I unfolded half of the fuse. You'll have to do the other half. You have to run it through the flatten script. I don't have it yet. Sorry.

The not unfolded side is hidden, BTW.

Yoram Attached files Gee_Bee 3_d V3.5full fuse.skp (555.8 KB)Â

 

It took me about 10min to unfold it. 3min alone I spend on making all the squares that you have made and that are not in the original file. Without them it is more difficult to unfold. The secrete to the proper unfolding is using the shift key. You press on the shift key and then click on a group of faces that you want to unfold together, just like you do when you want to select a bunch of items with the select tool. After you've selected all that you want you let go of the shift key and click on the surface that you want it to unfold to and the hole group will unfold in one chunk keeping their relative position.

Does it make sense what I wrote above? I hope so.

Yoram

 

It is a tough one, but there are a few things that can help.

When unfolding, it's best to be able to see hidden geometry because many times there are smoothed or hidden edges between faces giving a false representation of a face. So turn on Hidden Geometry in the View menu.

Also, if you un-soften and un-smooth the geometry you will have a better idea what you have to work with.


Then, you can run a cleanup scriptthat will remove coplanar edges, lonely edges, and unnecessary edges. Here is an image after performing the mentioned cleanups (I un-hid all hidden geometry also):




Note that sometimes the cleanup will delete needed faces, but you can just draw over one edge to re-create the face.

I noticed this tab was not connected, so I rotated it so is was attached. (I guess I assumed it was meant to be connected?)




I'm not sure the purpose of the following thin sections. It would really be best if they could be eliminated, but that might mean starting over. They are only about 1/16" wide.




And it would be better if these tabs could be centered on the sections, but since I don't know exactly what they're for, it may not be possible.




I think overall, you will have better results using fewer sections running front to back, and fewer segments around.

However, now that I have it prep'd, I'll see if I can unfold it, and will post the results in another reply. Attached files

 

Not to rain on jimfoltz parade, but I didn't do any cleanup or disconnecting any tabs. I just added the lines that made the arc segments to make them unfold. I don't have the flatten tool so I didn't do it and the part is a little arced. The flatten tool will take care of it and make it on the flat level. It cost $10 and I didn't get around needing it yet (until this case, that is )

Yoram

 

Congrats, E-T. It wasn't so hard after all, right?

Yoram

 

ummmm - errrrrr - I've got a question.
My PP has a 1/8" diameter router bit, which is wider than the widest part of many of those cuts. Even if I went to a 1/16" bit, it still would not reach to the inner limit of any of them. So, how could you use this layout? As a printed overlay, to show where to apply the X-acto knife to finish the cuts?

 

Woo! That looks tough to fold up! (not saying it wouldn't work)

Going back to your question though, it goes back to your modeling / model.
It's too complex for exactly the reasons you are seeing now...

Take a good look at what I did here:


Each section there will be another part for the pp to cut out for a total of eight parts (not including the formers). This is diffrent from yours as you seem to be trying to eat the whole plane at once. To me it seems to make more sense to go a bite at a time. Easch section will be unfolded seperately, rolled seperatly, then formed seperatly...

Here is my P51 being laid out after being cut:


Hope this helps? Attached files