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Designworks Windsor
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Sean Miles
Director of Prototyping
Designworks Windsor
Windsor based Product Development Agency – Designworks – uses Objet 3D printing system to recreate Sci-Fi classic – The Cybermen
In the field of collectible licensed merchandise, product development time is a crucial factor. Manufacturers have to respond quickly to ensure that their products reflect up to date cultural trends. Anything that expedites the development process is a valuable tool in the developer’s arsenal. The success of BBC Television’s long-running science fiction series, Doctor Who, prompted a toy and collectible manufacturer to produce a range of highly detailed products depicting key characters from the series.
Cards Inc’s developmental partner; Designworks Windsor, were responsible for producing the product prototypes. In order to achieve the clean crisp lines of the latest incarnation of Doctor Who’s Cyborg foe, the Cybermen, Designworks digitally modeled them using Sensable Technologies’ “Freeform” system. The Haptic
technology-based Freeform system provides the interface between the user and the computer, applying a tactile sensation to human interaction with computers by using a jointed arm with a stylus attached to its end Freeform allowed Designworks to create digital objects with a more organic feel than conventional CAD systems, making it the perfect choice for the mechanical humanoids. Key to this process is the emergence of three dimensional printing machines for rapid output of extremely complex three dimensional forms.
Objet 3-D Printer — First Choice for a Perfect Model
DesignWorks worked with Industrial Plastic Fabrications (IPF) and its Objet Eden330™ 3D Printer. Objet’s PolyJet™ Technology was the first choice to output the Cyberman Bust as the form was too complex even for five-axis machining. IPF Rapid Prototyping produced the Cyberman bust for Designworks Windsor in less than two days, enabling an unrivalled quality and turnaround time that was not available via other methods.
“IPF and Objet offer Designworks the perfect solution when this type of application is called for, saving valuable time and money, said Sean, the Director of Prototyping at Designworks.
Objet provides a level of detail perfect for a model of this size and has distinct advantages over its competitors in the stability of larger models. Unlike other 3D printing systems, Objet’s printers remain true to the source file even when outputting parts within an envelope of 70 × 90 × 170 mm (the Cyberman’s chest) – the sort of scale that leads to sunken areas and build errors on most other systems.
The quality and accuracy of the Objet’s builds are apparent in the fact that each Cyberman bust was constructed in five parts, all of which fitted together perfectly in their ‘raw’ state with no cleanup required other than support structure removal.
The final model, built with FullCure® VeroBlue™ material, was easily cleaned to a production finish by spraying a light coating of sand-able primer over the sculpture’s surface and sanding it back with a 3M flexible sanding pad. Another coat of primer finished the model beautifully, making it ready for silicon molding for the creation of
the final tooling pattern and decorated samples.
Highest Quality Model at a Lower Cost
The use of Objet within the development process affects the three critical elements necessary for a successful outcome:
- Lower costs – Achieved through time saved in finishing time.
- Significantly reduced lead times – The product can be sculpted and output by Objet in less than half the time it would take to fabricate it in the traditional way by hand.
- High-quality models – With the highest levels of accuracy and finish.
With all factors taken into consideration there is no more preferable method to develop a product of this sort than a digital workflow that involves Objet as the method of output. |
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Case Study
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- Identify an accurate, cost
effective solution for producing a large complex model
- Ensure 3-D model stability,
avoiding common deformation issues
- Build model parts that could
be put together without post-processing or cleanup
- Eden™ 3-D printing system
from Objet Geometries
- Reduced costs due to shorter fabrication time and less finishing work compared to other methods.
- Shorter lead times due to fast printing process and no cleanup.
- High-quality models that meet the highest levels of accuracy and finish.
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3M Coated Abrasive Sheets were used to polish the area where shininess was desired. Primer coat was sprayed and finer abrasive sheets were then used
for smoothening surface.
A coat of gloss black paint is then applied, followed by a ‘metal-filled’ chrome lacquer.
Tinted lacquer was applied using an airbrush to add depth to the model. |
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