Car
Why Do Clay Models Still Exist in Modern Car Manufacturing? | Geek Inter #discovery #car
Why Do Clay Models Still Exist in Modern Car Manufacturing | Geek Inter #discovery #car
In today’s automotive industry, where digital technology is advancing rapidly, a traditional method still stands strong: the use of clay models. Although this technique has been around for almost a century, it remains an integral part of car design and development for many leading manufacturers. But what has allowed clay models to endure, and why do automakers continue to rely on them in a world driven by digital design?
source
As a packaging designer, we use bottle mockups from time to time to get a feel for shape, glass weight, and any erganomics so I can fully understand why clay models are a thing
My grandfather worked at Ford in the UK in the clay department. He was a scupltor and also worked with the likes of Jacob Epstein on pieces such as St. Michael’s Victory over the Devil on Coventry Cathedral. Back then there were no computers or machines involved, all hand-worked. Good to see the skills in the job continue, nothing beats a physical model to touch and feel the presence of, VR falls short in many ways
I work for Jaguar Land Rover and deal with these clay models all the time. They are a great way to get a feel for what the cars will look like in life size with all the correct finishes. They seem expensive but compared to the cost of building a real car from scratch they cost nothing
I always wanted to be a car designer. I ended up becoming an industrial designer but didnt have the opportunity to go to an automotive design school. With the metaverse becoming increasingly a space where people spend time and money, I hope it will give people like myself the opportunity to carry out our own visions without the financial and logistic hurdles that would come with actually starting your own car company in the real world
The inventor of this technique is Harley Earl. I cannot believe they did not even say his name in this! It was because of him that we had those beautiful cars from the 30s. There is a great book called Fins that tells the most of the story of how automotive design began.
So what I gathered from this is, Someone is to blame for some of the ugly cars released
Now I will make a car with clay of my own design
Im a preparator for contemporary a contemporary art museum and the process as a team is so similar to this! We frequently do a lot of the fabrication work to make the artists/designers vision
I work as a digital sculptor to make these clay models at gm. I regularly work on cars 5 years before the public is even aware, and I can say why these take several years to produce. It’s because there are so many meetings about every small detail down to a .004mm tolerance. And it takes months for basic parts to be finalized for production because it has to be approved through the chain of command in a massive company
I remember having what we called an assembly in junior high school with a presentation by GM showing their model shop. I am now 70 years old so that was in 1965. It was great!
I wonder if these are stored somewhere. It would be a hoot to see the vintage clay models.
This quality of this story was incredible. What a fascinating process, I nearly lost it when they put the material on it that makes it looks like painted sheetmetal.
The wildest thing to me as a (digital) 3D modeler, isnt just how complex it is to make such a beautiful and consistent form but rather how insanely impressive it is that they are able to achieve such perfect symmetry. Also I had to laugh when he said this tool is almost like a cheese grater. It literally is a cheese grater. I know because I own the same one
Thats honestly not that expensive for the amount of labor, skill, and talent involved.
Not everyone can do this. This is very advanced work, performed only by the most skilled craftsmen. This is my cheese grater, and this tool is called a scraper
Ive transported dozens of clay model cars around Europe, the quality of the finish is staggering. I moved the clay for the first generation of VW owned Bentley
I make 3D models to print and I know the huge difference between look to the 3D in computer screen or VR goggles and to look at the finished piece in real life, feeling the weight, the shape and appearance under the daylight. Because this I really understand why they still making clay models.
As a packaging designer, we use bottle mockups from time to time to get a feel for shape, glass weight, and any erganomics so I can fully understand why clay models are a thing