Designers draw the vehicle on paper, engineers provide the technical specifications and the modeler shapes the design in three dimensions. Before a new car ever reaches the assembly line, its interior and exterior have been modeled in clay, complete with exterior paint and installed lights, tires and windows. From even a short distance, these clay models can be mistaken for real cars. Greg Hutting adds that a model is essential, since the cost of bringing a design to the factory line is enormous. The modelers, designers and engineers work together to make a functional, safe and stylish car.
Modelers often contribute their own stylistic vision to the design process.
With the practical instruction and hands-on experience they have received, he and Mauldin hope to be great modelmakers. The IDT program has existed at AIS since 1985. The program prepares artists to work in many industries, to bring design concepts into palpable, interactive forms. He appreciates that Chavant clay is a less-toxic substance than those that release dust or small fragments into the air. The aim is to prepare students to move flexibly within these career fields.