Creating the Deck and Transom

[Jason Simpson]

Is it possible to create a deck and transom in the free version of this software ?? I’ve made my hull and successfully exported it as DXF and imported it into 3DS Max, however creating and attaching the deck and transom is a long and tiring process in 3DS Max, just wondering if there is a simpler/quicker way of doing it in DELFTShip ??

Cheers,

Jason

[MICHAEL KERR]

No problem, look at your screen and on the left is the Latest Model, click on in and go to the Model Data base to get an idea of what the free version can do. The pro version just has more bells and whistles and its better suited to professional designers who require the add-on modules etc.
As you can see from the left hand model not only can you create decks and sterns but sails as well.

[otaku]

Since I don’t have the Professional version and found it was difficult for me to attempt this in Punch! ViaCAD, i decided to add waterlines in Delftship for each deck plate’s upper and lower faces. I added extra stations to be the “thrown side”, or the face opposite the BHD’s moulded side.

(As to buttocks, i haven’t decided to use them as longitudinal bulkhead guides, since my general arrangement has lbhds at any number of units off of the centerline and there re over 7 decks from bridge down to inner bottom to deal with.)

I save the model with stations for my main transverse watertight bulkheads. I save it again as a new name and then (if dealing in feet) add stations at intervals of one foot for the model’s entire lenght since i don’t know where i will add sideshell stiffeners, and since each compartment length is not uniform throughout, and since i offset about 4 feet forward and aft of each TVWTBHD, i end up with differing numbers of web frames/sideshell stiffeners in each compartment. This is not due to FEM/FEA, but visual aesthetic and memory and looking at photos of spacing of sideshell and longitudinal stiffeners.

Before long, i get into the layers section of Delftship and color code each main watertight compartment so that later on the meshes can be easy associated with my current task area. Take note that the layers DO NOT NECESSARILY line up with the stations you define. They may coincidentally line up, or it may be based on how you faired the model or where you set control points. I make sure to put control points on my stations lines and then add whatever fine-tuning control points i need in between.

I export the model as DXF 3D Polylines and then again as two DXF 3D Mesh models, one having the stations ONLY for the BHDs, and another for the frames stations spaced by foot, this being to make it easy to avoid overlapping stations when in import each type of model into ViaCAD.

Then, with the DXF3DMesh model in my ViaCAD Pro app, i convert each compartment’s sideshell into surfaces from the beautiful meshes that Delftship created (this being because ViaCAD doesn’t let the user fully manipulate a mesh as if it were a surface).

In between the waterlines i made for decks, i add surfaces and then color code them just in case i need them. Where convenient, i use surfaces to make tank boundaries. I draw a surface across the waterline’s breadth as a waterplane and use bulkhead stations or surfaces to cut up sideshell where needed, and to help with cutting the nearby surfaces i reconverted to stitched surfaces. The trimming is done so i can make tanks that exactly fit the enclosed area. I adamantly do not want any unaccounted-for excess of surface area that is even a millimeter above or below the bounds of the deck plating.

All this is extraordinarily time-consuming, all because my money habits keep me from aquiring the more expensive tools and extensions in Delftship. But, i prefer Delftship over even Rhino, this being because i feel Rhino has a dizzying array of tools that would distract me more than improve me. And, without the pricey Orcad3d tools, there is no point in my using Rhino. Delftship is extremely light on resources, has a smaller footprint on my hard drive, and i like to advertise or support “the little guy” when i can and when i have a choice. This is why i don’t use ACAD either. My employer’s copy is over $4,500, and if i lose access to that, i am without a hobby. This is why i use Punch! ViaCAD Pro.

Anyway, i hope your tank modeling works out. For me, the added tedium (sometimes fun, or therapeutic) is in mirroring the tanks surfaces and stitching them into solids and creating a spreadsheet of liquids carrying capacities…. keeps me out of clubs, and keeps me from watching too many movies…

[Sergio Diaz-Ibieta]

Hi Otaku,
Just a comment regarding the expensive software like Autocad. There is a SW called ZWCAD and its version 2010 PRO is a clone of Autocad 2007. All legal and with license an all other stuff for only USD 600 aproximately. I’ve been using it for 3 months now and it’s amazing the similarity with Autocad… apart that it works perfectly. Check ZWCAD website!!

[MICHAEL KERR]

You can also purchase Student versions of AutoCad for about $175 USD and Rhino $195 USD, there are no restrictions that I know of.

[Author]

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