formers-templates

[Flying T]

when u hav a 3v how would u get the templates drawn to scale? for a solidwood model. i think i probably could find a stick and tissue model of the plane,make it a pdf file,scale down to size and trace out the formers,cut out and glue to cardboard and cut inhalf.if you can find a plastic kit u could use soft wire and press it against the body, us that wire as a shape for a template,any other ideas?

[lastvautour]

I find drawings on line and scale them to the size I want. Sometimes, I have to print and adjust several time before I get what I want.

Lou

[Model Maker]

I import the files into a CAD program (Turbocad). Once imported, the file can be easily sized to scale. Often times I will perform a trace of the stations and check these against the corresponding stations in the profile and plan views. I perform this check as I have found issues with the station sizes and centre lines in the past. I always do this if I am working with a 3 Vue from one source and stations from another source. A more frequent issue I have found is some distortion due to previous scanning or copying where the wingspan and fuselage lengths are not always per the published dimensions.

Although Turbocad is a purchased product, there are other free vector based programs such as Inkscape and other CAD programs. They all have a learning curve, but our requirements are relatively basic (import, resize, trace, rotate, print, etc) so we don't need to learn all the features of the program. As well, we only work in 2D (2 dimensions) so we don't need to worry about learning the 3D functionality they typically also  support. If anyone wishes to go down this path, the key item to look for is layer support, so you can import one or more files, scale the file, lock it and if required place a tracing layer on top.