Long overdue but here we go again with the models that have caught my attention. Don’t be discouraged if a model is not available for your preferred software - just ask the uploader if they can convert to some neutral format.
Intel Mini ATX motherboard (SolidWorks 2010) certainly caught the attention of those engineers who are into modeling and building their own work horses. James Spellman admits that getting all those textures right is tough and takes a lot of time and effort but we say that this is mighty good already.
Timothy Holman shared a convoluted foam chair model (SolidWorks 2011) so others can learn how to create this particular form. Comments by others made Timothy tweak some of the design and the end result looks like something we wouldn’t mind having in the office for those afternoon powernaps.
By the way, Tim has another cool model, well-known to anyone who’s a frequent visitor to the Reddit website - the Reddit alien.
There are CAD models that are immediately useful and then there are those that you might never use but that are still interesting. Robert Harvey has one he calls "Globe" - it’s a STEP file of the Eearth’s continents that he used in a logo made for as an answer for one of the requests.
This list wouldn’t be perfect without an aircraft. This week it’s the Lockheed Martin F-35 (SolidWorks 2009 and STEP) from David Thomas. David has a few other interesting models in his profile, well worth checking out.
Numbering machines, head markers - not the sexiest subjects around. But when they come packaged with such a nice rendering then there’s no way we can leave it out of this list. Karyono ("selamat pagi!" to Indonesia) uploaded this model of a head marker for SolidWorks 2011.
Our library features plenty of breaks for motorcycles and bikes but hasn’t had a very good model of car brakes so far. Robert Voogt changed this with a model of a Brembo disk brake (SW 2010 and 2011). The honor of uploading the "odd model of the week" also goes to Robert for modeling the question mark that represents a no-screenshot in our library.
Just a few days ago I wrote about CAD models for remote controlled planes, somehow I missed one very cool tiny-tiny engine, the Pee Wee .020 for AutoCAD by Michel Ellul. Here’s a video clip of the same engine powering equally small RC plane.
Anyone writes "drag racing" into the description of their model and our ears perk up immediately. If you’ve been planning on building your own drag racer then Ron Lechner’s model of a clutchless 4-speed drag racing gearbox is a good starting point.
Being quite fond of wrist watches (yes, they’re cool in the age of "oh, I check the time on my mobile") this nice model of the Welder K22 watch (SW 2011) also makes the list. Nice one, Jerod H.
J E Paz took his Tamiya special racing buggy kit and learned SolidWorks reverse engineering and modeling it all (ok, he hasn’t had time to do the gearing yet). Available for SolidWorks 2011.
There are so many excellent, interesting, useful CAD models being added to our CAD model library every day that picking the 10 I want to feature here is becoming more and more challenging. Great work, everyone!
