# 3D Car Configurator

Configure a compact sedan: paint colour and finish, wheels, lights and doors, then see the same car in a showroom, on a sunny coast, in a city at night and on a snowy pass

By RexonFx HnS

Topic: Engineering

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/6HlPUYcgTfqS)

## Transcript

### 1. Meet the car

This is a compact four\-door sedan on a turning stage, like a car in a showroom\. A configurator lets you change its options and see the result straight away\. Drag around the car to look at it from any side\.

A real compact sedan is about 4\.6 metres long and 1\.4 metres tall, roughly the height of an adult's chin\.

### 2. Pick a paint colour

Car paint is a stack of thin layers: primer, a coloured base coat and a clear coat on top\. Together they are only 0\.1 to 0\.2 millimetres thick, about one or two sheets of paper\.

The clear coat protects the colour underneath and gives the deep, glassy shine\.

### 3. Choose a finish

The same colour can look very different\. Metallic paint hides tiny aluminium flakes that sparkle\. Pearl paint uses mica that shifts its colour as you move, and a matte clear coat scatters light so there is no mirror shine\.

Mica is a natural mineral that splits into very thin, shiny flakes\.

### 4. Change the wheels

Wheel size means the size of the metal rim, measured in inches\. A bigger rim does not make the tyre taller\. The rubber sidewall just gets thinner, so the whole wheel stays about 63 centimetres tall\.

A tyre code like 205/55 R16 means 205 millimetres wide, a sidewall 55 percent as tall as that width, and a 16\-inch rim\.

### 5. Lights on

Headlamps light the road ahead and help other people see you coming\. Tail lamps glow red at the back, and the brake lamps shine brighter whenever the driver slows down\. Switch the lights on and look at both ends of the car\.

### 6. Open the doors

Each door swings outward on hinges at its front edge, so the wind of a moving car pushes it closed rather than open\. Tap any door to open or close it, or use the switch for all four\.

The mirrors ride on the front doors and swing out with them\.

### 7. Same car, new place

Paint has no single true colour: what you see is the light it reflects\. Showroom lamps are soft and even, sunshine makes metallic flakes sparkle, and at night the paint looks darker while the lamps stand out\.

Fresh snow reflects most of the sunlight that falls on it, so it lights the car from below as well as above\.

### 8. Make it yours

Everything you chose stays as you set it, so you can go back to any step and change it\. When you are happy, give the turntable a full spin and admire your car from every side\.