I'm going to step out on a limb here and try to offer a few suggestions, even though this isn't necessarily my area of expertise ...
The first question is what do you want to do with your design? Hand it to a CNC router to cut out an aluminum mold? Send it to a rapid prototyping machine? Print out templates for hand fabrication? Look pretty on a web site?
For real engineering work I hear Solid Works mentioned quite often.
For general 3d modeling (like for 3d visualization or rendering purposes) you might take a look at something like AC3D, Google Sketchup, or Blender
I've got an artist friend who I can just hand a rectangular box that meets my physical specs, and tell him to make it look cool, and he does amazing things with it.
So I think it depends on a number of factors .... what do you want to do with the design? Are you willing to pay for expensive tools (SDRC, Pro-Engineer, Multigen Creator, etc.) or are you looking for free (i.e. blender) or nearly free (i.e. AC3D). Also consider that there is usually a pretty steep learning curve with these sorts of tools, and the more expensive and capable the tool, it seems like the higher the learning curve.
In my opinion, for hobby level work and one-off prototype designs, paper sketches, carving, and sandpaper can work wonders.
Hehe, and if you want to still look hitech, you can get "carbon fiber" and "kevlar" color ultracote trim patterns. :-)
But seriously, to interject my personal opinion here ... I don't think you need an computer application to design a tube.
If you want to cut cool airfoils and swept wings with washout and taper and different airfoils at each end, there are hotwire cnc machines that do a very excellent job once you learn how to use them.
If you want to have a carbon fiber / kevlar fuselage hybrid, you don't need a computer designed mold to do that. You could hand carve a block of foam and the lay the fabric over the top and vacuum bag it.
Again, interjecting my personal opinion ... computer designed parts, CNC milling, etc. is nice if you want to replicate complicated 3d shapes, or want consistency in production, or if you need to mill out an aluminum mold using a computerized CNC machine.
I wouldn't discount the educational aspects of the process though if you really want to push forward, and "cool factor" does count for something.
But no matter how you get from point A to point B, it's ultimately going to require a high degree of craftsmanship (err insert person there) to achieve a really nice final result.
Replies
Its not much more difficult than that.
The thrustline is the tricky bit.
Have fun
G
The first question is what do you want to do with your design? Hand it to a CNC router to cut out an aluminum mold? Send it to a rapid prototyping machine? Print out templates for hand fabrication? Look pretty on a web site?
For real engineering work I hear Solid Works mentioned quite often.
For general 3d modeling (like for 3d visualization or rendering purposes) you might take a look at something like AC3D, Google Sketchup, or Blender
I've got an artist friend who I can just hand a rectangular box that meets my physical specs, and tell him to make it look cool, and he does amazing things with it.
So I think it depends on a number of factors .... what do you want to do with the design? Are you willing to pay for expensive tools (SDRC, Pro-Engineer, Multigen Creator, etc.) or are you looking for free (i.e. blender) or nearly free (i.e. AC3D). Also consider that there is usually a pretty steep learning curve with these sorts of tools, and the more expensive and capable the tool, it seems like the higher the learning curve.
In my opinion, for hobby level work and one-off prototype designs, paper sketches, carving, and sandpaper can work wonders.
Hehe, and if you want to still look hitech, you can get "carbon fiber" and "kevlar" color ultracote trim patterns. :-)
But seriously, to interject my personal opinion here ... I don't think you need an computer application to design a tube.
If you want to cut cool airfoils and swept wings with washout and taper and different airfoils at each end, there are hotwire cnc machines that do a very excellent job once you learn how to use them.
If you want to have a carbon fiber / kevlar fuselage hybrid, you don't need a computer designed mold to do that. You could hand carve a block of foam and the lay the fabric over the top and vacuum bag it.
Again, interjecting my personal opinion ... computer designed parts, CNC milling, etc. is nice if you want to replicate complicated 3d shapes, or want consistency in production, or if you need to mill out an aluminum mold using a computerized CNC machine.
I wouldn't discount the educational aspects of the process though if you really want to push forward, and "cool factor" does count for something.
But no matter how you get from point A to point B, it's ultimately going to require a high degree of craftsmanship (err insert person there) to achieve a really nice final result.