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did I apply the template properly? how to I interpret it to calculate my angles? do I have to have compound curves?
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Thee Template is a harsh mistress. I think it's a distraction. It is dependent on a bluff hemispherical nose to set up the air flow over the rear tail section. It has a half-circular lateral section and your vehicle doesn't. I produced this to try and loosen it's grip on people's minds:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/why-does-template-have-half-body-revolution-23333.html
Once you get away from a pure body of revolution, what's happening at the front bumper will affect what happens at the top of the tailgate.
IMHO as long as you can get a seamless tangent at the cab and it doesn't taper too fast you're good to go. Consider the front of this car. The A-pillar and that front bumper approximate the shape of a cab and tailgate. This shows that you can approximate closely with two rectangles and a triangle.
The challenge with a pickup is a two part problem, since you can't taper the bed. I view the Beetle similarly with the rear fenders substituting for the bed.
If the sides of the aerocap taper faster than the top, I think it would act like a tail-fin and improve directional stability on the road.
For your second question, you are looking for
lofting in naval architecture.