FT Style CAD Templates

[localfiend]

Been meaning to put these out for a while, but kept getting distracted drawing new planes rather than cleaning them up for release.

This is the template I've developed for drawing and printing my plans in DoubleCad XT. They're based off of Sponz's excellent design and meant to follow all the FT standards for lines and such. As things stand right now, they're set up to print tiled plans in 8.5x11, and full plans in ARCH D.

CAD programs can be a bit overwhelming for those who haven't used them. Especially when It comes to getting things printed. Hopefully this can help make things easier for anyone who wants to draw up their own plans to share with the community.


Here's an example of what plans drawn on the template look like:

Mighty Mini Gloster Gladiator v.4 Beta Tiled





Mighty Mini Gloster Gladiator v.4 Beta Full







Here is my template. This is a DoubleCad file. Extension .2cd

FT Style Plans Template Beta v.1

Alternate Link:

FT Style Plans Template Beta v.1

DXF Version (You're on your own with this one, text could be out of place, and I don't know what will happen with the viewports)

FT Style Plans Template DXF Beta v.1


DoubleCad XT is free and very easy to use for making foam RC plans. It's essentially an AutoCad LT clone. You can download DoubleCad XT here:

https://www.turbocad.com/content/doublecad-xt-v5


If you don't already have a preferred PDF generator I've had really good luck with PDF Architect. It's incredibly powerful for reasons above an beyond RC Planes, and works great with DoubleCad.

http://www.pdfforge.org/pdfarchitect


Quick Tips for DoubleCad and Model Airplane Design:

When I get the chance, I plan on making a couple videos to cover how to use the templates for printing, but people have been asking so I'm releasing the template first. I tried to make things pretty straight forward, but imagine there will still be questions, so ask away.

 

[SP0NZ]

Nice work localfiend!

 

[akarmy]

Here is my template:

FT Style Plans Template Beta v.1

Can you check the link, I'm not getting anything usable from it. Seems to be missing the extension...

 

[localfiend]

Nice work localfiend!

Thanks. Never would have been this organized except for your inspiration.

Can you check the link, I'm not getting anything usable from it. Seems to be missing the extension...

Works fine for me, but I have doublecad installed. It is a doublecad file, with an extension of .2cd Some poorly designed web browsers might not know what to do with it without additional information. I've added an alternate link to where it's stored on my google drive. That may work for you.

 

[BeezerFish]

the amount of quality content you've contributed to the community never ceases to amaze me. Thank you

 

[akarmy]

Ok, oops never mind. I'm on a mac and it didn't understand it. I was secretly hoping it was in DXF so I could load it into a mac CAD app. No worries then.

 

[localfiend]

the amount of quality content you've contributed to the community never ceases to amaze me. Thank you

No problem. All part of the fun.

Ok, oops never mind. I'm on a mac and it didn't understand it. I was secretly hoping it was in DXF so I could load it into a mac CAD app. No worries then.

I'm a Windows or Linux guy, try to stay far away from Mac. I've added a DXF version to download though. I think it will be mostly ok, but I'd imagine that things like text size/positions and viewport settings could be off depending on the program you use to open it. Check it out if you get the chance and let me know if it looks usable.

 

[guitchess]

Freaking awesome on two accounts.
1. You just saved me a bunch of time trying to create a template for Autocad that matches FT.
2. You reintroduced me to the new TurboCAD which is great and free. This was the CAD program I started with, TurboCAD 7. It wasn't as full featured as it is now, and I paid for it.

Thanks for the template. Now my drawings will fit in.

 

[localfiend]

Freaking awesome on two accounts.
1. You just saved me a bunch of time trying to create a template for Autocad that matches FT.
2. You reintroduced me to the new TurboCAD which is great and free. This was the CAD program I started with, TurboCAD 7. It wasn't as full featured as it is now, and I paid for it.

Thanks for the template. Now my drawings will fit in.

Glad you pointed that out as I forgot to mention it in my feverish state. DoubleCad is essentially the free version of turbocad. There are a few features left out but nothing that matters for RC if you're using a good pdf generator like PDF architect.

 

[akarmy]

Thanks for the dxf, but sadly no it doesn't work very well cross platform. Oh well it was worth a try. It's mainly a font issue. The lines and page templates are in tact.

 

[localfiend]

Thanks for the dxf, but sadly no it doesn't work very well cross platform. Oh well it was worth a try. It's mainly a font issue. The lines and page templates are in tact.

Well that's good at least. Changing the size of some fonts or moving them a bit is easy. The time consuming part is the page setup. If you go ahead and fix the text issues once you'll have a workable template.

 

[Planiac01]

Cad Templates

Okay, so if I have a design all completed on DoubleCad, How do I make it a PDF?

 

[localfiend]

Broken - Will Fix Later

 

[Planiac01]

Sorry, but when I hit prinnt, it wants to print the entire template, not just the parts I want to print. Can you help me? It comes up with this screen when I press print, and then Page setup.

 

[Planiac01]

PDF Creation

Im sorry but I don't follow. The blue gridlines that are on the template don't line up ith the ones that the software makes for printing. Can you help?

 

[localfiend]

It doesn't look like you're using my template. I see a model tab and a layout tab, which is the default for a new project in doublecad.

Download my template, open it up, then copy and paste your plane parts into it.

Otherwise you're going to have to set up your own viewport, which takes a while.

 

[Planiac01]

Ok, Here we go

It doesn't look like you're using my template. I see a model tab and a layout tab, which is the default for a new project in doublecad.

Download my template, open it up, then copy and paste your plane parts into it.

Otherwise you're going to have to set up your own viewport, which takes a while.

So I opened up the template:

And I copied and pasted my plans:


I hit Print:


And I set it tries to print the entire template, not just the parts I want to print:



I'm very sorry about the trouble. This is the only post I have seen that shows how to do this stuff. You are fantastic!

 

[localfiend]

My post up above explaining how to print got all garbled and messed you up a bit. I didn't have much time and was trying to do things from my phone. Sorry about that.

You've almost got it. In order to print, you need to select the corresponding tab below that matches the set of things you want to print.

Your wing parts are in the Tiled Set 1 area, so click on the Tiled Set 1 tab, then hit print. If your parts were in Tiled Set 2, you'd select the Tiled Set 2 tab etc... Same for the full pages. When I have time I'll try and take some more screenshots and post a better description.

 

[Planiac01]

My post up above explaining how to print got all garbled and messed you up a bit. I didn't have much time and was trying to do things from my phone. Sorry about that.

You've almost got it. In order to print, you need to select the corresponding tab below that matches the set of things you want to print.

Your wing parts are in the Tiled Set 1 area, so click on the Tiled Set 1 tab, then hit print. If your parts were in Tiled Set 2, you'd select the Tiled Set 2 tab etc... Same for the full pages. When I have time I'll try and take some more screenshots and post a better description.

OH MY GOODNESS I DIDN'T SEE THE TABS! Thank you so much! It works great! How long did it take you to make these?

 

[localfiend]

OH MY GOODNESS I DIDN'T SEE THE TABS! Thank you so much! It works great! How long did it take you to make these?

Not sure. Just kept revising them every time I drew up a new plane. Probably quite a few hours though.