To Fly or Not To Fly?

This is the first complete da Vinci invention I have fully completed, as predicted it did challenge my knowledge and techniques but also helped me gain different skills.


This first thing I did to start the model off was to create the base of the machine, to do this I created a flat cylinder with about 30 sides to make it as round as possible. I then created a smaller cylinder and used the align tool to position is in the middle of the first cylinder. Once I had done with I used the ProBoolean tool to create the indent similar to the ones I had seen in the many sketched and models on the Internet. I then moved on to create the mast in the centre of the base which holds up the canvas. To get the point at the end, I used the bevel tool in the modify tab. I then added two supports to the bottom of the pole and a further two more just under the canvas. These were again made out of cylinders. To the top supports, I added a further 3 that anchored them in place.


Bottom of the helicopter


Creating the canvas was the biggest challenge of the task. I knew roughly how to create the helix shape that would eventually form the canvas. I started of by going to the shapes menu in the create tab, I created a helix and a rectangle. I then went back to the geometry menu and selected compound objects. This is where the canvas began to take shape with the help from the loft tool, I was able to turn the basic flat helix and rectangle into something that resembled the canvas in da Vinci's sketches. However, the canvas still wasn't right, it didn't have the right dimensions as the one in the sketches. To adjust the curve of the 3D helix I had now created, I turned to the modify tab and with the help of trial and error, I played with the settings until I found it matched the sketch. The tool that helped the most with this was the deformations tool bar.


3D helix - the canvas of the machine



Deformation tool set - Twist

The Completed Helicopter