Pattern Making and CAD, need advice


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Bonobo
Bonobo
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So i'm looking at developing a ducktail style spoiler for the mx5 mk3,

i have excatly what it should look like in my head, and there's the problem! how do i get from this idea to something phisical?

firstly i will need to get accurate dimensions and shape of the boot lid from the car, the finished product needs to fit snuggly to the compound curves of the panel.

i'm sure some sort of 3d laser scanner exists, scan the car, import into autocad or similar and go from there, but this is out of reach for most of us.

I guess the another option would be to take a mould from the actual car itself then use this to make a plug?
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Dave
Dave
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Hi Bonobo,

As your asking this question I am going to assume you don't have access to any professional CAD software. I will also assume your doing this for personal use. Aka I'll lay it out simply

Proper CAD software is not cheap so off the top of my head if you want to get your ideas out of your head and into something you want to see with no cost:  

download a free CAD program like google sketch up (other people who have more experience with free cad software maybe able to suggest something better). Then have a quick look into how to import models into sketch up and you will find there is a free public archive full of user submitted models. From this I'm sure you could find a model of an mx5 that you could import and then draw your design idea onto the car. 

This is a very basic and free way to do it. You can learn how to use sketch up very quickly as it is effectively a click and draw type of cad program where as a proper cad program will cost you and arm and a leg and several weeks of messing about to get it to do what you want although it does make turning it into a real thing a lot easier.

Dave.
GO

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