Cowl vent patterns?
- Thread starter OhioMike
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I would say cheat.
- Get a drinking straw of like size.
- Flare one end of the straw to match the bell shape.
- Cut a V shaped section from the side out of it but make sure there is enough straw left to retain it's shape and not splay open.
- Fold the straw at the cut apex and glue with crazy glue.
I think this would only work with VERY small scaled vents.
The narrower the V cuts and the more you have to complete the 90* angle the smoother the curve.
I'm not a ship modeller but it's how I would do it. Plastic straw could be substituted for paper if you create the cylinder from paper first.
- Get a drinking straw of like size.
- Flare one end of the straw to match the bell shape.
- Cut a V shaped section from the side out of it but make sure there is enough straw left to retain it's shape and not splay open.
- Fold the straw at the cut apex and glue with crazy glue.
I think this would only work with VERY small scaled vents.
The narrower the V cuts and the more you have to complete the 90* angle the smoother the curve.
I'm not a ship modeller but it's how I would do it. Plastic straw could be substituted for paper if you create the cylinder from paper first.
Hi Ohio Mike
The curves of these things are compound curves and cannot be unrolled in a geometrically exact way - no matter how hard you try.
You can only approximate the shape. A coarse approximation results in few parts which can be easily assembled. A close approximation requires a large number of parts which may be difficult to glue together.
It depends a little bit on how small a vent you want to build and how simple a shape you find acceptable.
What size of vent do you need?
I designed two patterns in Rhino one simple (3 parts) for small vents and a more complicated one (5 parts, if memory serves me right) for vents with an opening of about 1cm (and more).
Bernhard