JoeDeclassified.com

Does anyone have an idea as to what goes into making the vehicle prototypes? Some of the pics from Joecon look as if the smaller stuff might be rapid prototyping but the larger stuff I'm at a bit of a loss. Some pics I have seen look as if they are doing some scratch building/kit bashing and while others look like its done digital with 3D printing. Anybody got the inside skinny?

My experience is mostly with vintage vehicles, so I'm not sure if the process has evolved to mostly digital/rapid prototyping for ME stuff. They use a combination of things in the process, which I believe is outlined in an article on JoeIntel. Most of the time they built styrene models, built in-house or in model shops (used more frequently after Hasbro decided they wanted their designers to spend more time on design). They may also have originated as wood patterns before making the progression to styrene. Most of what you will see in collections are the resin hardcopies casted from the original styrene or wood models. In some cases where they intended to integrate existing parts and tooling, you would see kitbashing in the models.

I'm sure someone else can chime in about the current process.