: So I made a nice SOF canoe, I designed it myself (so no IP
: arguments). I now I want to draw up plans. I can do all the 3d
: modeling part of things, but I need to get the lines off the
: boat and into the computer.

The Luddite neurons in my head ask:

"Umm, why?"

Don't you already have the plans for the SOF?

If you built using chines bent around frames, add or subtract the difference between the thickness of your chines and your strips, from the SOF frames and those are your plans.

If you built using ribs and chines, loosen a few stitches, pull off the skin, and use a pencil to trace around every rib, or every other one, or every third one. . . depends on how many building forms you want and how far apart you spaced the original ribs.

A piece of paper taped to a piece of thin plywood should be stiff enough. Press that against the rib and run the pencil point around the rib. If you have a scanner which will accept a large sheet of paper you don't need to measure the shape of the forms, only their distance from the ends and from each other.

If you were gentle when you removed it, you may be able to reinstall the skin.

Do you need to get these into a computer? Photocopies or blueprint copies are really low tech, but fully functional.

If you are thinking of making this design by Stitch and Glue technique, try getting friends to hold large sheets of paper over the boat while you use a crayon to make rubbings of the chine lines. Butcher paper would be good. Rosin paper is available at hardware stores at reasonable prices, too.

The rubbings will give you the location and thickness of the chines. Your S&G panels will meet in the middle of those chine lines, so just redraw your full-size plans by going down the middle of the chine.

Probably only need to do rubbings of one side of hull and deck. Other side should be a mirror image. When S&G panels are cut that will be assumed and both panels cut together.

You don't need to remove the skin to do crayon rubbings. As long as you keep the crayon on the paper and not color on the boat, rubbings are fast and neat.

Good luck with your project.

PGJ