Rick's Virtual Model of an Alligator Den!
This page created 5/27/2022  last update:
All text, images, etc. on this page ©2022 Richard Dashnau



This page is going through development. I created the components of this assembly in Solidworks.
I've wanted to do this for years, but didn't have access to the program that I could use for this
purpose. It was not feasible to do this with the access I'd had through my job.  But I've just
discovered that Solidworks has a "makers" tier that gives access to a full version of the program
(Solidworks connected 3D experience) for a very affordable cost (at least for now). So I modeled
an alligator den. I've tried this before (in 2013), with various freeware programs, and the results are on
this page. I hoped to do better with software that I'd been using for some time.

I modeled a piece of lake shore, and then put a den into it. I used den measurements from information
shared in various places by Dr. Anthony Martin, and ichnologist that works near the coast of Georgia (USA).
The den I made is an abbreviated general arrangement.  I kept the tunnel section a bit short so the
model would show better details over all. That was one part.
I modeled a thin sheet to represent the surface of the water. That was another part.
I created the alligator last. I used one of my photos. First, I "blacked-out" the gator in the image for
high-contrast.  Then I copied that high-resolution alligator silhouette into another sheet, and saved that image.
I imported the image into Solidworks and traced over it. Then made a solid from that by extruding.   Then
 I modified that it using various commands to make it "round"t, taper the tail, etc. (there are probably
better ways to do this, but I work with what I know of the program).  I used simple extrusions for the "legs".
That was the last part.
I used the 3 parts into a simple assembly At this point, I wanted to see how the model would work for
later images.  Maybe later I can try animating an alligator moving in the den.
Next, I had to figure out how to share this model so visitors to my website could see it.
THAT turned out to be an interesting problem.