Examina project

My examina project at the design modeling school Formakademin in Sweden was again
a prototype for Highlandmotors, and the work was done at their development partner Caran AB.
Project leader was Peder Bengtsson at Caran
Designer was Mikael Hallgren at Caran

Background
My choice of examina project was based on the opportunity to be part in the development of a new motorcycle together with Highland. I have had internship at Caran earlier during the education and worked with a 450cc Highland supermotard. At the time of my examinaproject another motorcycle was modeled at Caran with similar design but with different engine and frame.

Purpose
To prove my skills in clay modeling, ability to cooperate with a designer and perform other tasks required in modelling and prototype construction.

Goal
To clay model a motorcycle prototype according to sketches and instructions.

The images show different stages and no stage is complete unless stated.
All images are property of Caran / Highland / Reuterholt
Images copyright Caran / Highland / Reuterholt

The examina time was 10 weeks, but due to circumstances out of my
control effective time spent was 6 weeks.
Construction of support frame
When the chassie was delivered it had neither water cooler, subframe, silencers nor drawings for these.
Subsequently I had to start with researching the wished for size and position of these.I started to construct a support / subframe in wood and adjustable mounting brackets for the silencers.Then I made wooden water coolers mockups which where positioned with concern to the design sketch and preferable flow of air in mind, the position of the engine demanded one radiator on each side.I calculated the size of the water coolers from facts of the highest capacity watercooler Highland had used for the 950cc engine so far and added a 15% of area as instructed by Highland.
The final product will have one silencer and radiator on each side, but during the modeling I choose toonly have
one each on the left side.

This is how it looked with finished subframe with silencers and radiator mockup.
To be able to get the silencer in the desired position and to give the designer the possibility to change angle etc I made a mounting bracket with adjustments in height, angle and length.
The supplied silencer clamps would have interfered with the surface, I made new ones in carbon fiber that
had a more inwards angle to its bolt flange.
I now studied the sketch and compared the proportions of the frame, saddle etc, and then fabricatedsuitable styrofoam blocks that were
glued on to the wooden subframe.
The styrofoam blocks and subframe was then covered with clay in several stages to desired thickness and shape.
Sketch modeling
Time to start the stimulating and fun sketch modeling work.
By definition there is only exterior design on a motorcycle, but I would call it a mix of exterior and interior since the driver is
sitting as much ”in”, as ”on” a motorcycle.

I did not have a saddle and no measurements for one and the first thing to do was to find a basic shapefor it, as the rest of the surfaces are
directly affected by the saddles width and length.Further more this is a two seater and the saddles length was adjusted accordingly.
The seat height was set at 850mm.

During the following day I worked on getting the surfaces to line up and the designer started to
outline the contour with tape.
Here I have started to work on the radiator wenting hole.

I paid attention to the radiator mockups most outward point and made sure it was covered by a minimum of 3-4 mm of clay,
a suitable offset to compensate for the thickness of a laminate / plastic.
I now worked on finding the shape and lower contour of the saddle and contour around the ”number plate” over the silencer.
When the contour was set I started to work on the upper surface of the rear fender, which also forms the upper surface of the ”number plate”.I also started to model the “wings” on both sides of the rear fender.
The front fender, headlamp housing and rear swing arm mounted fender/hugger should be identical on the motorcycle i worked on and the other motorcycle that was done at the same time.The work on these details was divided in a way so that I did the clay modeling for the hugger and made moulds for it. And vice versa I had access to the moulds for the front fender and headlamp to make fiberglass laminates.To be able to see the proportions of the parts I did not model in clay, I fabricated simple copies in paperboard that was painted brown.
 

The ”hugger” had a position close to the tire and because the motorcycle would later be moved it would have been impossible to have clay on the tire without getting cracks. This was solved by making a carbon fiber laminate on top of the tire with a ”lip” that made it possible to bolt it to the underside of the swing arm.I now had a strong and rigid yet thin base to put clay on.



The holes in the hugger was not made in the clay modeling, I decided to cut them out in the laminate later on.
  
Mirroring

After finishing almost all of the sketch modeling I now moved the motorcycle to a surface plate
and fixated it in the coordinate system with the help of angle plates.Now a problem arose, the prototype frame was not correctly welded and I could not find a correct Y zero. I solved this by pushing the frame 3mm sideways from an extra angle plate.
Now followed the copy / mirror process to the right hand side.Over 200 measurement points were taken on the left hand side a NC laymatic system probe and noted.

I then moved the motorcycle 180 degrees and started to mark out the measurement points.
But first I had to pull the frame 3mm again to compensate and get a correct Y zero again.
The 200 measurement points was transferred to the right hand side and marked out with “powder chalk”.
Final modeling
After the mirroring was done I had some details left to do that I chose to do on ”free-hand”.
One of these things was an air-channel on the topside of the rear fender.The designer marked out the directions with
tape and I then modeled from a sketch.
We now made a change to the design of the air box air-intake.
I worked with tapes to find symmetry.
Finally getting close to the end and one of the final details was a split line around the saddle.
I worked with tape to get support for the split line tool, a steady hand and clay chip free brushed surface was very important.
The saddle was then painted black and given a leather like look with a piece of foam.
Mould making

For the moulds of the rear hugger I used Ebalta Polydur.
Laminating

The two halves of the hugger mould was treated with wax several times and finally with release agent.
I choose epoxy-gel coat, fiberglass and epoxy for this laminate.
I put two layers of fiberglass with a third around the edges.
The laminate was not to be vacuum bagged which demanded a higher degree of fiber in the work process, so I choose an epoxy with long pot life to be able to work slowly.

Surface treatment
After trimming the edges of the laminate I sprayed it with filler twice, sanding it with 180 grit paper after the first layer and with 400 grit after the last layer.I then painted the fiberglass part with a 2 comp 60gloss black.The clay surfaces was left naked for the exam.
Reflections

Caran AB has a broad knowledge in the area of prototype construction and modeleing.
Unfortunately there were some minor problems in the organization concerning my examina project.The planning of the design process was delayed which cost me my first four weeks, of ten in total. Doubtless this did affect my working situation, my designer was helpful during the process and tried his
best to compensate for lost time. I felt welcome and respected from the start and had a good contact with the employees.
My work tasks where challenging and instructive.
Motorcycle clay modeling is really a passion of mine, I aim to make a career in this field of modelling.

That was my examina project, It was given the highest degree possible at my school, Pass with special distinction.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are looking for a motorcycle clay modeller.

Currently seeking employment.

Thank you for looking.
Petter Reuterholt
petter@reuterholt.com