Shaping an Aircraft Nose in FSDS.
The following are step-by-step instructions for shaping a nose cone or spinner for an aircraft in FSDS.
| STEP1 For this demonstration I created a small tube with a 3 foot radius and a 2 foot length along the Z axis. I closed both ends as I find it easier to remove them later if not needed then to add them later if needed.
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STEP 2 I then switched to Point Mode by clicking on the Point Mode button. 
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| STEP 3 Next, I went to Transform > Scale... and set my scale to X=0, Y=0 and left Z at 1. This shrinks the cross section to a point and leaving Z at 1 keeps the section from moving fore or aft of its present location. |
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| STEP 4 I then selected the second section and scaled to X=.1, Y=.1 and left Z at 1 ( again, to leave the section in place along the Z axis).
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STEP 5 I then switched to Mode Mode by clicking the Move button. 
I then moved the second section towards
the front to start the shaping process. |
| STEP 6 I repeated steps 4 and 5 for the next section. I scaled the section to X=.4, Y=.4 and moved the scaled section fore or aft as needed to shape.
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STEP 7 I then continued the process for sections 4,5 and 6. I scaled the sections as follows: Cross Section 4 to X=.6, Y=.6, Z=1 Cross Section 5 to X=.75, Y=.75, Z=1 Cross Section 6 to X=.9, Y=.9, Z=1 Cross Section 7 as is.
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The final product.
I have create entire fuselages using this method. You can create tubes with many
sections and points per section.
Note: When creating a tube and then deleting points or a section,
you will no longer be able to replace that section or add a new one.
Questions? Comments? Email me at webmaster@daviator.com
©2000 David Eckert
