Donald B. Cheke
www.textualcreations.ca
TurboCAD Pro V18 - RC Engine
Donald B. Cheke
1
Donald B. Cheke
Copyright © 2011 Donald B. Cheke
www.textualcreations.ca
TurboCAD is a registered trademark of IMSI/Design.
Published by:
Donald B. Cheke
Saskatoon, SK Canada
Visit: www.textualcreations.ca
All rights reserved
No part of this document may be reproduced, copied, stored on a retrieval system or transmitted in any
form without written permission from the author. The purchaser may, however, print one copy of the
document to paper and may make one backup copy of the downloaded material for personal safe
keeping.
Limitation of Liability
While every effort has been taken in the preparation and the writing of this document the author
assumes no responsibility for errors and/or omissions nor for the uses of the material and the decisions
based on such use. No warranties are made, express or implied with regard to either the contents of the
document, its merchant ability or fitness for a particular purpose. The author should not be liable for
direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use the
contents of this document.
Special Note
All of the work presented within this tutorial is based on TurboCAD Pro V18. Although users of previous
versions are welcome to try the tutorial it cannot be stated what results will be achieved. Many changes,
some subtle and others not so subtle, are made with each program revision. Although many steps and
directions would be generic some may not be. The same can be said for tools between versions. Older
versions may not have the same tools as Pro V18 and if the same tools are available the tools
themselves may have been revised and hence, work in a different manner than they previously did.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Setup.............................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Crankshaft ..................................................................................................................................................................23
Connecting Rod ..........................................................................................................................................................41
Wrist Pin ......................................................................................................................................................................46
Piston ...........................................................................................................................................................................48
Wrist Pin Clips ............................................................................................................................................................54
Sleeve ..........................................................................................................................................................................60
Crank Case ..................................................................................................................................................................65
Head Gasket ............................................................................................................................................................ 105
Cylinder Head .......................................................................................................................................................... 109
Spark Plug................................................................................................................................................................ 121
Front Housing Gasket............................................................................................................................................. 141
Front Housing .......................................................................................................................................................... 144
Carburetor Gasket .................................................................................................................................................. 164
Carburetor Assembly .............................................................................................................................................. 165
Drive Washer, Propeller Washer and Propeller Nut .......................................................................................... 191
Cylinder Head & Forward Housing Bolts ............................................................................................................. 203
Crankcase Cap ........................................................................................................................................................ 208
Additional Fillets ..................................................................................................................................................... 212
Materials Application ............................................................................................................................................. 218
Named View............................................................................................................................................................. 227
Ground Plane ........................................................................................................................................................... 229
Render Scene Luminance ..................................................................................................................................... 233
Render Scene Environment .................................................................................................................................. 236
Saving the Rendered Image.................................................................................................................................. 239
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Introduction
With the arrival of TurboCAD V18 comes a whole host of new tools and long awaited functions, such as
Multi-Threading. What better way to get introduced to the new version of TurboCAD than by creating a
cool RC engine in all its 3D glory.
Within the tutorial the reader will be led through each keystroke to produce all components of the RC
engine that is illustrated on the cover of the tutorial. Aside from learning how to draw in TurboCAD, the
user will learn how to insert standard lighting and how to utilize render scene luminance. The reader will
learn how to establish a render scene environment and the reader will learn how to render their drawing
and save it in a high resolution image format.
This tutorial is in no way intended to teach the fundamentals of engine design or construction but rather
it is intended to teach the use of some of the tools that TurboCAD has to offer and to introduce the new
user to a drawing methodology. The author feels confident that the techniques outlined within the
tutorial can help lay the foundation for future successful TurboCAD drawing and illustration for even the
newest user.
As with any technically advanced software, the user is generally faced with a steep learning curve. It is
the hope of the author that the money and time spent working through a Textual Creations tutorial will
help ease the learning and allow the reader to come away feeling confident that they made a wise
decision.
This tutorial will assume that the reader has the Platinum edition of TurboCAD Pro 18 with its extra
architectural and mechanical tools although no Platinum specific tools are used, that the author is aware
of.
