Jim Foltz's 'simple_shell' will work on a manifold [solid] form [needed for 3d printing anyway?] - however, the wall thickness of a 3mm shell isn't exactly 3mm all round - it might do though [it uses scaling about a center]... Fredo's JPP [JointPushPull] has been recently updated to give a more constant thickness 'shell' - however, an exact constant shell thickness for multiple facets at a vertex is impossible to calculate... Note that you might have problems making very small faces [<~1mm] so scale x10 and then do the 'shell', then scale down x0.1 before exporting [small faces can exist but making them is the trip-hazard...]

Thanks very much!

@tig said: Your SKP looks pretty good... The top surface is upside down - edit the container [group] until you can select just the surface then right-click context-menu > Reverse to get it facing 'up'. To make the two halves joined... copy the half [group] using Move+Ctrl. Now you need to 'mirror' it - right click and choose the correct axis. Alternatively use Mirror.rb OR the other trick is to use Scale and click a handle on the correct side-center and start to stretch it, then type -1 - it will 'flip'... Move the two parts together, explode them and regroup. If the join is visible re-smooth the object using right-click context-menu > Smooth........[attachment=0:2hu644t3]<!-- ia0 -->Capture.PNG<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:2hu644t3] Whoa, this is great information TIG, but it will take me some time to learn all the tools and shortcuts you mention. the model you show is pretty much what I want produce. I will go back to practicing. great responses from everyone, thank you very much. Larry

Thanks, Dave. That has been an issue that has been confounding me for years and I have not found a good work around. As always these little pearls of wisdom we glean from others really help improve work flow processes. So simple and intuitive but yet so elusive. John

@neshxy said: Thx for your answers, i guess ill have to find a way to keep things simple as suggested. There are things to do to make your life easier with large files such as http://sites.google.com/site/sketchupsage/faster and http://sites.google.com/site/3dbasecamp2008

This is the most complex Layer plugin I know of - I am not sure it can "pretend" to make sublayers (they are not possible in native SU and AFAIK cannot be "truly" done in ruby either): http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=20949

Hi, With your help mate I have done it And it works great. Thanks for the pionters Caieus couldnt have done it without ya. Just a warning.....Ill probably be back soon with another problem!!! cheers Stu.

Hey guys, I have created a simple pipe with your help but still need to improve it to make it more like what I want. Any help on Gem file please? I want to make sure that the model I created in SU will be exportable to my software as a Gem file. Would you advice me on that? Thanks A

You can also have a look at Bonnie Roskes work ! she has a lot of math examples !

Here's one of several solutions. sink.skp

Oh, ok.. thanks alot for the quick answer! I knew there had to be a simple explanation to why I didn't find anything

Excellent - that really looks exactly what I need. Thank you and thanks to Mac for the links. David

Hey, it's me again - I just wanted to say thanks again for all the links to the websites and books that all of you have provided so far. You've really helped me find my bearings and I'm not feeling like I'm playing catch-up all the time!

Yes i export through dwg, one dwg units is one millimeter and use the same when importing to SU, i guess the project is rather complex.

It's not really the role but my questions - and comments like Mac's... Believe me, Lewis, no-one has really wanted to put your problems and thread off-topic - but you need to be clear when asking and if you cannot be clear (as you may be a beginner not knowing what may be important), at least answer when people want to clarify the situation. (Honestly, we still do not know for sure whether your problem comes from inaccurate use of the SketchyPhysics plugin - no matter how many times I asked you to let us know)

This freeware http://www.linxexplorer.com/colorpicker.html lets you pick colors off any screen pixel...

yeah rich, I noticed it slowed down immediately. my computer is an old old man. StilTeg, I think you might have something there. I didn't realize I could change all that stuff in the file info thingie. This guy is pretty small. I'll play with it a bit and see if I can break it further.

You can get pretty far with the sand box tool. Once you get the hang of it, check out thomthom's vertex plug in for fine editing. If you have the grading plan it is pretty quick to create terrain from contours. Check out spray component plugin to apply plants.

Ok, thank you for the info!

Hi, Architeuthis: Here is a current topic with links to learning. See the response from Gaieus: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=36926&p=325388#p325336