The new kid on the modeling block is Google Sketchup. Having worked with quite a number of design tools, and being an amateur at all of them still, I like this one a lot.

It is simple, does a LOT of things and offers a means into design without going broke or needing 20 years to get anywhere near proficient with it. It does have its limitations and quirks of course, but some good tutorials can go a long way !

Google Sketchup 8 is available here for download.

- Arno’s Tutorial. That’s a pdf download. You can also get a printed version from Lulu here.

- Larry Robins’ tutorial that he posted on Flightsim.com.

- ModelConvertorX by Arno, needed to get Sketchup models fit into FSX, can be found here.

- A wonderful blog with TUTORIALS is the Tiebiaoji blog from a guy who never answers an email or message. The info is great though!