There are many ways to approach a project and it is likely that each person using the program would
proceed in very different ways, so be open to alternative methods as experience builds. What is
important is that the user becomes familiar with the objects that they wish to model and begin to look at
them in a different way than they might otherwise do. What primitive shapes make up the whole? What
will be required of these primitive shapes early in the drawing and how will this affect needs further
along? What component or components should be started with? Many questions can only be answered
through experience, but hopefully some of them will be answered by the time the beginner has worked
through this tutorial. There is a great deal covered in this tutorial and the author urges the beginner to be
patient, to read very carefully and to take the time necessary to do a good job. Try to enjoy the process as
much as you will enjoy the final results.
This tutorial assumes that the beginner has studied the desktop to some degree and can locate most of
the tools. Since there are endless desktop configurations that can be set up in TurboCAD the author has
opted to illustrate the required tools with the Office 2000 user interface, and the default toolbars in their
undocked format (Office 2000 theme).
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This tutorial uses a Light Probe image called kitchen_probe.hdr. It has been supplied with the tutorial
download material. The light probe was originally found at: http://ict.debevec.org/~debevec/ (Light
Probe Image Gallery).
Place hdr image in a permanent location on the hard drive.
Please remember that any supplied images and files are for use within the tutorial only and may not be
shared or sold to others.
For those working through the tutorial in pre - V18 versions please note that most of the functions
described in the tutorial, as being on the Modify menu, were on the Format menu in previous version of
the program.
Also note the render times are much better in V18 than one will see if using previous versions of
TurboCAD. TurboCAD now uses Multi-Threading for renders and can make use of multiple processors.
The author has a fairly new Acer with 6 processers and has enable 5 for rendering. This is looked at as
part of the set up further along.
Lastly, the Copy in Place tool has finally been reintroduced into TurboCAD as a permanent tool. Users
who don't have this new tool will need to use the Make Copy method. That is to select the object to copy
in place, select the Make Copy tool to turn it on, tab into the first field on the Inspector Bar – but don't
change anything – and simply press Enter. Select the Make Copy tool again to turn it off.
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Save the drawing now with the file name RC Engine Tutorial.tcw.
Click OK in the Summary dialogue.
Crankshaft
Modeling will begin with the creation of the crankshaft, beginning with a bolt for the threaded end.
Select the Thread3D tool from the Special Tools toolbar.
Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 22 in the Length1 field, 6 in the Thread Diameter field, 15 in the
Thread Length field, 1 in the Pitch field, 10 in the Body Diameter field and 27 in the Full Length field.
Press Enter. Round Head is default and that is what is desired.
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Left mouse click in the drawing to start the bolt. It starts red, black and blue as it is calculated and turns
black, in this case, when the bolt is complete. Finished color is dependent on what the circle tools are
currently set to.
Press the Space Bar to exit the tool.
The bolts that are created with the Thread3D tool always finish slightly angled. Select the bolt. Tab into
the Inspector Bar and enter 0 in the Z Rotation field. Press Enter.
Press the D key to allow the yellow reference point to be moved. Move the cursor to the edge of the
upper circle of the bolt and C SEKE snap to place the reference point. In progress below. (Short form to
read: Press D SEKE and relocate (C SEKE) the reference point cursor to the edge of the upper circle of the
bolt. In progress below.)
With the bolt still selected, Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 90 in the X Rotation field. Press Enter.
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Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter .25 in the Start Radius field. Press Enter.
Select the crankshaft as the object to fillet. Double click the outer line of the port as the edge to fillet and
to perform the operation. In progress below.
Additional filleting will be done further along in the tutorial.
Connecting Rod
The connecting rod will now be created by extruding a 2D profile.
Switch to Front view.
Select Plane by Active View from the Workplane toolbar.
Select the Line tool from the Line toolbar.
C SEKE snap the edge of the pin on the crankshaft to place the first point of the line. Tab into the
Inspector Bar and enter 25 in the Length field and 90 in the Angle field. Press Enter.
