I was going to make videos over how to work Delftship but am having issues with my laptop computer as well as issues rebuilding my desktop after one of my wifes cousins kids poured a soda down my tower with costs of parts lately. so I will be taking screen shots and posting in detail how to build a 3D model and I will show at least three different ways of attacking the problem, how to access the Delft catalog of models, and if there are questions dont be afraid to ask. I am just a enthusiast of the program and had been using Delftship from around the time I made my RCWarship account, so if you look up the date of when I signed up for this site you will good estimation of the time I had spent with DS, (Note: some models have taken me months to build and others over a year). I also use a older version of photoshop as well, paint brush can be used as well but adds a degree of difficulty due to fewer in program options to seperate and dress up ship plans for front, side, top down picture views needed to get started. For this short tutorial I am in the process of creating the BB-39 USS Arizona early 1930s Refit for this discussion please be pationt with me. I am building this model and thinking how to type this up as I go so it is not disjointd ramblings on my part and can be understood, please let me know if something dose not make sence and I can touch on it more. Please let me know if I should have put this under a different tab Edit: They have updated there PDF https://download.delftship.net/dsfree.php
Here is the First Lesson that most seem to be asking about the most. 1. The new projects tab in the top left corner. 2. In the area pointed with the red arrow is the area you may need to use the scroll wheel to scroll downward, it usually not shown when the window is freshly opened on start off for the online catalog, Click the Online Model Database tab. 3. It seems my IJN Nagato model was added to the collection... from here you can choose the model you want to select to download by clicking the Green accept circle checkmark in the tab prompting the download to your computer, if you want to keep the model you will need to save to your PC with the save tab.
Next will be 3D picture placement in the work space. On a side note I would recommend you not use the in program measurement system as it seems off to me, I use feet as the measurement but the odd thing is that a one inch to foot mesurement comes out to 7.3152 It seems like some odd arbitrary number so for simplicity and ones mental health to make things easier for ones sanity just round up to 1 to = a foot in program. at 1/144 scale I add in bulkheads so at whole numbers when you slplt a 1 foot area at a .5 or a second split at a .25 you are at a half or a quarter foot making things so much easier. whem adding bulkheads for rib placement ust use a calculator and just add 7.3152 for the rib spreads for the scale needed. I had to edit to be correct as prior information was wrong. concerning mesurements in program.
For most knowledgeable people that have done any kind of drafting will know that at least 3 views are needed to build a ship model, 1 Hull lines side view, front/rear view, top looking down view. However it is possible to model up a model from a set of 2 ship plan drawings using a side view and top down view of decks as well as frame views. 3 is using paper model plans, rib shapes, keel side outlines, deck platform outlines, I have 3D modeled with all 3 methods. I will show examples of all 3 methods. For the most part when it comes down to it the 3 methods have the same out come its just 2 & 3 have a few more steps. this will take me a bit to plan out things before I post.
While starting a model it will give options to createa model to start with, I would recomeend starting off with a blank canvous as it adds unessacary work to convert it to in to your project ship. Depending on the mesurements given for the ship I would recomend creating a box to start off with as the full ship will fit in the box and most mesurements given will be at and under the waterline only. The mesurements given for most any ships will be leangth, Beam, and draft. Leangth will can be full leangth, or at the waterline whitch in most cases be a little shorter as the pointy front of moderon ships will be several feet above the waterline unless it is a pre-dreadknought and in that case the full leangth will be under the waterline and everything should fit with in the box. Side note: In the edit Tab for all of the layers Hydrostatistics will change the coler of the ship at the waterline red by default if unchecked it will change to default coler of the layer and transparancy changes the see through propertys of the layer as well as Symmetric being if the item other side of the item gos in to view when clicked in the main view.
When starting off building. The spine, Frames, Deck platforms, Hull skin, when you create the layers you will most likely use the Box Shape in the Tools Tab and secondly you do not need to keep it as a box just to get your basic ship parts, select 5 sides and hit delete leaving one flat panel for the basic parts to work with (the more points you have, the more your computer will work to render the points and surfaces so just worry about it till you are building super structure, turrets, barbets and such). Next I will write about background pictures manipulation and placement and possible pre-preparation.
Nothing more Ur'ks me then a awful picture to work with in the most worst of cases a person has to take a lots of artistic liberties, but then you are trying to make a reproduction of a actual vessel. Examples of issues with low grade ship drawings hindering ones work can be found in the forums under my Navajo fleet tug, and the Liberty ship, both took me quite a while to get the ship hull right 3 to 6 months at minimum before they start to look correct on comparison to photos and video. This Fine example was saved from https://archive.org/details/ship-design-drawings . The issue is glaringly apparent one can hardly make out the frame numbers at the bottom of the ship hull. This picture as a whole was right clicked and saved and this is what I got... Me being me I made screen shots of the zoomed in picture, made screen shots of all of the plates to build the plans in Photoshop having the ability to change the background color, remove discolored tape for the most part but over all being able to read the writing with out having to guess what it says. The original color but this is just a background with out the discolored tape up sections, I have a less darker color above and can have a white background that I can switch to if needed. paintbrush can be used as well but with way less functionality. I use a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements Version: 16.0 x64 I am surprised it still works on newer operating systems...
