2025 One Car Challenge

Started on the wheel rim design. Trying something different. Lets see how this progresses.

So I've been thinking about the approach to this challenge and initially I had an idea for a hotwheels model car in a package kind of theme. But browsing through previous entries, I think it was the 2018 contest in which the 3rd placed submission had a similar idea. So I thought I'd change track (pun very much intended).

I took a day and then had a brain wave, also partially thanks to my wife. What about a wooden car? What if the materials were wood and metal, no plastic or rubber. Of course there have been unique ideas of people experimenting with wooden bodies. 

So I went further and thought, what if the car evolved from medieval times. What would it look like? With this seed of an idea I started to 3Doodle. I started with the wheel, where I thought I could really bring out the personality of what the car would be. As I progressed I used design elements from old wagons and wooden wheels. And so the journey begins. 

For this WIP I did a quick mock up with Substance Painter and their ready made materials. I rendered in Arnold to see how it would look.

I have a vague idea about the scene and have a couple of options I'm toying with. I'd like to have a hint of fantasy, like mustard on a reality sandwich. I'm excited to see where this goes and I think this journey should be interesting.

Continuing the theme. I added some detail to the car body and now i can move on to the interior. I think the main challenge will be the glass elements and adapting them to the context of the idea.

Things have progressed quite a bit. I am now working on the metal details: adding micro-details like engraving and the like. Here is a sneak peak at the headlights.

(Since I posted these on Linkedin I though it would be good to have them here in succession)

Starting with a revision of the design of the car. I made some tweaks to the metal hinges of the hood and the boot along with some embossing changes.

Moving on, I started building the enclosure for the environment. This would be the interior space.

From here I built up the exterior, I wanted to stay true to the theme of wood and metal. So I decided to go down a medieval aesthetic, with a grand arch and a stable..but for cars.

From here, I started to add details in the environment and foliage to bring it all together. I envisioned a misty morning with the cars sitting idle in the stable (garage).

Before uploading the finished artwork, I thought I'd post some pictures of the final iteration of the car and its textures. I also made a wheel rack which I thought would go well in the scene.