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Simple CAD Software - Windows 10


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I may be asking the impossible but after an afternoon searching the internet I have not found a solution.

 

I am looking for some budget / free software that will allow me to draw fairly simple buildings in 3d and then print the various plans out for vertical & horizontal faces in a means similar to Superquick / Metcalfe models. I need to print to 1:76 scale. The cutting would be done by scalpel. Texture would be provided via painting or brick paper.

 

Most of the software I have located only prints plan views and 3d images.

 

Any suggestions.

 

Thanks

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@MikeTrice thanks for that - this is a program that did not come un in any of my searches. I started reading your excellent tutorial and must admit I was rather put off at the start and when I got to @billbedford's comment "It's a vector graphics program. If you don't understand what that means you have no use for it." however I persevered and when I got to you posts about importing jpg's etc I could see more use for me.

 

Although at the moment a silhouette  cutter is beyond my budget this might encourage me to seriously looking to invest in one.

 

Will now settle down to a many hours of following the tutorial.

 

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G'day!  I bought a laser cutter (which is really just a fancy pants scalpel),  a couple of years ago,  and chose Inkscape to produce files for it after following Mikes tutorial, mainly because of the price, but have found it very capable and stable. Its ability to import and export many different formats makes it extremely adaptable and its drawing tools are easy to use and adequate for what I was doing at the time. Also its feature that converts  a raster image to vectors is incredibly useful and I bang on about it here.

 

However, I noticed the bit where you said "draw fairly simple buildings in 3D then print the various plans out". This is something that Inkscape isn't capable of.  However the following might be of use, though its a bit of a read unfortunately..

 

 Last year  I  bought a resin  3D printer and needed some application  that would do the 3rd dimension bit, so  have been dabbling in Sketchup, Blender, Fusion360 and that free thing that Windows 10 has.

 

Because my current 3D printer has a small print bed (115 by 65mm) I design buildings as individual  flat wall sections for later assembly ,  just like  you'd build them in card (albiet with '3D-isness - thickness and  embossed bricks etc) , rather than as complete 3D buildings. 

 

Over the last few months I've found my default package for architectural projects has become  Sketchup -  for a number of reasons, and although I've not done any models for the laser cutter for a while, if I was going to I would test out doing them  in Sketchup then  exporting individual wall sections to PDF files rather than using Inkscape.  Sketchup also natively allows you to export 2D files as raster formats (jpg, tif bmp etc) if you prefer.

 

The reason I'd do this over my previous way of drawing them from scratch in  Inkscape is that Sketchup seems a more 'natural' application for drawing buildings, though this is just my opinion and you know what they say about them. The downside is that being a 3D space, it is often hard to align things due to trying to do it on a 2D screen - things that seem side by side will actually be way apart when the model is spun around and viewed from a different angle, but practice helps with this.

 

The one big advantage, and the thing you mentioned you wanted to be able to do is the 3D bit, and what this brings to the process . Firstly, even though I draw each walls  section flat, and seperately   I can  'assemble' them as I go inside Sketchup to ensure they all fit together, and once the walls are up, creating complex roof sections, intersections etc is simple when  built up   on this assembled model inside sketchup, rather than calculating angles etc like you'd need to do in Inkscape or by hand.

 

Once the roof is assembled, the individual sections can be printed - Just view each one from a standard view - top, right, bottom etc rather than isometrically, then  create the pdf file.

 

Not having done this myself , I'm not sure how  the scaling would work out  - I assume if you made your wall section say 100mm long, the pdf file would have a wall section in it 100mm long, but if not Inkscape would come in useful - import the pdf and resize inside that. 

 

For instance, here's one that I'm working on at the moment -  a small country church near here in NSW.

 

 

65468.jpg.33df5fbfbcaa527a96b31b237275a782.jpg

 

I've drawn the wall sections seperately, and because its going to be 3D printed, it has embossed brickwork etc but apart from that and its 'thickness' its the same as doing a '2D' wall section. 

 

Here is the main wall section:

ChurchOfTheInnocents_Rossmore2.jpg.2d8aa18ff71c424a3c7393f23290df6f.jpg

 

 

 And here the individual sections are put together so I can check fit etc.. The roof sections were then drawn on here  where its easy to get the intersections and the correct eaves overhangs because you can see them instantly.  (Its still got gutters and downpipes,  stonecourse around the base, ridge caps, gable details and bell etc to go..)

