Nets, 3D Shapes and Making Models

aspex Tabs is an easy 3D software to make nets of 3D shapes.

A net of a shape is what you end up with when you take a 3d shape, like a cuboid, then unfold it and flatten it out. The flattened shape, or net, can then be copied, folded and glued to make the original 3d shape.

The nets 3d shapes make when they are unfolded would be almost impossible to make in to a physical 3D model, so tabs are added to the faces of each net to help stick them together. Hence the name 'aspex Tabs'.

Download aspex tabs for free

and try this educational software out for yourself,

the program will work on PC's and Mac OS X.

Nets of Shapes

In aspex Tabs the nets of shapes can be displayed on the screen and then printed out to make 3d paper models. Nets can be rotated and moved to better fit the paper and different Net permutations can be displayed for the Tetrahedron, Hexahedron, Octahedron and Cuboid shapes.

When using aspex Tabs, children can easily draw a 3D shape on the screen and then display the nets of shapes. All the shape nets can be printed onto paper or card, cut, folded and glued to make 3D paper models. A Saturn V rocket can be made from cylinder shapes for example, or a new package for after dinner mints could be made from cuboid shapes. Here are a couple of examples of the Nets of shapes available in aspex Tabs.

cube shape

Cube shape

net of a cube

Cube net

octahedron shape

Octahedron shape

not of an octahedron

Net of an octahedron

3D Shapes Nets

All the nets in Tabs can be rotated and moved around to best fit the paper and all the nets of shapes have tabs attached to them to allow them to be folded and glued to recreate the 3d shape out of paper. In aspex Tabs some 3d shapes nets are available in different permutations.

Cube net