Select the Circle Center & Point tool from the Circle/Ellipse toolbar.
V SEKE snap the top of the line to place the first point of the first circle. Tab into the Inspector Bar and
enter 7.4 in the Diameter field. Press Enter.
V SEKE snap the top of the line to place the first point of the next circle. Tab into the Inspector Bar and
enter 3.9 in the Diameter field. Press Enter.
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V SEKE snap the bottom of the line to place the first point of the next circle. Tab into the Inspector Bar
and enter 8.44 in the Diameter field. Press Enter.
V SEKE snap the bottom of the line to place the first point of the next circle. Tab into the Inspector Bar
and enter 4.5 in the Diameter field. Press Enter.
Select the Rotated Rectangle tool from the Line toolbar.
Select Red from the color dropdown menu on the Property toolbar.
Using two V SEKE snaps, place the first two points of the rectangle at the top and the bottom vertexes of
the green line. Move the cursor to the right for a short distance and then Tab into the Inspector Bar and
enter 6.1 in the Size B field. Press Enter.
Press the Space Bar to exit the tool.
Select the rectangle. Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 0 in the X Position field. Press Enter.
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Select the Simple Extrude tool from the 3D Object toolbar.
Select the new red profile as the object to extrude. Move the cursor forward and left mouse click when
the extrusion passes beyond the front of the sleeve.
Select the 3D Subtract tool from the Boolean & Facet toolbar.
Select the sleeve as the object to subtract from. Press and hold the Shift key down. Select the two
extrusions as the object to subtract. Release the Shift key. Select Finish. In progress below.
Press Ctrl + A to select all visible objects.
Turn on the Piston layer.
With the objects still selected, Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 90 in the Z Rotation field. Press Enter.
With the objects still selected, Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter -21.5 in the Delta Z field. Press Enter.
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Press Ctrl + K to open the Select by Colors dialogue. Select Blue and Red and then click OK.
Assign the selection to the 2D layer.
Turn off the Piston layer.
Create a new layer called Sleeve and turn it off.
Select the sleeve and assign it to the Sleeve layer.
Turn on the Crankshaft layer.
Crank Case
It is now time to create the crank case. It will be made by creating a number of profiles which will be
extruded into 3D components.
Switch to Front view.
Select Plane by Active View from the Workplane toolbar.
Select the Circle Center & Point tool from the Circle/Ellipse toolbar.
Blue should still be selected.
G SEKE snap the grid intersection at the center of the crankshaft to place the first point of the circle. Tab
into the Inspector Bar and enter 20 in the Diameter field. Press Enter.
G SEKE snap the grid intersection at the center of the crankshaft to place the first point of the next circle.
Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 26.4 in the Diameter field. Press Enter.
Select the Rectangle tool from the Line toolbar.
G SEKE snap the grid intersection at the center of the crankshaft to place the first point of the rectangle.
Move the cursor in a right upwardly direction for a short distance and thenTab into the Inspector Bar and
enter 19.4 in the Size A and Size B fields field. Press Enter.
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Press the Space Bar to exit the tool.
Select the rectangle. Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 0 in the X and Z Position fields. Press Enter.
Turn the Crankshaft layer off.
Select the Circle Center & Point tool from the Circle/Ellipse toolbar.
V SEKE snap the upper left corner of the rectangle to place the first point of the circle. Tab into the
Inspector Bar and enter 5 in the Diameter field. Press Enter.
In the same manner, place a 5 mm circle at the other three corners of the rectangle.
Select the Line tool from the Line toolbar.
Select Blue from the color dropdown menu on the Property toolbar.
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Select Plane by World from the Workplane toolbar.
Select the 39 x 12 mm red rectangle.
Right mouse click and select Rubber Stamp from the local menu. Move the cursor to the uppermost
circle and C SEKE snap a copy in place. In progress below.
Press Esc to exit the Rubber Stamp tool.
Select the rectangle that was just snapped in place. Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 24 in the Size X
and Size Y fields. Press Enter.
Select the Fillet2D tool from the Modify toolbar
Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 2.5 in the Radius field. Press Enter.
