The Basics of Car Modeling in Google SketchUp

TUTORIAL

The Basics of Car Modeling in Google SketchUp – Tutorial by Marian Rodu

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The Basics of Car Modeling in Google SketchUp

Created by Marian Rodu.

In this tutorial you will make a very basic car body using Google SketchUp. You can make this model without the aid of any Plug-Ins, but to make it much easier you can use the Weld.rb and Skin.rb Plug-Ins.

01

INTRODUCTION

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Marian Rodu

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Though not very pretty, most of what you need to know about modeling a car in Google SketchUp is in here. Take a look here for an example of how a car is made using this technique after more detailing and modeling and how it looks when completed.

Left: We Start With a Simple Square and Arc

Bottom: And finish Up With a Simple Body Shell

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02

Step 1/12

Begin with a Square and Draw an Arc

To create the Wheel Wells you need to select the Rectangle tool and draw a square in the vertical plane.

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Select the Arc tool and draw an Arc on the square, about halfway up.

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03

Step 2/12

Create Arched Shape with Push Pull and Eraser Tool

Now Delete the lines you do not need (you can use the Eraser tool), and then select the Push Pull tool and either push or pull the shape until you have something that is similar to this picture.

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After you have extruded the shape, and then using the Eraser tool, Delete the bottom front line and you should now have something like in the picture. As a side note, remember that the white side of the Faces always need to be visible to the Camera, it is mostly important when you want to render your model. To reverse the Faces, Context Click>Reverse Faces.

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04

Step 3/12

Make a Copy of the Shape and Connect with the Line Tool

Now Copy the Wheel Well to a suitable distance from your model. You can do this by selecting the Wheel Well and then selecting the Move tool. To Copy the geometry and not simply Move it, you need to press and hold the CTRL button on your keyboard and with the model selected and the Move tool selected, simply drag the model to the right a suitable distance.

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In this step you need to use the Line tool and connect the two Wheel Wells. You could make the Line more complex by adding curves with the Arc tool, but for simplicity’s sake you are going to use a simple Line.

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05

Step 4/12

Use Rectangle Tool and Arc Tool to Make a Profile Shape

Select the Rectangle tool and make a small square at the bottom of one of the Wheel Wells, only on the exterior sides, not the sides between the wells.

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Now select the Arc tool, press the Tab button on your keyboard, then Type in 3, you will then see this number displayed in the Measurements Box in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. What you have typed represents the number of segments of the Arc. You could have left the default 12 segments, but it will be easier to Edit later.

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06

Step 5/12

Clean Up Geometry and then Use Follow Me to Produce Curvature

Use the Eraser tool to Delete the lines you do not need.

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Now select the Follow Me tool and clicking on the rounded shape you made in the previous step. Drag it along the curvature of the Well and along the Line you have previously drawn, resulting in a smooth side, like the one in the picture.

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07

Step 6/12

Create Side Panel and Make into a Component

Select the Line tool and connect the bottom inner sides of the Wheel Wells, thus creating the side panel.

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Select the entire body panel with the Wheel Wells, then Context Click>Make Component. Making it a Component will make it much easier for modeling a bit later.

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Step 7/12

Copy Component and Invert With the Scale Tool

Now using the Copy technique you used in Step 3 when you copied the Wheel Well, Copy the side and Move it a short distance away.

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For this step select the copied side panel and select the Scale tool. Now Click on the side Middle Points like in the picture and Drag to the left, until you see -1.00 in the Measurements Box. That means it has been inverted but has the same dimensions before scaling.

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09

Step 8/12

Construct Floor and Draw a Front Shape

After you have scaled the side, enter into one of the Components to Edit it by Double Clicking on it. Select the Line tool and draw at the front and at the back, two even lines that will be parallel. Draw another Line connecting the two, resulting in making the floor of the car.

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Now draw at the front whatever shape you want, but in the model here an Arc and a small Line was used.

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10

Step 9/12

Using Plug-Ins and Line Tool to Construct Front Shape

Select the Line at the bottom (if you wanted to use Plug-Ins here, you would have to go to the Plug-Ins Tab and select the Weld command. That would connect in one Line anything thing you might draw. If you only use the Arc tool, then you do not have to Weld the Line as it will already be welded by default) and Copy the Line upwards connecting it with the edges of the side.

