I wouldn't say this is the definitive way of building a car using Cinema 4D or any other software and it's not designed to be an in depth tutorial but more a look at the various stages involved in piecing it all together. I wouldn't even say it was the right way (see below), but it worked for me and the technique could easily be applied to any other project.

Before we start, I'll explain a few terms that will crop up regularly and whilst neither technical nor software specific they will be invaluable to you all.

"Spare time" A very controversial subject and the definition of this will vary depending on which way you look at it. To the average 3D modeller it's any time you are not (even if you should be) doing anything else. To wives, girlfriends, partners, bosses etc it's the time you should probably be either talking to them, taking them out or doing what you are being paid to do.

"Slightly" again, differing definitions here. You, as the modeller fully understand the need for every little detail to be accurately modelled and textured to the nth degree whilst the casual onlooker may fail to grasp the importance of a photo realistic screw holding a hidden panel in place in the darkest corner of your scene. You would say it was "slightly" over the top. Other, less sensitive souls may say you are absolutely crazy

"In a minute" this is a specific amount time before you will be available and when your "spare time" will officially be over - of course the chance of you actually being "just a minute" is minimal whereas whomever you have given this information suddenly seems to have a more accurate understanding of time than an atomic clock. So you'd best try a different approach

"Ten minutes" this one's a good one, because if whatever you are being asked to do is urgent, the chance is they'll either do it themselves or get someone else to do it. You are off the hook and have some more "spare time"

"Soon" an unspecified length of time that is open to interpretation. In your opinion it's when you have finished what you are doing. In other peoples opinion it tends to be closer to a "minute" than "ten minutes" (best avoided)

"The wrong way" invariably the way you attempt to do anything the first ten times

"The right way" the way you really should do things and the way the process is described in the manual.

"The best way" not usually the right way but the way you decide works for you when you've got fed up of doing something the "wrong way"

"Easy" the way you describe the "right way" to people who ask how you did something neglecting to tell them that you did it the "best way"

"Unfinished project" Something you have been forced to abandon, Either because it has gone "slightly" wrong, you can't figure out the "best way" to do something, You haven't got enough "spare time" or someone else has completed a vastly superior version of an almost identical project and announced to the world it was "easy"

Please remember that all tutorials etc are written with the considerable benefit of hindsight. They seldom mention the number of times the author attempted to do things the "wrong way", the number of things that didn't really work but should have done when done the "right way", the sheer volume of un-documented workarounds that were used to arrive at the "best way" and just how much "spare time" was spent on the original project

This project was started more by accident than deliberately. I was just doodling in Cinema 4D (I tend to do this a lot using 3D programs as a sketch pad, just bouncing ideas around and experimenting with the tools) and ended up with a model of a fuel gauge. This rapidly grew to a complete set of instruments (I thought at the very least I could add them to my inventory at Turbosquid)

But as with all the best ideas and carefully thought out plans I decided I needed to have somewhere to "put" the dials. This was a spur of the moment thing and not one of the wisest decisions I've ever made…..

Now I've had this model kit of a 427 Cobra sat in a box under my desk for ages but never got around to building it, so I had no shortage of reference material and in a moment of inspired stupidity I thought that would be a perfect place to display the dials.

Time for a bit of background here. Cinema 4D is not really my primary application. I bought a copy of Version 7 (which I have just upgraded to 8.5) because I liked the renderer and that was all I occasionally used it for, no modelling, no texturing etc etc so taking on a model of this complexity, as my first "serious" use of the software would be considered "slightly" foolhardy by some people and by others downright silly.

Despite being "slightly obsessive" about detail and wanting to do this as a "spare time" project I've got a relatively short attention span if things aren't going right. So, anticipating problems further down the line I decided to start with the relatively simple stuff. Working on the logic that by the time I'd got all that done the car would be mostly complete and even if it did go wrong I'd be more inclined to get the job finished. I find this is a good way to work on any project particularly when deadlines are involved.