I find this CAD versus pencil discussion quite interesting. On one side we have the CAD advocates you prefer to fully realize their creations in the virtual world before putting blade to wood. This type of designer/builder attempts to foresee and design for every conceivable possibly that their design will have to overcome. The other side is advocating an approach where basic and usually less detailed drawings (or no drawings at all) are used as a general guide to get one started sooner in constructing a project. With this option the assumption is that the builder will adapt and modify said project as the build progresses and as expertise and experience warrants. IMO both design and build philosophies are perfectly valid and both will produce perfectly fine R/C Tank Combat vehicles. It is true that one can become fixated in the design process and not ever get to building an actual vehicle but I can (and have) experienced this in both paper and CAD. I don't see the design medium being the issue in not starting a project but the wherewithal of the designer/builder to complete a project.
I guess I am solidly in the CAD side. All my vehicles have to some degree or other started as first paper doodles and then transferred to the computer as the design became more complex and I wanted to start "test fitting" components together. The Cromwell was 95% designed on the computer before blade hit the wood. It was designed to a 1/16" grid with all components modeled and fitted virtually. Dimensioned drawings where printed for the workshop phase. I attempted to anticipate all design issues beforehand and I am proud to say that there have been no significant modifications to the design since it first rolled onto that first battlefield back in 05. I guess in this regard (being virtually untouched as far as modifications go) the Cromwell is one of the "oldest" designs currently operating. Steve Tyng -- You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat
