"stryped" wrote in message
...
On Monday, January 6, 2014 8:27:13 AM UTC-6, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"stryped" wrote in message


I guess I was meaning a more three dimensional shape. With the
purpose of being able to tell the angle of curves and other features
on a car.

You may be able to do it mathematically. (Not my forte) I thought if
you could somehow come up with a drawing it could be blown to the
proper proportion and projected onto a wall indicating the
appropriate size if that makes sense.

That is exactly what 'lofting' does. The Loft is the top floor of the
boat-building shed, where the workmen lay out full-sized patterns for
the frames of the ship on the floor.
http://www.leithshipyards.com/mould-loft/lofting.html
http://www.dockmuseum.org.uk/archive...yard&subtitle=

The process isn't obsolete; I've seen lofted plywood templates for
shaping the diving planes of a nuclear submarine.