Tag Archives: display model

Scale Model Projects

Display Model Delivered Direct to Trade Show

Leave a comment

KiwiMill recently completed a display model of a gene sequencing facility. This was an expedited project completed in less than a month and shipped directly to the American Society of Human Genetics trade show in Baltimore, Maryland.

The model was designed to show of the streamlined process of genetic sequencing our clients have created with their system. Robot arms are used to move genetic material from one machine to the next, eliminating unnecessary steps in the process.

The display model was built quickly and arrived on schedule to the trade show floor. There it was placed on a lit table, serving as a center point to our client’s booth design.

Materials used included 3D printed parts, machinist board and sheet plastics. Both models fit in one Pelican case for ease of transportation. A second model is being built concurrently to reside at the corporate headquarters.

Here is a picture of the model at the trade show taken by camera phone. Look for more pictures of this project soon – and others like it – on our website portfolio, under trade show models.

display model

 

Model Making Process

Model Maker How To: Martini Glass Display Model

Leave a comment

Making a Martini Glass

display model

Everyone needs to know how to create their own display model of a martini glass, don’t you think?

What you need for this project:

  •  clear & fluorescent acrylic
  •  ren board
  •  plywood & bolts
  •  wood dowels
  •  laser cutter
  •  lathe
  •  band saw
  •  disc sander
  •  drill press
  •  oven
  •  paint
  •  solvent

Model Maker, Scott, started with a piece of plywood, cutting an 8 inch diameter circle in it to form a frame for the lip of the martini glass. He then clamped a piece of clear acrylic into the frame using bolts.

The frame was given legs to lift it off the surface. This gave room for the slumping action to take place underneath. The frame was placed in the oven to be heated.

It came out of the oven with a typical parabola shape to it. Immediately a wooden dowel was pushed down into the center of it while still hot to form the more conical shape of a martini glass. The dowel was held in place until the shape cooled.

While the glass shape was still in its frame it was brought to the laser cutter. The laser was used to cut the martini glass out, following the inside edge of the 8 inch diameter frame.

The base of the martini glass was slumped in a similar manner. Less heat was applied because the slump was much shallower on the base.

Clear acrylic tubing was then put in the lathe and tapered to match the curve of both the top and base of the martini glass. Solvent bonded the three pieces together.

The olive was made from ren board and shaped on the lathe. A hole was drilled through the center of the olive for the “tooth pick” using the drill press.

The pimento was a strip of fluorescent acrylic heated flat in the oven. It was folded over and stuffed into the core of the olive. Then the olive was primed and painted.

Finally, a wooden dowel was tapered with the disc sander and thread through the hole in the olive and placed into the glass.

Voilà!

At this point our model maker went home and fixed himself a real martini.

Click HERE for a picture of the martini glass on display at CES2011, Las Vegas.

Types of Models

You Need an Industrial Model

Industrial modelWhen it comes to sales presentations, having an industrial model sets your product apart from the competition. A color brochure of your product, or a video demonstration will not deliver the impact an industrial model in hand does. A model is ultimately informative, answering specific questions about your design. It can highlight particular features or strengths of your product while providing the necessary focus and excitement to your presentation.

The product itself is often too large, too heavy or simply too cumbersome to travel between sales meetings or trade shows. A model, on the other hand, is portable yet instantly recognizable and understood.  No need to worry that the potential client cannot visualize your product from a 2 dimensional drawing or photograph. This direct understanding about what you are offering will likely translate into a more positive experience and increased sales.

A model maker can work with you to provide an accurate, visually pleasing, detailed-as-you-want model in a user-friendly scale. Specific features can be emphasized on the model, making it easier for your sales staff to illustrate your product’s uniqueness. Duplicate models can be constructed for whole sales teams. No one should go into a presentation without this necessary sales tool in hand!

Scale Model Projects

Trade Show Display – automating a slot machine

Leave a comment

For the final trade show display at CES , our model makers purchased a collection of real casino props to create this vingette of a Las Vegas casino including felt table tops, a working roulette wheel, authentic poker chips and professional card decks. The chips were stacked on a rod and mounted permanently to the display with the playing cards and roulette wheel. The highlight of this display was the refurbished slot machine. The guts of the slot machine were dissembled and  extensive electronic reengineering applied to the interior parts in order to fully automate the game. Details on this rebuild can be found at our how-to tutorial: http://ammodel.com/Default.aspx?tabid=439&Article=245.

 

 

 

 

Scale Model Projects

Trade Show Display – lights, music, mixed drinks

Leave a comment

Our model makers designed a trade show display that evokes the atmosphere of a night club for the Kodak trade show booth at CES 2011. Laser cut acrylic formed the shelving to hold 3 lava lamps with custom built bases and off-the-shelf bubbling towers. A small turn table rotated a tray of mixed drinks made of hand poured and tinted silicone. A martini glass was constructed from slumped plexiglass with a turned ren board olive. Christmas string lights were rewired and installed underneath a milky plex floor to simulate dancing floor lights. Two custom ipods were installed into a mixing board with moving lights.

 

 

Scale Model Projects

Display Model Showcases Burton Snowboarding and Kodak

Leave a comment

Tasked with creating a sports themed display model for Kodak and Burton Snowboards, KiwiMill model makers sculpted 15 lb foam into a mountain. Off-the-shelf snowboard figures from Freestyle Max were animated using imbedded cams and levers to simulate sliding and twisting motions, as well as chain and gears to create the effect of grinding on a rail. Computer muffin fans were used to blow chrome ribbon in tubes to suggest wind and snow. A small fan placed inside a model of a snow gun provided breeze to blow decorative flags.

Scale Model Projects, Shop News

Model Displays For Trade Show Exhibit

Leave a comment

KiwiMill created 4 distinct model displays for our client, MSM, designers of the Kodak  trade show exhibit at CES 2011. The purpose of the displays were to highlight the motion capture abilities of newly introduced cameras. Trade show participants could explore highly visual scenes through the camera’s lens while visiting the Kodak booth.

Our model makers were given the task of designing four separate model displays incorporating motion, color,  lights and intriguing visuals. The themes were the following:

  • a realistic miniature scale model of Times Square
  • a vignette of real objects in a Las Vegas casino
  • a stylistic sculpture evoking the atmosphere of a night club
  • a  whimsical display capturing a  snowboarding sports scene

Check out this Kodak video of the 4 models in action at CES 2011:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeSjuggYASI

In the coming weeks we will look at each project more closely as it was assembled in-shop.