Video Course: Filming begins, tools arrive and 3D models

Although we're making a video course, it's sometimes hard to understand how things work from pictures alone. That's why I wanted us to make interactive 3D models of the entire car, and make them available online and in the app (which will be free for pre-orders) so that people can explore parts and systems in their own time.

Now you can try out the first working version of these 3D models - the disc brake . What you see in that model is an exact replice of the front disc brake on the Mazda MX5 Miatta. All too often these sort of illustrations are simplified to be easier to understand. But then when you go to a car there are all sorts of extra things that didn't exist in the pictures you saw. With our models, you will see everything exactly as it is in the real world.

Go ahead and check out this model - it's an early stage and we've still got more interactivity to add:

• Move around the model by clicking or tapping and dragging. You can zoom in with the mouse wheel or by pinching fingers on a touch screen.
• Click the parts to read about them.
• Using the button at the top left you can assemble and disassemble the system

The next step is to show the flow of brake fluid, and to create a brake pedal that you can 'press' on the screen and see exactly what happens.

Other bits

I glued acoustic foam onto one wall of the studio to improve the sound quality. This foam has an egg-box shape and stops sounds echoing around (we have a 5m ceiling.)

And a lot of time was spent cleaning up ready for filming to begin.

Next week we continue filming - the car starts to come to pieces.

You should follow @howacarworks on Twitter because we post regular photos and updates straight from the studio there.