Diary of a Camper Conversion
Gosh it’s good to get back behind the 3D design wheel – or should I say puck.
I could not deal with just a mouse to navigate. I was spoiled from day 1 of design, so I got myself a 3D mouse. It’s basically a floating puck that gives you an object to manipulate that gets translated into the digital world. It makes navigation much easier.
I’m getting back up to speed with 3D design using Fusion. A lot of it is very familiar, but it’s different enough to need a bit of relearning. Nevertheless, I’ve spent a couple days creating a 3D model of what I want the van to look like.
I’ve created all the major components, and laid them out where they fit and then designed the cabinets around them. I’ve been really enjoying it, staying up far too late into the night refining the design. It’s not much to show because it’s all just scrolling and clicking but here’s roughly what I’ve been doing:
- Set out the fridge sliding shelf
- Fitted the cabinet around it
- Fit the electrical panel between the bed and edge of the sliding door
- Set out the bed height and hinge mount
- Then designed the cabinet panels to receive the mount
- Sourced drawer boxes and modelled and fit them to the cabinet panels
- Regularised the fit and finish so there is some symmetry
- Fit a step into the panels
- Redesigned the end of the sink cabinets around the window
- Located the sink and extendable tap
- Designed the AC tower and ducting routing
- Located the Step and table post mount
- Went thru several table designs
- Finalised the cabinet panels profile and reinforcement
Hopefully, now I’ve got a full 3D model I can plan out all the panels cut from the expensive green faced ply. This makes me feel better about it, but I’m still nervous that they will all fit in real life.
And I really want it to fit properly first time. This lightweight green faced ply is expensive! Ever wanted to see what £700 worth of plywood looks like…
… It’s 5 sheets – that’s it.
I spent half the day today going to collect them from mid Wales and then driving back again. And ignoring the astronomical cost, I’m very happy with the colour and the weight. SIGNIFICANTLY lighter than normal plywood. But yeah, I just don’t want to cock it up so I’m spending far too long on CAD.