Background reference pictures are the most helpful or detrimental thing you can use to create your ship, while a clear crisp hull line drawings can make fast work while a badly pixelated picture can take you months to finish your ship and have it look correct. My case and point would be the Bolster class model that took me around a week to complete and on the flip side my Navaho class fleet tug took me somewhat longer to complete... I am very thankful for the Member Willcover that shared the Navajo class fleet tug drawings. While lofting the plans in the program all of the lines should line up from the top view to the side view as well as the front/aft view. this post is just over theory and what to expect This hull line drawing had to be leveled out to as close to level as possible but the lines are highly pixilated so there will be allot of artistic liberties to have the 3D model to look correct. This hull line drawing will make quick work as it has clean lines and already leveled out. Keep in mind that there are some ships that you will want to create you may need to collect Pictures from the internet for reference materials, and in the case to the USS Arizona the plans are off in so many ways, due to later side profile drawings what had removed the mid ship secondary weapon ports but showing them on earlier deck plan drawings but oddly enough had the torpedo blisters added to the same deck plans. But that being said that it comes down to plan drawing interpretation. example of my case and point for the plans being a mess. https://archive.org/details/ship-design-drawings?tab=collection&query=Arizona Both ship plans are located in the resource section https://rcwarshipcombat.com/resources/navajo-class-fleet-tugboats-page-1-2-full.244/ https://rcwarshipcombat.com/resources/bolster-class-rescue-and-salvage-ship-1-0.234/ Next is drawing placement in Delfit.
Before you start know the measurements for your ship! For example we are going to use the USS Arizona, the measurements are: Length 608 ft Beam 97 ft Unbuldged Draft 29 ft 3 in Delft ship can use Meters or Feet, I prefer to create in feet, here are some quick reference numbers for a foot and under. 1 foot = 1.0000 9 inch = 0.7500 6 inch = 0.5000 3 inch = 0.2500 2 inch = 0.1666 1 inch = 0.0833 Note: due to 1 and 2 inch numbers, calculation errors can occur when adding up. Notice with a 1.000in program to 1 foot, 1/144 scale inch spread comes out to: 7.3152 in program. Start a new blank project and create a box using the known measurements from above. Keep in mind that the draft will be at the waterline to the bottom of the ship so do not worry about what sticks out above the box, as long as the measurements of the box are correct the ship should fit in the box and the box will show the needed sizing for the reference material as well. This is a finished hull, for reference of the 3 name view positions, Multiple pictures can be added to each view and they can be turned on and turned off. to add pictures ise Open tab then once picture is on screen select the drop down tab for wanted position in the 3D space, you can edit background removing colers, as well as flip horizontal or vertical. when you are ready to position the picture with in the 3D space click the blue tab for View 3D to size and move on the plane with in the space. latest versions will only allow for aspect correct sizing Click on a corner and drag to resize, older versions would allow for stretching and shrinking, I wish it allowed for both. Green is selected Right clicking on the screen will allow to drag and left clicking deselects the picture. The items on the picture can be shaded or wire framed the bos is set to 100% transparanch to see through. the ship is fitted to the box, making it the correct scale, notice the waterline is at the top of thee box and fore and aft fit with in the allowed space touching at each end. When scaling top down deck views add round cylinders to areas where the Turrets go down through multiple decks to help with scaling of lower deck for alignment issues.
Hull creation begins with the backbone, then the ribs and then finally the skin layer it is possible to just go with the skin only but as I had learned is a pain, I will not show a hull skin only build but it is possible if enough people want to know how it is done, it is the back bone only but to make all vertical lines in to a crease then just move outward till the lines overlap then once they are to where needed just un-creace the vertical lines. Plan body line drawings are the best to do this, but can also can be done by deck and hull frame drawings as well. First once you have the drawings placed to the work space create the backbone as well as a second layer for the The Hull skin with enough space apart that one is on the center line and the other lets say 60 spacing away off to the side, using the side view and work both layers at the same time. The hull skin will be used later. Note: after creating each layer select and delete 5 sides leaving only one flat surface, a 3D item is not needed it just causes your computer to work harder. Add all drawing lines to the backbone and change all vertical lines to creased lines causing them to change to red. Side note: this backbone view can be used as the hull only build just drag outward in the front or aft view. Move the ribs forward to there positions, note the hull skin off to the side. all lines are aligned with each other. Rib formation starting the third rib Later I noticed that the second rib was on the side view but not the front/aft view so the 3rd rib is actually the second in effect. Here all ribs have been created. Take the Hull skin and attach the edges to the center line and just stitch the hull skin in to the rib points. Here is a completed example. Note: the hull line drawings did not include the secondary weapon ports, those had to be added by imagination deck drawings and pictures This is it for the most part. This is not everything, but it is the basic knowledge to get a good start please don't be afraid to ask questions.
I am currently building the next model from Ship yard blueprints using deck plans with cross frame sections for the next part. I am using the drawings from the Montana Class Battleships. however I have not been taking many screen shots so that is a oupsey on my part.
