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Other Builders do You draw Your design 1st? or just have at it

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Docfranknstein, Jul 28, 2010.

  1. Docfranknstein
    Joined: Jun 30, 2002
    Posts: 294

    Docfranknstein
    Member

    I prefer to picture something in My head and go from there, just letting the build take on a life of it's own & going where the muse takes Me, but I was wondering how many of You draw out Your build on paper 1st, or build a model car 1st? and how closely You stick to Your plan? this goes for paint jobs too. and just for things to look at I'll post some shots of stuff I've built/ or am building. So what is it----- Completely planned out or free form? Von Doc
     

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  2. red baron
    Joined: Jun 2, 2007
    Posts: 596

    red baron
    Member
    from o'side

    For me I agonize over the details long before I get started, that way when i do get to work, I know what I want it to look like in the end, but I am not afraid to deviate if a new idea comes up that might make it look better.
     
  3. Big Nick
    Joined: Sep 7, 2005
    Posts: 846

    Big Nick
    Member

    each bike (cause I have yet to get to 4 wheels) I have done from the ground up has been in my head. I cant put it out on paper. I may get to a certain part and stare at it for hours but it eventually comes, and to be honest, I havent been unhappy with one yet that came from my head that is. Sometimes keeping a customer happy doesnt play out that well for me.
    here are a few
    http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=10376
     
  4. 40StudeDude
    Joined: Sep 19, 2002
    Posts: 9,536

    40StudeDude
    Member

    For me, as an artist, I can see the finished product in my head before I even get started...but like anything else, there's always 'detours" on the road on the way to the finished car...and just take it as it comes.

    R-
     

  5. Chuck Most
    Joined: May 8, 2009
    Posts: 175

    Chuck Most
    Member
    from Saskatoon

    I'll do a rough sketch, but not a full-blown 'concept drawing' like a pro would use. Sometimes, if there's a scale model kit of the vehicle I'm working on, I'll use that as kind of a 3D thumbnail for whatever mods are planned.

    Then again, sometimes I just 'wing it' and go by feel! I've had pretty good results using all three methods- I guess it just depends on what you're most comfortable with.
     
  6. jdj9410
    Joined: Sep 4, 2007
    Posts: 324

    jdj9410
    Member
    from Paris TX

    If it's something real cool I'll keep a blueprint secretly etched in the windshield of the build car only visible under a black light, like Pops. Really, the overall project is pictured in my head. Some complicated individual parts I will draw out in scale just to save on materials and a little time. No artistic skills toward drawing a whole car or I would sketch the car up like that guy thats on TV that builds all them earth tone cars with the big rims.
     
  7. PeteFromTexas
    Joined: Apr 4, 2007
    Posts: 3,837

    PeteFromTexas
    Member

    When working on a major project out at Hatfield Restorations we always have a complete design drawn up. Usually from multiple angles and of the interior as well. Mike Shoalf does all our artwork. He is amazing.
     
  8. Detail sketches, line drawings, clip art out of magazines and printed off the HAMB etc.........all of these get put up on my bulliten board along with pages of notes and revisions. But, it starts as a vision in my head, usually. On the latest car, a Thom taylor thumbnail added fuel to the vision I had. :)
     
  9. Hightone111
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 323

    Hightone111
    Member

  10. Tinbasher
    Joined: Feb 13, 2007
    Posts: 274

    Tinbasher
    Member

    Well I think it over first sometimes for months. Then I draw it out to get a idea of were it's heading. Then go for it. Most of the time the finished product is alot different then the original idea, but that' part of the fun.

    The Old Tinbasher
     
  11. customcory
    Joined: Apr 25, 2007
    Posts: 1,831

    customcory
    Member

    Draw first, then build. :D
     
  12. The Savage
    Joined: Nov 25, 2012
    Posts: 3

    The Savage
    Member
    from boron,ca

    build and improvise.......ya get to be free to think outside the box and bring out things from your head you always dream of.its better that way
     
  13. Del Swanson
    Joined: Mar 27, 2008
    Posts: 708

    Del Swanson
    Member
    from Racine, WI

    Having an illustration done of the vehicle is a blueprint, but also serves as inspiration. Both for the person whose building it, AND the person who's paying to have it built. Yeah, it's a bit of money added to the bill, but you have something to display with the car or have as a piece of art on your wall.
     
  14. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    Having a good, solid idea or plan will keep cost down. A lot of builds are left undone by "winging it".
     
  15. I visualize the project in my head because I am not a artist and study photos right here on the hamb to help determine what direction to take.

    My '32 pickup came out pretty close to what I had envisioned,,with the exception of the fruit salad interior!:D HRP
     
  16. Hip
    Joined: Jan 3, 2003
    Posts: 848

    Hip
    Member

    I get the idea in my head, sketch it out, and then let it just flow the way it wants to, kinda like, "the path of least resistance".
     
