now.Here's a pic:http://ftp.avsim.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboa...f9949ae82e3.jpgAs you can see, the wing and hstab on the starboard side of the plane look as if their normals are reversed, while those on the port side of the plane are fine. However, the normals are not reversed, and it looks right in gMax.The wing is made as a loft, and the hstab is shaped from a box.I believe I modelled the port side first on both and then mirrored them, but I can't remember for sure.By the way, Udo, how did you end up resolving the spinner problem? Do you know what was preventing it from exporting? Mine looks perfectly correct to me, all made up of triangles of not-too-extreme shapes, but it won't go.Matt

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Guest Fabio Miguez

Hey Matt.I might have a solution to your problem. Try not using the mirror button on the gmax toolbar when you mirror your wing and/or stab. Use the modifier mirror. Apparently it makes a difference. By the way, this was a tip from Graham, from PSS.

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