Appearance Prototype

Beauty Is The Beast

We take pride in our work and strive for perfection. The appearance prototypes we build typically leave our shop looking better than production. We invest the time hand-sculpting parting lines, sanding out organic surfaces, and preparing parts for uniform paint applications. If you need to show off a beautiful model to your marketing department, or need super models for photography and tradeshows, we use our wide-range of materials and processes for perfect A-surface finishes.

We practice constructing appearance models by any means necessary to make perfect. It usually takes a little bit of creativity and experience to join two dissimilar materials together – that’s what we’re adhere for. A typical model, though not “functionally working” sometimes consists of a combination of ABS, SLA, REN and Aluminum. From the outside, you’ll never be able to distinguish the material surface changes once paint is applied – we cover our seams up well. It’s a masterpiece.

Appearance Prototypes Establish:

A-Class surface evaluation
CAD geometry
Ergonomics
Consumer research evaluation tools
Color, texture, material surface finish

Case Study: Melnor Visual Brand Language

Melnor is a lawn and garden tool manufacturer that approached us with a new product line-up. They needed a dozen plus appearance prototype sprinklers and spray nozzles for a tradeshow, all designed with the same design queues. Since they were needed in such a short lead time, they didn’t need to operate, or function. The bodies and housings of the sprinklers consisted of parts printed on our Objet 3D printer, turned on our CNC lathe, textured with our 2D laser cutter and all finished with a multi-tone paint job. The grips of the spray nozzles accurately simulated a soft rubber grip, though it was just an A-surface paint finish that we developed in-house.

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