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Copy the Line along all the edges of the side. If you used just a few lines to make the contour, you can just stitch the Faces by hand using the Line tool. If you used many lines, this is where the fact that they are welded comes in handy. Selecting only two Lines at a time you can make the Faces automatically using the Skin Plug-In (you should try more than one version of the Skin Plug-In, as not all work very well).

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Step 10/12

Construct the Rear in the Same Manner and Draw a Profile for the Cockpit

Do the same thing at the back, it is up to you what shapes you use. In this tutorial a simple shape was used just for speed. Tip: You can use the Scale tool on selected lines. This can help you make a more appropriate shape.

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Select the Rectangle tool to create a vertical rectangle, then using the Line tool draw whatever shape you think fits best, just do not make it too complex.

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Step 11/12

Push Pull and then Shape the Cockpit

Now select the Push Pull tool to create the Geometry. Tip: Pressing and holding down the CTRL button while Push Pulling leaves a Face from where you Pushed Pulled from. This comes in handy when you want to shape the cockpit using the Scale tool.

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After shaping the cockpit to improve it’s look and make it more realistic looking, you need to slant it. You do this by selecting the Rotate tool. Align it with the Red or Green Axis depending on how you positioned your model, press and hold the SHIFT button on your keyboard to lock the Rotate tool on that Axis then click on the middle of the bottom line of the cockpit, then the second click goes vertically on the Blue Axis hitting the upper line of the cockpit.
You then have to Rotate a bit till it has the desired effect and angle.

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Step 12/12

Fine Tune the Cockpit and then Soften/Smooth the Model

After you slanted that face you can make more adjustments by using the Scale tool. Do not forget to delete the extra lines that remained from making the cockpit. Finally Soften/ Smooth the model.

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I know it is not very pretty, but if you managed to follow this tutorial so far, chances are that with a little practice and learning how to use some Plug-Ins you can model a really cool car.

End of this tutorial.

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14

16 Responses to “The Basics of Car Modeling in Google SketchUp”

  1. rmclellan says:

    I get as far as step 11, and I can’t go any further because the skin plug-in isn’t working for some reason. I’ve tried 3-4 different skin plug-ins, and I’ve tried making my wire frame 5-6 different ways/shapes etc and nothing works. Is there some detail that I might be missing? VERY frustrating that I can’t make this work.

    Thanks for the help.

  2. shareeq says:

    good one

  3. yeganegi says:

    nice tips , thanx

  4. Marian87 says:

    I already e-mailed rmclellan about that issue, in case anybody else has that problem, you should know that for some reason, possibly not being compatible with some other plug you have installed, the skin.rb plug doesn’t work, but don’t worry you can stich the lines manually, the inconvinience is that it takes longer, and may be very boring if you have lots of segments, so if the plug does not work try using less segments in the lines on the front and back than i used, 6 to 7 segments is usually enough, you can edit later when adding details.
    Good luck

  5. ely862me says:

    :)

  6. jol4can says:

    at step 8 witch way will the line go??????????????!!!!!!

  7. jol4can says:

    IN STEP 9, WHERE IS PLUG-INS?

  8. jol4can says:

    SKIN-PLUGINS? WHERE?

  9. Marian87 says:

    I don’t understand what you are saying about step 8, but the plugins for step 9 can be found at links at the top of the page.

  10. Marian87 says:

    The blue words at the top, at the beginnig of the tutorial,they are hyperlinked to where you may find the plugins

  11. bladedblader says:

    Nice tutorial, I could do it without any plugins!

  12. NICKROX says:

    can i get some help with step six? it is so freakin confusing!

  13. [...] that are brave and think they are highly skilled with SketchUP try this car design tutorial -  http://www.sketchucation.com/the-basics-of-car-modeling-in-google-sketchup/. This is very complicated but have a go and try your [...]

  14. Lucas says:

    very good…congratulations
    essas dicas estão me ajudando e muito….
    só esperando outros tutoriais
    parabens
    I from Brazil

  15. Confused? says:

    I need help on step 6, Nickrox plz help, when i draw the line the surface doesn’t appear PLZ HELP< PLZ HELP!!!!!!!

  16. B-Toes says:

    AWESOME…I ACTUALLY LEARNT SOMETHING FROM THIS…THANKS!!

    I had a school assignment where we had to make a car for graphics technology, and you made life easier for me with your help! :)

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