I strongly disagree with Google's decision to remove the dwg/dxf importer in the next release of the free version of Sketchup. While there may be a workaround such as using SU7 to import I think Google should reconsider this move.

That is all.

Gus

Hindsight is alway 20/20 and historical revisionism can be limitless.

The total civilian casualties as result of WWII was 41,753,400.

Of this number the total civilian casualties for the three major Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) was 2,265,100.

Thus the percentages of civilian death during WWII break down as:

Allied Civilian Deaths: 94.575%
Axis Civilian Deaths: 5.425%

Conclusion: The Axis powers were responsible for almost 95% of civilian deaths or 39,488,300 civilians.

These numbers do not include concentration camp deaths or biological unit deaths. The final total of civilians deaths breaks down as:

Allied Civilian Deaths: 85%
Axis Civilian Deaths: 15%

A couple of years ago I took over some contruction drawings from an architect for a small home. The design was nothing to crow about but it seemed to have a flow and interesting features. It was hand drafted and to say the least the details were weak if not showing a lack of understanding of common balloon framed construction features. The elevations were poorly done and the overall quality of the job I would rate as less than satisfactory.

Total fees to the client amounted to thirty-thousand dollars ($30,000).

My fee for creating new drawings from the ground up that can be submitted to the city and built in the real world? $2,000.

Never have I charged 30 grand for a small single family home or anything for that matter. In fact I have made less in one year than what this architect charged to her client.

Looks great. Captures the feel of a Manhattan establishment. Would be interesting to see one with a rainy day outside.

Adam, these last two are winners. Might want to add a backdrop of sorts on the first one.

Nice pool! Don't see many around these parts.

Thanks guys! Adam, Notreal, David, Ross. I was probably reading too much into things what with the lack of work, winter and perhaps a touch of cabin fever and all.

David, yesterday I couldn't get "Little Wing" out of my mind.

Adam, the neck transitions is basically a squared of proxy for SDS. I generally start with one profile and then use the same profile scaled accordingly. Took some tweaking and nudging to get it right from the neck to the headstock. What I do is try to visualize what the neck would look like reduced to the flat planes that would make up the curves.

I'll try and post either some images or skp of that.

Thanks!

Guess I must be talking to myself.

Architecture is not immune from competitive pricing although in that field it is frowned upon and advertising of said prices is generally illegal in many states. If a client is seeking the services of either an architect or home designer and has limited funds (we are after all in a serious recession with some deflation) they will be drawn towards a fee that they can afford.

Higher pricing does not equate to higher quality in the service industry. This is not only true with architecture but in medicine, auto repair, law, etc. Freebies and undercutting your competitors fees is a fact of life and I have seen this done for the past 24 years – although I have never done anything for free nor made a conscious decision to charge less than my competitors.

Well, those were the neck renderings. Ironically I'm still putzing with the neck.

Rounding the corner with this and finishing up the tuning heads. These are Kluson Pro Tuners which aren't exactly vintage tuning heads for a '62 Stratocaster.

Last one is an x-ray view in SU using a Japanese Style (sesshu.style) by U4K.

Tuning head knobs were done with SDS.

Might make some Schaller and Grover machines as well.

Adam, the water and the blue look pretty much fantastic. The watercolor version gives it a feeling of a heated pool on a cold day.

Looks great. I really like the colors and the composition of the second one. Only idea I might have is to perhaps carry the blue tile along the window side wall -- keeping level at the top.

MLT takes a great deal of time. Being new at this myself you might want to try a photonmap rendering and a ray trace rendering.

That last NPR is really nice.

Adam, for the reflection materials, check your face orientation. You know, toggle to monochrome and see if all faces are white, etc. If the glass has a thickness to it I think the faces still have to remain in the same order.

Adam, here's my two cents.

1. Change the sky background to a bright blue that somewhat matches the pool water. The pool water would indicate a clear sky with a blue that is nearly equal to the sky.

2. Remove the flock of egrets. They look a little busy.

3. Figures could be replaced. The man's legs seems to be fading and the woman looks a bit flat and showing too much leg.

4. The glass effect at the turret doesn't match the rest of the house. The lower sliding door is also showing a grass reflection. Might want to add one step at the bottom of this door.

5. Use a greener grass for the field in the background.

Thanks David (fella77). David H, I used to listen to folk for a time. Mostly of the Bob Dylan variety on acoustic.

So, got the neck almost done and let me tell you, this was almost tougher than the body. Most of it was done using SDS (about 90%) with a lot of trial and error runs. Have to add groves to the nut and add a small sweep from the head stock to the nut itself. The drill holes won't be visible of course but thought it would look nice for a rendering of the neck itself.

All work done in SU free once again. Finally figured out how to tweak the material mapping in KT by changing it to cubic mapping for this particular model. 22 jumbo frets and everything is to scale.

These are really nice. Excellent in fact.

Thanks for making these available.

Thank you Mike, Ross and David. Ross, I do some graphics on the side but it's rarely utilized.

David, cute little guitar ornamanet. I have played on and off over the years now but more recently I've been in off mode since having to sell my PRS. A cheap little "classical" guitar just doesn't seem to cut it. I guess my style was towards jazz-blues or some kind of rock fusion.

Speaking of kazoos maybe you remember the kazoo craze of the late 60s and 70s? Perhaps you read it in a history book but it was an offshot from "Laugh In" if I remember correctly. They even had us making "kazoos" using wax paper and a comb. The kazoo goes well with a saw and a washboard.

Started the neck but haven't got anything to show yet.

Cheers,

Gus

Thanks MD. I ran a metallic red but I need to work on the rendering technique with that material.

Update on the model. Here's the tremolo which still needs a couple of more details like the springs and such.

Rather quick render.

Chrome and steel material from Alex's NK Metals for KT.

Thanks PJ. I think I used the black plastic material by Alex from the KT forum.

Adam,

Might want to check out the Library of Congress website. They have architectural records including recent architectural surveys of historic structures. These include elevations, plans, and sometimes landscape surveys and site plans.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/

You can search as well as browse by subject.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/subject.html

Or by place.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/place.html

Some of this is almost priceless. They include large format tiff images many with dimensions or graphic scales. Some also include details and sections.