Noobie to Sketchup, Painting Models
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Hi Folks,
My name is Mike and I would like to construct some warships, but I have a few questions regarding Sketchup, first is how do I bring two seperate models in at the same size scale? and the second, how would I go about painting the ships hull, I want to use grey, black, and red, for the hull colors and gold for the propellers, but I don't know how to paint the model exactly as the hull should appear, Do I have to build the hull in mind to match the color schemes or is the another way?? Thank you for all of your assistance.
Cheers,
Mike G.
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Hi Mike,
I make models of buildings and try hard to make them photo realistic within the constraints of GE. I always start with a large number of photos of the building. This gives you an idea of shape and proportion as well as the textures to paste onto the surfaces of the model. I use PaintShopPro; Photoshop is probably better or easier. The important thing is to manipulate the photos so that they fit properly on the model's surfaces. Little details are important for realism. Also, I find that using colors from the Materials menu don't look real: they're too even and smooth. Real objects have flaws and mixed colors.
There are some good tutorials on the SU web site that deal with this stuff.
Hope this helps a bit.
Tom
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Hi Mike, hi folks.
1 - RESIZING
After bringing a ship in your model, make sure it is in a group and resize it. If not in a group, group it first.
To resize, go inside the group with a double click on the group and use the Tape Measure Tool to measure a line of known length. Observe the length shown in the VCB. If not correct, type over the required value and then validate with the RETURN or the ENTER key. There is no need to click in the VCB since it is active as soon as you start using any tool.
SU will ask if you want to resize the active Group/Component. Click yes and then exit the group.
Repeat for any additional group (imported ship in your case).
If you dont use groups, SU will resize the whole model which may be OK for the first ship but will probably be not very good for the next one.
Of course, all this assume that your ship is actual 3D geometry and not just a picture. However, imported pictures can also be resized using the same measuring tool. And, since they normally import as groups, it saves a step.
2 - COLORING
See attached SU file for ideas. Note that you can modify existing colors by editing them.
All this and more is in the help.
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