Hi there!I'm new to everything that involves CAD but I've found that I could really use some basic cad-knowledge in my hobby which is scale modeling. I've seen some guys use AutoCAD to make a cutting pattern which they then send to their cutting machine which makes the mask. It can look like this:The masks are very useful, here the same guy has made masks to help with the painting of the canopy and wheels:On the pictures it looks like he just takes a photo of the part he want masked, then imports that picture to autoCAD where he draws the cutting pattern. It seems so simple but there has to be some measuring involved?! Can anyone describe how this process is done?Thanks,Erik

Hey, HERIC,There is Some software Series for Plate Shape Cutting with integrated 2D drawing, tool pathing, true shape nesting, code verification & NC generation, offering a complete low-cost solution to profile cutting. are u asking about thatg one?  please check this site http://www.fastcam.com/fastcam.html

Thanks, I will look more into that.My question though is not what program to use but how the process is made, is it possible to simply photograph a piece I want masked, import that picture to my cad-program and and design the cutting pattern? What measurements needs to be made?

Yes, it's possible but don't expect 100% accuracy.  You'll have to know at least one dimension so the image can be scaled correctly.

Alright, I will try it out, thanks!