1. SketchUp Toy Tank Level of Difficulty Time Approximately 25–30 minutes
Photocopiable/digital resources may only be copied by the purchasing institution on a single site and for their own use © ZigZag Education, 2013 

2. By the end of this tutorial you will be able to…
Use construction lines
Make components
Move and Copy components
Colour/render your design

3. Skills to be used in this project…
Basic Skills
New and Higher Skills
Zoom tool
Tape Measure tool (for guidelines)
Orbit tool
Use the Views toolbar
Pan tool
Create and Move components
Line tool
Paint Bucket tool
Rectangle tool
Circle tool
Eraser tool
Push/Pull tool
Basic skills are those required to do very basic drawings and are detailed as part of this presentation.
New and higher skills may be new to the novice and are the focus for learning in this presentation.

4. 1. Once you have opened SketchUp, go to Window and select Preferences.
2. Select Template and choose Metric Millimeters-3D. We are using this template because we are doing a product design.
Therefore, on some versions of SketchUp you will need to select Product Design & Woodwork, Millimetres.
Note: It is often necessary to start a new file to use the new template.
Go to File then New.

5. 3. Now select the Rectangle tool and draw a rectangle on the base by clicking and dragging the cursor diagonally.
4. Once you have drawn the rectangle DO NOT press enter. Firstly enter ‘64,124’ and then press Enter. This gives the real life-size dimensions of the tank’s base.
5. Your resized rectangle may look very small. Just place your cursor over it and use the middle wheel to roll and zoom in on it.
Alternatively, use the Zoom tool.

6. Some useful tips…
Note: If you make a mistake at any time during this tutorial you can just go to Edit and choose Undo from the drop-down menu, or press the Alt and Backspace keys.
You can use the Orbit tool to change the angle that you are viewing your design from. You can do the same by pressing the middle wheel of your mouse.
You can also use the Pan tool to grab and move your object around the screen.
Alternatively, you can pan by pressing the Shift key and holding down the mouse's middle wheel.

7. 6. Now select the Push/Pull tool.
7. With the Push/Pull selected, place the cursor over the rectangle you have drawn.
Keeping the left mouse button pressed down pull the shape up to make it 3D. DO NOT PRESS ENTER.
Type ’48’ and then press Enter, this makes the shape of that thickness.
It should now look like this.

8. 8. Now select the Orbit tool OR just press and hold down the mouse wheel.
This enables you to rotate the block.
9. Rotate the block so that you can see the bottom of the block to draw on it.

9. 10. Select the Tape Measure tool from the toolbar.
11. Click on the edge shown (look for the red dot). Move the cursor in from the edge and a guideline will appear. Type ’12’ to set the guideline 12 mm from the edge.
12. Then do the same on the opposite edge, so that you have two parallel guidelines.

10. 13. Select the Rectangle tool.2
14. At the end of one of the guidelines, on the edge of the block, click to start your rectangle (1). Look for the red cross and the Intersection prompt.
15. Drag the mouse diagonally to form a rectangle, clicking where the other guideline meets the edge of the block (2).

11. 18. Using Orbit, or the middle mouse wheel, rotate the block so that you can clearly see the top of it.
17. Now you can delete the guidelines using the Eraser tool.
16. Push/Pull the rectangle that you have just drawn in by 36 (type ’36’ then press Enter).
You should have a base like this.

12. 19. Select the Circle tool.
Gently move the cursor along the short edge until the bright blue prompt dot appears. This shows you where the middle of that edge is.
DON’T PRESS ENTER.
Then do the same on the long edge.
20. Moving the cursor gently towards the middle of the top face, you should see two faint guidelines which show you the centre.
Click on the centre and stretch out the circle. Type ‘6’ and then press Enter.

13. 21. Using the Push/Pull tool, push the circle down and enter ’12’ to put a hole in the top.32
22. Using Orbit, rotate the block until you can see the sides to make it easy to draw on.
23. Select the Tape Measure tool to create some more construction lines in the positions shown (12 mm up and 32 mm inside the outside edges).
24. Using the guidelines, locate the position for the axle holes. Give the holes a radius of 3 mm and Push/Pull them in by 12 mm.
Do this at both ends and on both sides of the block.

14. With the holes created, it should look like this.
Don’t forget to save as you go.
25. Delete your construction lines with the Eraser tool
26. Using the Tape Measure tool, produce some construction points 24 mm from the bottom and side edges, as indicated.
27. Join these reference points with lines as shown, and push them in by 12 mm to create the shape below. You will need to do this on both sides of the object. 24
28. Delete your construction lines with the Eraser tool.
Now you should have this shape.

