Mouse Redesign

The first step to making my mouse was to come up with the idea of my shape which was a car. I then decided that I would use the Alfa Romeo Guilietta as my reference car for sketching and shape. I then collected some pictures for and made a foam model as accurate as possible to show my end result.






























The first step was to use a side view of the Alfa as an outline to draw my side view. This was also done for the rear view. I was not able to find a front, top, and bottom view of the car so I created my own shape for these parts of the car.

I decided to split the car into two parts: the top and bottom housing,

I first made the bottom profile of the car and made a projected curve to make the top of the bottom profile. I then used guide curves as points for different parts of the car and created a loft

I then repeated the same step for the top profile. At first the profile for my projected curve was not smooth and had small bumps between each spline point. However I fixed this by creating a spline that only had two point: start and end. This created a much smoother surface on the top of the top housing.

I then created another sketch on the base of the bottom housing which was the bottom edge and offset it by 2mm. This sketch was then used to surface trim a 2mm gap on the bottom and side of the housing. I then created equal curvature guide curves along this gap and made a surface loft to create a smooth fillet edge around the bottom edge.

I repeated this step on the top housing creating a smooth fillet edge between the side and top.

I then thickened the surface model by 1mm

I then inserted each housing into a new part and saved them as individual parts and from them put them together into an assembly and started editing each housing from there

I first made the cut outs for the wheels at each end of the lower housing

I the had to make the cylindrical component inside the wheel cut outs, to mate the wheel and body together. This was done on each end

I then made the dual exhausts pipes at the rear of the lower housing with a simple extrude and cut

The next step was to make the door handles. I did this by creating a sweep that starts just inside the car and sweeps outside and goes back inside the car. A created a triangular profile for the sweep.

The next step was to make small lights at the bottom front of the car. I cut a hole and extruded a wall around the hole. I then extruded a part from the wall and created a small light. I did this for both sides.

To finish the front of the lower housing I created a number plate with a made up text and also put the logo I made up on the front.

I then made the base parts for the Circuit board and lens inside the lower housing and made sure the merge result was unchecked as I could surface cut the material on the outside of the model.

I then made a sketch on the side of the lower housing for the cut of the doors. I did the cut through the whole car body and mirrored the sketch and cut on the other side.

I decided to go into a lot of detail and made a drivers seat, speedometer and steering wheel

The rear of the lower housing, I made another number plate and logo.

I then made the rear lights by extrude profile onto the outer surface. I then lofted a cut to create the curved shape that was concentric with the shape of the car.

The final step was to make the wheels. This was a separate part and then mated together in the assembly.

The top housing didn't require much work as the lower housing did.

I first cut out the slot for the scroll wheel and created another cut below the bonnet of the car to make the buttons for the mouse.

I then also made side mirror with mirror texture applied.

I then made a small radio antenna at the back of the top housing with a revolve

I lastly made the cut out for the top half of the doors and mirrored it on the other side of the part.

I also made a half way cut at the front of the housing to create a windscreen.

One final step which was mate the end of the USB cord inside the hole at the front of the mouse.

I then got to the rendering to which I made the car red with a titanium satin finish appearance.

For the wheels I added a tyre texture and stainless steel for the rims ( as seen by previous picture)

I added a clear glass texture for the top half cuts of the top housing and windscreen to create windows

The headlights had a white LED light texture and the rear lights had a red LED light texture

Specifically for the logos on the front and back of the car I applied a cast magnesium texture for the round part and logo

The exhaust pipes had a galvanized metal texture.

For the extra parts inside the mouse I applied the following textures
Steering wheel - leather
Seat - grey cotton
Speedometer covers and stand - Spark erosion plastic