Honey, I shrunk the cars!

When it comes to automotive enthusiasts life revolves around all things cars and bikes from splurging to buying the perfect riding gear and spending hours online watching content that fuels their fire This is a bunch that takes their passion rather seriously Delhibased automotive designer Aashish Chaudhary too turned his love for all things wheels into a business idea that caters to enthusiasts who would like to turn their favourite machines into scale modelsldquoMy love for wheels started with a pedalpowered jeep model that I drove endlessly It then graduated into Hot Wheels cars that came in every once in a while as a birthday present or a gift for doing well in exams and other similar occasionsrdquo says Chaudhary He would even sketch cars and other things with wheels at the back of his school books and as a result would often get thrown out of class After his schooling he pursued a course in design from the automotive design capital of the world Turin in Italy Today he has worked with brands such as Honda Maruti and Hero designing models that made it to the market At his design firm Studio 34 he works with brands to bring out their new lines of products accessories and other related merchandiseHaving collected scale models for years Chaudhary got seriously invested in it after he started working As his collection grew his friends suggested that he should do something more with it This is when he started My Scaled World with the idea of photographing the models and writing about them from a design point of view ldquoSlowly as my photography improved I wanted to make them feel more real and I started creating miniature setups with the material around me to get more realistic shots One thing led to another and soon I was 3D printing stuff at home custommade for my photoshoots and modelsrdquo he saysThe process that goes into making a miniature car is very similar to the one used in making an actual car involving designing 3D modelling prototyping diemaking casting painting and the final assembly It takes a good amount of time for a miniature to go from the initial idea to production ldquoI create miniature ridersdrivers for my scale model photoshoots using 3D modelling and 3D printing Of late 3D printing technology has opened up avenues of a very new kind where you can have customised stuff at a fraction of the cost It is an interesting technology that is fast catching up even for limitedrun productionsrdquo informs ChaudharyIn the middle of the lockdown last year Chaudharyrsquos friend asked him to create a miniature of himself and his jeep in 18 scale 18 times smaller than the actual The entire process took about two months The cost of the printed part depends on its weight and also the time it takes to print It is usually in the range of R25 per gram He also charges a fee for his modelling workldquoThere have been times when collectors have approached me saying a certain part of their beloved scaled model is broken and have asked if I would be able to help Sometimes they want me to create a lithophane lamp or something personalised that is usually a gift for loved ones To 3D print anything the prerequisite is the model data If that is not available I try to do as much as I can with my limited modelling skillsrdquo says ChaudharyWhat Scale modelsFor Rs 150 onwardsWhere httpswwwmyscaledworldcom