welcome to the world of modern model making

A modern age technology is changing the face of 21st Century's model making. Computerization, 3D digital modeling and rapid prototyping are offering opportunities and abilities about which we could only dream before. With these techniques we became capable of producing scale models that are accurate and highly detailed like never before, hassle free. Production time also reduced drastically.

Many model makers afraid of the changes, holding onto traditional techniques, which is a grave mistake. It is not the first time a model making process was revolutionized. An electricity and power tools once looked like a threat to knife-n-ruler wielding model maker's art. For many decades now the power tools are an organic part of model building process.

Development of computer graphics, computer assistant drawings, 3D presentations and animation - all looked like an imminent threat to scale models and model making. Yet these techniques were successfully adopted and became a part of the process as well.

Smart, progressive model maker happily welcomes the new technology, as it is an incredibly effective aid, which takes  hassle off model maker's shoulders and brings multiple benefits to our clients. So we say: "Let the robot do a robot's work"

Multiple benefits of digital processing for model maker are obvious: hassle free building of a computer 3D model, digitally breaking it into parts, developing connections between the parts, simulating movements of articulating components. And the main benefit is getting the ready parts off the machine in a matter of day or two.

However, we would like to focus here on the benefits and advantages that digital processing brings to our customers.

Every customer wishes to see and review future model and to have an idea of how it will look prior to actual fabrication. Such whish is absolutely understandable and legitimate especially considering that a scale model is costly. A customer wants to be assured in receiving a satisfactory product for the investment, therefore many clients ask to provide a set of drawings and illustrations representing a future model, especially these clients that had a little experience with scale models. With use of digital technology provision of 3D proofs, photorealistic renderings and 3D generated drawings became available, easy and natural. A customer stays on top of digital development, able to review a 3D model closely and in details. Therefore a customer feels fully informed, empowered and confident about the outcome of the project.  

3D viewers allow customers to receive from the model maker and review a 3D digital model at any stage of its development. 3D proof, unlike still image, can be turned 360 degrees, a customer can zoom in in order to see the model in details, turn off and on selected components and even take measurements. 3D viewers such as E-Drawings are open source software, free and safe to download from respectable web site.

Any revision or change of a physical model was an event, painful and time consuming for a model maker and equally painful and costly for a client. Now, in scope of digital development, revisions became easy, fast and hassle free. In most cases such changes take from a few minutes to a couple of hours, in most severe cases. In fact it is one of the purposes of digital development - to work out all the aspects of the future model and finalize its look before the actual production starts.  

In scope of digital development we can easily simulate different options, such as alternative configuration of the model, model's display/base, painting scheme, finish, and submit them for customer's review in a form of photorealistic color renderings. 3D generated color renderings are extremely self-explanatory and help customers to preview the options and to chose.

Although digital development takes time, upon its completion and generation of Digital Tooling, the actual production time is reduced drastically. Parts and components, manual fabrication of which would take weeks of hard work, are being produced by rapid prototyping in 2 - 3 days. Since our company became fully digitalized, an overall time of model's production reduced 50%, and for some models - up to 80%. Use of technology allowed us to meet impossible before deadlines. 

One of the most challenging goals is to make a model maximum durable, especially when it comes to trade show models. With digital technology we are capable now of producing complex vulnerable parts and components out of highly durable materials such as nylon, ABS and even steel alloy.

Before the digital processing production of multiple models, models in different scale or modified versions of the model meant starting all over the whole model building process. Now, once we have a 3D model and Digital Tooling, we can do it faster, easier and hassle free. Converting a Digital Tooling into a different scale is being done merely by pressing a button. After that it is just a matter of producing the parts, cleaning and assembling. Once a digital development is completed and paid, a customer does not have to pay for it anymore, unless some major files' revision is required. Therefore a cost of additional models, or models in different scale includes only a cost of rapid prototyping, assembly and finish.

The technology gives our customers new and practically unlimited options, which makes a scale model based marketing campaign versatile like never before. 

Having a Digital Tooling developed also makes repairs of a broken or damaged model easy, fast and less expensive. In most cases a broken part is just being reordered from the machine, finished and replaced. It involves only a cost of rapid prototyping, finish and assembly. Often we are adding extra copies of the most vulnerable parts right into the digital tooling and giving them to the customer along with the model.

A digital development is resulting in producing a 3D model, as well as 3D model generated renderings and drawings. We use 3D model to develop a digital tooling for physical model's production, renderings for presenting to the customers a look of the future model and drawings for fabrication and assembly guidance. However, these products themselves are valuable presentation tools and can be used to create additional marketing and presentation materials, including even animation. Needless to say that ordering such products separately would be highly expansive - in this case customer obtains them as collateral products, which complete and enrich the marketing kit.      

Another important benefit of digital development is that files of a 3D model, its parts and components can be transferred in a matter of seconds anywhere, including manufacturers oversees. It is especially important for product development followed by mass production.