 

1138055730_church(1).jpg.08e799ac06a7ece89b4a54ece170bfc5.jpg

 

Its actually quite a thrill when you get it all put together and see it in the pixely flesh - and get to spin it around and round!

 

One  thing about sketchup is that there is a warehouse of components that the community contributes to, so if you don't feel like making a 12 pane window or whatever, a quick search in there will possibly find something you can use - just import it into your model and its ready to go. (I pesonally prefer to draw all my own stuff, I actually find it quite therapeutic!) 

 

The individual sections can be viewed 'head on' and then printed to a pdf file. Again, not having done this myself I'm not sure if it would print everything in the file rather than just the selected wall section, but this is easily fixed be deleting everything else in the file, creating the pdf then CTL-Z to return the deleted parts, then repeat for the others.

 

Just a couple of quick extra thoughts. You said that texture would be provided by brick papers etc. Well, sketchup has a material library that can be added to either by importing other users materials from the warehouse or importing your own. Again, I haven't tried this but in my mind its do-able: Import say some  scalescenes brickpaper into Sketchup as a material. This can then be selected and painted onto a wall section with a simple click. The wall could then be saved to pdf as before then printed out already bricked.. (You'd possibly need to play around with the scaling of the bricks but its all a learning opportunity!).

 

For instance I just grabbed the wall section above, flipped it over and painted it with  the brickwork that comes with Sketchup - took about 5 seconds but seems ok apart from the bricks being too small and the wrong bond!

church3.jpg.6d104463c1bbc6ec85a73940ab895fb6.jpg

 

Under turd by those minor issues, I spent another 10 seconds and  bricked the whole model!

 

church2.jpg.02766f9f2e992b87f66b3bd62873639c.jpg

 

 

 

 

Sketchup also has hundreds of extensions - additional add-on packages that help refine it further. Some are specialised such as one that'll build a set of stairs where you click, or design windows based on the size and number of panes you want and so on. Others are more generalised but very useful - I have about a dozen (all free)  that I use all the time.

 

Oh, should you want to check out sketchup there are heaps of tutorials on youtube , though the  ones from the official sketchup channel  I've found to be the best.

 

As for the software -  there is a  pro version which is now subscription based, a slightly cheaper 'shop' version - also sub, and a free version which is cloud based. The cloud one won't let you use the add-ons I mentioned above, and needs an internet connection. Happily though the 2017 version of Sketchup Make is still readily available and is  the one I use . It is free and supports most add-ons. You just get an annoying splashscreen saying that  there is a later version available whenever you start it.  Its available from here if you are interested.

 

Anyway, just some thoughts that might help someone else if not yourself. Inkscape is definitely able to do what you need, but the added scope that 3D modelling adds - checking fit, roof construction etc is definitely worth thinking about, although it is  more book learnin' to do!

 

Edited by monkeysarefun
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Just to reinforce what @monkeysarefun has written, I have been using Sketchup 2017 to produce a couple of fire stations  from the area of my boyhood home. I have applied brick and wood textures to the printing file and exported the textured elevations to provide the an accurately scaled printed overlay of bricks with accurately placed door and window openings.. It suited me to manipulate these in my ancient Paint Shop Pro to provide some overlaps at corners and in porches etc. to hide the joins. 3D prints should be here tomorrow for the detailing to begin.

 

This is the country fire station from the 1960s. The roof is not part of the 3D print but added to complete the effect. In the print the appliance bay doors are printed separately to allow for open and closed doors. The stations to this design were built in several examples for Kent Fire Brigade. Using local builders meant that there were variations in materials used and in door detailing which can be catered for by varying design details and textures.

 

 

 

 

photo real whitfield kfb.JPG

Edited by Mike Harvey
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On 09/08/2020 at 15:51, MyRule1 said:

I am looking for some budget / free software that will allow me to draw fairly simple buildings in 3d and then print the various plans out for vertical & horizontal faces in a means similar to Superquick / Metcalfe models.

I think this does what you asked for - the suggestions above are excellent - particularly Inkscape.

https://evandesigns.com/products/model-builder I have used the Evan software for a number of years and like all software, if you invest some time and effort into developing your skills, you can get good results. Best results are achieved by multi layering to get 3d depth, particularly at doors and windows, just as Metcalf etc do.

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Thanks again for these very useful replies. I have downloaded inkscape and following @MikeTrice 's tutorial have produced my first cottage and I am only less than a third through his thread. Having got this far with inkscape I think I will continue with the tutorial.