Select one line of the resized rectangle and then select the Process the whole polyline option. In progress
below.
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Select the Simple Extrude tool from the 3D Object toolbar.
Disengage the Use Compound Profile option.
Select the upper red profile as the object to extrude. Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter -6.5 in the
Height field. Press Enter.
Select the 3D Add tool from the Boolean & Facet toolbar.
Select the main crankcase and the last extrusion as the objects to add. In progress below.
Press Ctrl + K to open the Select by Colors dialogue. Select Blue and Red and then click OK.
Assign the selection to the 2D layer.
The exhaust port will now be created by extruding a 2D profile.
Switch to Right view.
Select Plane by Active View from the Workplane toolbar.
Select the Rotated Rectangle tool from the Line toolbar.
Select Blue from the color dropdown menu on the Property toolbar.
Using two Q SEKE snaps, place the first two points of the rectangle at the left and right quadrant points of
the lowest circle of the wider upper portion of the crankcase.
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Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 31 in the Diameter field. Press Enter.
Select Finish.
Switch to Isometric SW view.
Select the Simple Extrude tool from the 3D Object toolbar.
Select the Use Compound Profile option.
Press and hold the Shift key down. Select the two outside blue circles as the object to extrude. Release
the Shift key. In progress below.
Move the cursor upward and then left mouse click to define the extent of the extrusion when it is past the
top of the crankcase.
Select the inside blue circle as the next object to extrude. Move the cursor upward and then left mouse
click to define the extent of the extrusion when it is past the top of the crankcase.
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Select the 3D Subtract tool from the Boolean & Facet toolbar.
Select the Don't remove the subtrahend option.
Select the HRI text as the object to subtract from and then select the wider extrusion as the object to
subtract. In progress below.
Select the HRI text as the object to subtract from and then select the narrower extrusion as the object to
subtract. In progress below.
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Select the Forest Green profile as the next object to revolve. V SEKE snap the upper right corner of the
Forrest Green profile to define the first point of the revolution axis. Press and hold the Shift key down.
Move the cursor in an upward direction for a short distance and then left mouse click to define the
second point of the revolution axis. Release the Shift key. In progress below.
Select the 3D Subtract tool from the Boolean & Facet toolbar.
Select the Don't remove the subtrahend option.
Select the second last revolved object as the object to subtract from and then select the last revolved
object as the object to subtract. In progress below.
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Turn on the Cylinder Head layer.
Select the cylinder head as the object to subtract from and then select the threaded component as the
object to subtract.
Press the Space Bar to exit the tool.
Turn off the Cylinder Head layer.
A small rod and a wire coil are still required.
Select the Rectangle tool from the Line toolbar.
C SEKE snap the lowest line of the plug to place the first point of the rectangle. Move the cursor in a right
downwardly direction for a short distance and then Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter .5 in the Size A
field and .4 in the Size B field. Press Enter.
Press the Space Bar to exit the tool.
Select the new rectangle. Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 0 in the X Position field. Press Enter.
Select the Double Point Circle tool from the Circle/Ellipse toolbar.
M SEKE snap the upper line of the last rectangle to place the first point of the circle. Tab into the
Inspector Bar and enter .1 in the Diameter field an 90 in the Angle field. Press Enter.
C SEKE snap the lower line of the upper central component to place the first point of the next circle.
Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter .1 in the Diameter field an 270 in the Angle field. Press Enter.
Select the Distance tool from the Measurement toolbar.
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Select the Mirror Copy tool from the Copy toolbar.
C SEKE snap the edge of the central circle to define the first point of the mirroring line. Press and hold
the Shift key down. Move the cursor in an upward direction for a short distance and then left mouse click
to define the second point of the mirroring line. Release the Shift key. In progress below.
Switch to Isometric SE view.
Select the 3D Add tool from the Boolean & Facet toolbar.
Press and hold the Shift key down. Select the main housing and the side pieces as the objects to add.
Release the Shift key. Select Finish. In progress below.
Select the Simple Extrude tool from the 3D Object toolbar.
