Instead of approaching the 3D design directly, Phil Frank and the Saleen staff decided to work on a real model in order to gauge proportions with the 1:1 car in front of them.
"We decided we would use the clay studio in Saleen’s Michigan facility to work out the proper proportions prior to CAD."
So a digital communication was estabilished between Phil's studio in Oregon and the clay modelers in Michigan.
The general design was defined by the clay team in a week and then Phil worked for another week to finalize the proportions and details.
"The details are not fully resolved as the goal of the exercise was to get the information into the computer where I could more easily bring the level of detail up.
"One of the first things Steve and I noticed when we were studying the clay model at Ford was that the side quarter window appears to have slid down about 5 mm. To address this I worked through a number of concepts that I mocked up in Rhino. For the S281 SC we ended up with a small grille and window ring that visually corrects the issue while continuing the detail theme. On the S281 E we have a complete insert that gives the car an even better stance.
Once Steve and I had signed off on the clay we had the car digitized.
I want to give thanks to all the clay modelers for their late nights to get it there, you guys know who you are."
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After digitizing, I went to work in my studio, using Rhino 3.0 for Class-A surfacing and refinement to match up the Saleen data to the Ford sheet metal data. This data was then combined with Saleen Engineering’s B-side data in preparation for injection molding tooling release.
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The above images are of the first completed fiberglass mock-up. Still missing are the badges, graphics, exhaust and proper wheels. |
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