15. 29. Select the Pick tool and make a box around the whole shape, as if you were going to group it.
The whole shape should appear highlighted, as seen below.
30. Now go to Edit and select Make Component.
31. When the prompt box comes up, name the component Base and click Create.
This will make your object into a single shape that will not get mixed up with the other shapes (components) that you are going to draw on the top of it.

16. 32. If you have not already got them on your screen, get the Large Tool Set and the Views toolset by going to View > Toolbars and selecting them.
33. The Views toolkit changes the view of your project at a glance. Click on this one to draw the next component.
Your screen should now look like this.

17. 10 31
34. Produce construction lines on the top of the tank using the dimensions given here. Then make a rectangle of this dimension using the prompts and guide dots that will appear.
35. Push/Pull the new rectangle up by 24 mm.
36. Delete your construction lines using the Eraser tool.

18. 12 10
37. Produce new construction points on the top of the turret using the dimensions given here. Then use the Line tool to join them using the prompts and guide dots that will appear.
38. Push/Pull the triangular part down by 24 mm to make them level with the top of the tank’s base.
An easier way to do this is to highlight the triangle, start to push down and then just move the cursor over the top surface of the base.
A prompt saying ‘On Face in Component’ will appear. Just click this and it will be level. Do this to the other corners.

19. 39. Select the Circle tool and, by gently moving your cursor, find the middle of the square of the turret by using the midpoints of its top and side. Look for the prompts.
This will enable you to place the centre of the circle perfectly.
40. Click on the centre of the square, stretch out the circle and type ‘3’ then press Enter to give the radius.
41. Extrude (Push/Pull) the circle by 50 to form the gun.

20. 42. Orientate the tank to approximately this view.
43. Using the Pick tool, draw a box around JUST the turret.
44. Now, make this into a separate component by going to Edit > Make Component.
Call the component Turret and click Create.
This is now a completely different part from the rest of the tank.
45. Use the Move tool to move the turret away from the tank base.

21. 46. Orbit your drawing so that you can see the underside of the turret.
47. Now, right-click on the turret and when the prompt box appears, select Edit Component.
This enables you to change the turret component.
On the underside of the turret, use the midpoint prompt to draw a circle of 6 mm radius.
49. Then extrude this (Push/Pull) by 12 mm.
50. Then right-click on the turret, select Close Component from the drop-down menu.
This stops the turret from being changed any more.

22. 51. This next bit can be a bit tricky, so be careful.
I recommend that you select the isometric view and then zoom in so that you can draw the roller on the side of the tank.
52. Select the Circle tool. Making sure the red circle is showing, draw a circle on the side of the tank.
53. Type ’16’ for the radius and after pressing Enter extrude it by 32 mm.
54. Using the Move tool, move the roller cylinder away from the tank base so that you can work on it.

23. 55. Select the Circle tool and then find the centre prompt for the roller’s end before clicking to start the circle.
56. Give it a radius of 3 mm and extrude it by 16 mm to form the axle. Do this at the other end too, having Orbited your roller.
57. Using the Pick tool, highlight the whole roller and make it into a new component, called Roller.
58. Keep the Ctrl button of your keyboard pressed at the same time as you are using the Move tool. This changes its function to a Copy tool.
Use this to drag a copy of your roller component away from the original.

24. 59. Now use the Move tool to assemble the components by dragging them into their position one at a time.
It makes it easier to pick up your components from the centre of the axles, etc.
This one has been highlighted with a purple dot.
60. Assembling the parts can be fiddly, so be patient!
It can involve having to Orbit the whole thing a few times to get it right.
Eventually it should look like this.
61. Select the Paint Bucket to render your tank. Just select a colour/texture and pour it onto each component.

25. 62. If you want different faces of the tank to be different colours, then just right-click on the component and select Edit Component, remembering to close it afterwards.
Explode does a similar thing.
Finished!

26. Extensions:
Develop more appropriate wheels for the tank. See if you can put tracks on it.
Put other details on the tank, such as access doors and weapons.
Experiment with colours and materials for rendering. Can you create a metal armour finish?
Design a completely new tank for future warfare.
Design another wooden toy.
Design and draw a completely new vehicle, such as a drag racer or a Wacky Racer.