The Art of Wing Pieces-- How to use them most effectively?

[RSwordsman]

This question came about after ogling the beauties in the SSTO showcase thread. A lot of people manage to make not only wings with wing pieces, but sort of skins for their craft for aerodynamics and/or aesthetics. This one is a simpler example, but even more elaborate fuselages made entirely out of wing pieces have been made to completely encase the guts of the ship.

I have tried for a while now, and I just can't get the parts to work like I want them to. I always end up wildly guessing at what the WASDQE keys will do to a piece, yet if I finally figure something out, adjusting its position only minutely on a structural element might totally throw it off. Is there a method to the madness, or is it something you just have to tinker with until you can work some magic?

[briansun1]

it's really just press the buttons until they do what you want. though 2 things that can help snap to angle(the c key) and holding shift while pressing wasdqe(fine movement mode) hope this helps. also you can check out the wiki for all of the keybindings als might want to get the edtools mod

[robogungt8]

Two words:

no-clip mode

[RSwordsman]

it's really just press the buttons until they do what you want. though 2 things that can help snap to angle(the c key) and holding shift while pressing wasdqe(fine movement mode) hope this helps. also you can check out the wiki for all of the keybindings als might want to get the edtools mod

I know about shift already, but I haven't tried using c. Thanks for the tip.

Two words:

no-clip mode

I've always been hesitant about this because it feels cheaty, but an exception may be in order for structure and wing parts.

[allmhuran]

The parts attach based on point connections, so as you move one part "across" the face of another part, it will eventually reach a boundary where it the "correct" attachment is actually at another angle. This is the same thing you see when building rockets and attaching things radially. As you move around the surface of the cylinder, the angle at which things attach changes in a stepped manner.

For cylinders attaching to cylinders, this is pretty intuitive, but it can be a real pain when attaching wings to fuselages. Going into surface attach mode © does help, but ultimately it's just a matter of getting familiar with how the construction works, eventually it becomes intuitive.

[bsalis]

no-clip mode

No need to invoke the debug menu. Wings clip into other objects quite well without that.

IMO nice looking planes is about making a design decision to favour good looks over other things. You need to keep re-working the structure so wings can be placed (and rotated) in a pleasing manner. So basically that - and a lot of practice, trial, error, learning.

[Whatshtisthis]

Start with simpler designs, then after you get how to position them, you can go big.

The "skeleton" where you put the wings on is very important, you may have to plan out how the skeleton must be like for your craft.