I don't recall it being mentioned that you can extrude the face of a solid.

http://screencast.com/t/GZpykhTK

Martin.

If for some reason you need to MAKE a solid, you can do it via the "Extrude Solid" tool.

Grab a surface and then you can extend it out to a terminating surface, where it retains an associative contact. You need the surface and three lines. At least, in what i am doing.

I take two lines to make the x1 and x2 positions for distance of a deck plate. Then, I space the lines along y=0 with z2 above z1, to, say, 16mm. I draw a face between the lines.

I then run a line from the upper, forward end of the deck line out to the hull surface, which is the "terminating surface". I terminate using the higher line so that when the extruded surface reaches the sideshell as a solid, it is adaptive to the face of the sideshell. That line running along y1 to y2 is the start and direction of the extrusion path.

I then use the Extrude Solid tool to extrude the surface. When done correctly, it terminates against the inside face.

However, due to some kernel limitation in ACIS, it doesn't seem possible to originate the deck plate at x1. It has to be x1 + .2mm or so. If it is before or exactly at x1, the kernel throws a fit. It is simple enough in a freehand drawing, and even a novice drafter can visualize it, but the kernel cannot do it for us and spare us of the onerous tedium.

In my case, a workaround is to create the deck from fore to aft in half-breadth hull and then use 16mm planes to intersect-break up the deck plates. But, that method may not confer or might disrupt the associative nature of the plating.

Nicely, the sideshell can be curved (I haven't yet tried it on compound curves... more on that in a few sentences to follow) and as long as you grab one of the upper/lower lines that originated the surface you extrude, you can see the deck re-limit itself. This is great if you install platform decks as placeholders while waiting for final heights above baseline.

As for creating an associative contact with compound curvature surfaces, i am not sure. My sideshell's surface had some funky (not readily apparent to the eye) non-smooth stuff and when I moved the associative original surface at the centerine some tiny milimeters distance up or down, VCP threw a "...stopped working..." message with the only options being to close the app or click for online help. It was repeatable. But, repeating too many times suggests tempting fate unless testing on a copy.

It also works with One Rail Sweep Solid and Lathe Solid :)

Martin.