Hi all,
I am currently drawing an ulta light aircraft for my thesis.
Now, I have reached the point where the main structure is ready and I want to cover the wings and the control surfaces with fabric. 
I was wondering what's the best way to do this. Probably using surfaces? (I don't have a lot of experience using surfaces.)Is there someone who already has experience in doing this and who can give me some tips? That would be nice.
Thanks
Karel
no experience in those things, but... I like your model very much.
Yes, you can use Loft or Boundary surface feature to cover the wing.
+1 to Shaodun's comment!
You have those intermediate profiles you have a starting profile, if the profile does not change from one section to another, use loft, if they do use boundaries. However, one more thing to keep in mind, utilize guide curves, to help stabilize your profile as well, provided that it fluctuates.
Hope this helps, good luck with your thesis.
Alen
Karel,
Is the intent is to show the covering for renderings?
If your goal is some type of analysis, I think you might be concerned with modeling how the material will deform over the wing sections?
Hi Chris,
For now, my intent is just to show the fabric for rendering. I also will do some flow simulations over it but the deformation is not a concern yet...
I will give it a try with the loft and boundary surfaces.
Very nicely done solid modeling of your aircraft....
Hi guys,
I managed to model the fabric.
I used the lofted surface and boundary surface features and also the filled surface feature.
Here a picture of the result. The Dormoy Bathub!
I realize the fabric could look more realistic if I used more guide curves so that the ribs are shown through the fabric. But for now, I'm gonna leave it like this.
Thanks for your help!
Karel
Looks good Karel,
Don't know if it's the effect you might want, but you could add a touch of transparency to the fabric to make it look a little lighter.
Also, if you don't already, try setting up a cameras for rendering views. They'll give you more controllable, and more realistic perspectives.
Thanks.
Great tip!
When I add the touch of transparency, my renders look like this:
Any idea how I can get the dots away?
Hi Karel,
Yes, edit the material click advanced at the top of the dialog, and adjust the size/orientation. It looks like the size is quite large on your model. Change it to 50mm or so will do the trick.
Hi Bjorn,
I can't change the size/orientation of the material I used.
Some materials probably don't support these options?
That's the appearance you've applied that is showing the spots when rendered?
Is there another appearance applied at the assembly level? The spotty render looks like it has a fabric applied rather than a flat colour.
Yes, that's the appaerance.
I tested it on this part and it gave me the same dots.
Note that the surface is not the main appearance of the part. (main appearance is wrought steel for the tubes)
I only want to change the transparancy of the thickened surface wich has cream low gloss appearance.
Hi Karel,
It sure is an interesting result you get from that material, it definitely shouldn't be spotty as it is. I understand you want to keep the frame wrought iron. You can apply different appearances to different features, bodies, faces etc They work in a hierarchy, an appearance applied to a face will override the material applied to the body it belongs to for instance. In your instance you're best off applying the different appearances to the different bodies.
As for the spots, have you adjusted the surface finish parameters at all? The spots look very much appearance related.
how many materials does each part have in the appearance dialog?
This is my appearance dialog.
I only changed this parameter to the canvas appearance:
When I go the mapping tab, I can't edit the options for size/orientation with this material. Also when I use a plane color, I can't edit these mapping settings.
When I render this, I get dots. I've tried other materials too, and I also get dots with these.
It probably has something to do with my render settings...
Yes, you can use Loft or Boundary surface feature to cover the wing.