Free!Ship

Your computer is one of the most powerful tools you'll probably get to use. In terms of precision and design, given the right applications nearly any project can be planned on a computer. Free!Ship is one such specialized utility with the help of which you can create a ship design from scratch.

On the visual side, the application brings nothing new on the block, sporting a simplistic interface, that cleverly stores all of its features and functions in an upper toolbar. The workspace is mostly taken up by four windows, each displaying a side of the ship, like perspective, profile, plan and bodyplan.

The model can easily be managed from either of the available view modes, by dragging node points around. A grid can be toggle on to view dimensions, as well as having both sides of the ship displayed, interior edges, water lines and a few more.

The application can pride itself with a large variety of tools. Once you consider the design is ready to hit the seas, you can first test the model so that no leak points are found. If so, these are specified and there is even an option that automatically selects them to get a better view on the issue.

Several calculations can be made to determine whether or not the project floats, such as hydrostatics, resistances, designing a proper propeller, as well as a few more. For most of these calculations a report can be issued and printed out on a sheet of paper.

Moreover, if the application is is used in professional environments, it comes in handy due to the various formats it supports. Amongst others, you can save the model to STL, FEF, IGES, DXF or even an image file of the linesplan.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that Free!Ship can certainly get you the desired ship model, on a sheet of paper at least, anyway. It does not require a lot of time to get to know its features, even though you can take advantage of a powerful set of tools. Overall, it lives up to expectations getting the job done well.