Select the red circle as the object to extrude.
Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 40 in the Height field. Press Enter.
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Select the 3D Subtract tool from the Boolean & Facet toolbar.
Select the main housing as the object to subtract from and then select the last extrusion as the object to
subtract. In progress below.
Carburetor Gasket
A gasket will now be placed on top of the manifold.
Select the Auto Workplane by Face tool from the Workplane toolbar.
Select the Concentric Circles tool from the Circle/Ellipse toolbar.
Select Blue from the color dropdown menu on the Property toolbar.
Place the cursor by the edge of the upper inner circle and C SEKE snap to place the first point of the
circle.
Move the cursor to a quadrant point of the same circle and Q SEKE snap to complete the first circle.
Move the cursor to a quadrant point on the upper outer circle and Q SEKE snap to complete the second
circle.
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Select Finish.
Select the Simple Extrude tool from the 3D Object toolbar.
The Use Compound Profile option should still be engaged.
Press and hold the Shift key down. Select the two blue circles as the object to extrude. Release the Shift
key. Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter .5 in the Height field. Press Enter.
Press the Space Bar to exit the tool.
Turn off the Forward Housing layer.
Create a new layer called Carburetor Gasket.
Select the gasket and assign it to the Carburetor Gasket layer.
Carburetor Assembly
Switch to Front view.
Select Plane by Active View from the Workplane toolbar.
The vertical component will now be created by revolving a 2D profile.
Select the Rectangle tool from the Line toolbar.
Select Blue from the color dropdown menu on the Property toolbar.
Q SEKE snap the first point of the rectangle to the upper left inside quadrant point of the gasket.
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Select the Simple Extrude tool from the 3D Object toolbar.
Deselect Use Compound Profile and Two sided extrude.
Select the triangle as the object to extrude. Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter -4 in the Height field.
Press Enter.
Press the Space Bar to exit the tool.
Select the extrusion, Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter .25 in the Delta Z field. Press Enter. Do not
deselect
Switch to Front view.
Select Plane by Active View from the Workplane toolbar.
Select the Radial Copy tool from the Copy toolbar.
C SEKE snap the edge of the central circle to define the radial axis. In progress below.
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Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 90 in the Sets field. Press Enter.
Press Ctrl + K to open the Select by Colors dialogue. Select Red and click OK.
Assign the selection to the 2D layer.
Switch to Isometric NE view.
Select all of the copied extrusions. Do not select the washer.
Select the MultiAdd tool from the Modify menu at the top of the TurboCAD desktop.
If an error occurs use the 3D Add tool to add the components together.
Select the 3D Subtract tool from the Boolean & Facet toolbar.
Select the washer as the object to subtract from and then select the added extrusions as the object to
subtract. In progress below.
Press the Space Bar to exit the tool.
Select the washer and assign it to the Drive Washer layer.
Cylinder Head & Forward Housing Bolts
Turn on the Cylinder Head and Forward Housing layer.
It is now time to create the bolts that fasten the cylinder head and forward housing to the crankcase.
Disengage the Auto Workplane by Face tool from the Workplane toolbar.
Select Plane by World from the Workplane toolbar.
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Press Esc to deselect the selection.
Turn on all layers, except 2D.
Named View
Before a view can be named the drawing must be maneuvered into a desirable view. This is done with
the Standard Views tools or the Walk Through tools. However, before this is done camera perspective will
be engaged.
Right mouse click the Wireframe render icon on the Render toolbar to open the Camera Properties.
Under the Camera tab check Perspective View and slide the View Angle to 28.074. Click OK.
Switch to Right view.
Select the Examine tool from the Walkthrough toolbar.
Select Look To Drawing Center from the View / Camera menu at the top of the TurboCAD desktop.
Left mouse click in the drawing and hold the mouse button down. Move the cursor slowly to the left to
turn the model to a position similar to the image below.
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Select the Slide tool from the Walkthrough toolbar.
Left mouse click in the drawing and hold the mouse button down. Move the cursor slowly to the left to
move the model to a position similar to the image below.
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