  17. kennkat
    Joined: Aug 25, 2011
    Posts: 1,385

    kennkat
    Member

    My "art skills" are limited, but I am pretty good at "mechanical drawing", so I have in the past used rough sketches and one dimensional scale drawings... and now with the cheap & free picture manipulating software... I sometimes use "cheapo-shop" to assist.
     
  18. Merlin
    Joined: Apr 9, 2005
    Posts: 2,545

    Merlin
    Member
    from Inman, SC

    I pretty much work it through in my head(I can't draw worth a shit) then go at it.
     
  19. tommy
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 14,757

    tommy
    Member Emeritus

    It's all in the head for me as I collect parts which can have a big bearing on the outcome.

    My 56 started out to be a 368 Lincoln but I came across a much better deal on an FE
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Ive always been a broken field runner.:D FEs in 56 Fords are nothing special but I like mine.
     
  20. Don's Hot Rods
    Joined: Oct 7, 2005
    Posts: 8,319

    Don's Hot Rods
    Member
    from florida

    I start off with a pretty solid idea of what the car will look like in my head, but as parts get bolted on and it starts to come together it will tell me how it wants to end up. I'm very flexible and sometimes I will find some part that I hadn't planned on and the direction can change.

    My 27 was originally going to be a model a, but one day I walked into a auto parts store and there was the 27 body sitting there. At first it was going to be a highboy, but that looked not so hot to me, so it got a channel job.

    I spend a lot of time sitting in a chair and staring at my projects, so I guess I never really know how the final product will look until I bolt the last part on.



    Don
     
  21. Molonewolf
    Joined: Jan 22, 2012
    Posts: 195

    Molonewolf
    Member

    It's in my mind,whats left of it.
     
  22. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,640

    The37Kid
    Member

    I truely admire people with the God given gift of being able to draw. I can dream, and get a fairly good picture in my head of a finished project, but can't draw a straight line. I found someone on the HAMB whos artwork I liked draw up some sketchs of a future project. I should get it framed, but need to finish other things first. Bob
     
  23. trollst
    Joined: Jan 27, 2012
    Posts: 2,108

    trollst
    Member

    I take car show pics of both, what I like and what I don't like. I keep the good stuff on my garage for ideas, keep the stuff I don't like nearby so I can refresh and know what not to do. Then, I start with an idea, let it flow and when its done, tell everybody that it was exactly what I had in mind.
    Can't draw worth a crap, can't fly, so, its got to come from the head, not that there's much else in there.
     
  24. oj
    Joined: Jul 27, 2008
    Posts: 6,454

    oj
    Member

    I do the frame, engine, suspension etc on paper, i keep a dwg pad with the project and sometimes i'll do them in autocad inventor. When it comes to the visuals - tinwork etc i just know if it is right when i see it. I try to stay very conservative and there are unwritten rules you need to stick to in order to get there.
    If get these artistic, radical notions - like my avatar - i do it in 3d autocad.
     
  25. ibuild
    Joined: Nov 30, 2010
    Posts: 83

    ibuild
    Member

    i cannot draw so i get a project and study it until i get what i want in my head, also spend time looking at certain parts for a while until i can see the direction it needs to go, i am building a 38 pickup with a 37 car grill and hood sides, no fenders it is going to look good
     
  26. I let the metal speak to me.

    I start with an idea, an inspiration from somewhere (my most successful inspiration came from the love between my aunt and uncle, though for my artwork, not a car...)
    and sometimes I can force it out, sometimes IT forces it's way out.

    Only another artist can understand what I just wrote.

    Cosmo
     
  27. deto
    Joined: Jun 26, 2010
    Posts: 2,620

    deto
    Member

    Drawing goes a long way to making cars look good. It's a lot easier to justify another drawing than additional fabrication down the line.


    Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
     
  28. bronco gasser
    Joined: Jan 1, 2009
    Posts: 95

    bronco gasser
    BANNED
    from GB WI

    I start a rough sketch, then add to it until I get the drawing to whats in my head .
     
  29. Rusty O'Toole
    Joined: Sep 17, 2006
    Posts: 9,657

    Rusty O'Toole
    Member

    ^^^^^

    Roll the project outside once in a while and eyeball it from various distances, and from all angles. If it doesn't swing fix it, or even do it over. Do this early in the project. You can even mock up parts with cardboard or construction paper and spray them with primer.

    This will save a lot of agony later on. It is very easy to have something cool in your head, or build it in the garage, and not know it sucks until you step back and get a good look at it.
     
  30. designs that work
    Joined: Aug 29, 2005
    Posts: 411

    designs that work
    Member

    Former coworker said the job is done in your mind before you pick up the first tool. I try to do rough sketches with the major dimensions.
     

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