 

As to my comment about bricklayer, all the buildings I intend constructing will have been photographed by me and I will use Photoshop elements to make my own. Having said that I have already used the import on inkscape to add windows from photos to my model so and hopeful I can do the same with areas such as walls and roofs.

 

Sorry there's no picture of my first building but the on-off button on my photo processing laptop failed yesterday morning as the spare should be with me tomorrow I will post a picture then.

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Here is my photo of the first building contracted after following @MikeTrice's excellent tutorial on the coal shed. This is 1:148 scale and once painted I will be happy for it to sit on my N gauge layout.

 

Thanks again to  @monkeysarefun and @JimFin for your suggestions but until I find a limitation to inkscape  that I cannot solve or work around  I think I will stick with it.

 

Having now go to grips with this I now need to look at getting a silhouette cutter, problem is doing that on a budget it seems £200 is the minimum price new - I am a very wary of the second hand market due to the cist & availability of spares.

DSC04361.JPG

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@monkeysarefun I'm a complete novice at SketchUp, using it at the mo' for designing a suspended floor for my new railway room - as you do. What I have discovered though, is when you want to 'connect' objects (so they don't 'float' some distance from each other), is when moving the object, grab it by a corner and bring towards the appropriate corner of the other object and they will normally connect. You can also create a point or even an intersect with the tape measure and use that as your 'connector'.

 

As for the rest - hats off for what you're achieving.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

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7 hours ago, Philou said:

@monkeysarefun I'm a complete novice at SketchUp, using it at the mo' for designing a suspended floor for my new railway room - as you do. What I have discovered though, is when you want to 'connect' objects (so they don't 'float' some distance from each other), is when moving the object, grab it by a corner and bring towards the appropriate corner of the other object and they will normally connect. You can also create a point or even an intersect with the tape measure and use that as your 'connector'.

 

As for the rest - hats off for what you're achieving.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

 

 

Thanks Phil, that is how I now  usually  do it but sometimes its hard to see the corner you want to attach it to amongst all the stuff I've drawn! . Also, the trick is to move things along the axes, rather than just drag things across the screen hoping that they will end up beside each other.  For instance  to get something in the top right to connect to something at the bottom left, I move  it down the Z axis to the same 'height' , then across the y axis until it appears to align, then its just the X to take care of, otherwise its just pot luck.

 

There are some extensions that'll align things to the same axis, and also I think there is either a native command or extension that will move things to the origin, where you can control them better  from there.

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@MyRule1 - hi there. If you do decide to get a Silhouette at some point, be careful about the second hand ones. You may find that the older ones may not work with the latest versions of Windows 10. If possible, check out the Silhouette thread on here before purchasing.

 

It’s great to see your first model. :)

 

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On 09/08/2020 at 15:51, MyRule1 said:

I am looking for some budget / free software that will allow me to draw fairly simple buildings in 3d and then print the various plans out for vertical & horizontal faces in a means similar to Superquick / Metcalfe models.

 

On the specific idea you had to draw in 3D then print plans, @monkeysarefun has given a great solution - with the real advantage that Sketchup has lots of libraries of things to help with drawing buildings.

 

Another tool that does just what you've described is Fusion360. This probably a little bit more technical than Sketchup, but definitely the same kind of thing, and it is free for home/hobby users. It is more intended for designing products and objects, rather than buildings though, so no ready made windows etc.

 

Fusion's trump card though, which I only just discovered myself, is that once you've created a 3D object (by the usual combining basic boxes and cylinders, or extruding sketches etc.) you can right click on it, choose "Create Drawing", and instantly, as if by magic, you can get a full scale drawing of as many faces and projections as you choose, just like you asked for!

 

This example is actually a bogie for a tiny T Gauge coach that I've been working on, but it shows how the drawing is generated automatically from the 3D object. I've chosen to add some dimensions and a cross section to this one, but those aren't necessary. You can export as a PDF, and I've opened those in Inkscape to then add textures etc to bits I'm doing to print. 

 

1189498759_TGaugeB4BogieDrawingv6.jpg.63aed1d9adac6e58f03802c0c9c6a2e0.jpg

 

Something like this would be super useful for buildings with a complex roof shapes - I always found it a right nightmare to work out angles for dormers and intersecting roof lines. With this, you could just create one roof shape by extruding a triangle, then create a dormer by extruding a smaller triangle that intersects with it - then just use the "Drawing" function to create diagrams of the resulting flat faces!  

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