In-house technology and expertise generate a life-size action hero for tradeshows and exhibitions. The teamwork helped reduce time to market from four weeks to two weeks.
When Solid Concepts’ new prototype division, ZoomRP.com, was faced with introducing a super hero manikin for use at tradeshows and other events, they realized outside vendors could not deliver products in a timely manner. They turned to their own in-house design and engineering team to do the job.
After sanding, parts of Zoomer were bonded and cured to get ready for the next step in the process.
After bonding particular segments together, all visible holes were sealed.
Once the segments of Zoomer were primed, they were mated together and painted gray.
The company recently developed a new custom
build style called ID-Light that uses an advanced honeycomb pattern for
lightweight production. This was the process used to generate the super
hero. The build process creates a hollow part which can be hand
finished and painted as required. They used stereolithography (SLA)
technology with a layer thickness of 0.007-in, along with the company’s
SC1000, QuickCast material.
Zoomer was masked where color was needed. Silver paint was applied and let dry for 24-hours, after which red and blue were applied.
SC1000 is a rigid, durable, and humidity sensitive material. It also provides low water absorption, has a high green strength, and low stable viscosity. The standard tolerance for the build was +/- 0.015-in. or +/- 0.002-in.
The action hero named Zoomer is comprised of 12 segments, each quality checked and measured as they came out of the SLA machine. Surfaces were sanded using a 220-grit sand paper to remove the stair steps and build lines. Specific parts were then clamped together and bonded with Spectratite SL3175 resin and cured with LESCO SP Super Spot Max or EFOS Ultra Cure 100ss. After curing, mate lines were finished to achieve a uniform appearance. All the visible holes were sealed and a light coat of K-36 primer was applied.
Zoomer received a final two-part clear coat to complete the process.
All Zoomer’s parts were mated together and painted with a gray undercoat. The company used Bondo to hide any minor imperfections and then sanded those areas using 400-600 grit dry/wet sand paper. Another light coat of primer was applied to specific areas, and Zoomer was
re-inspected. Bonding and priming was repeated until all flaws were eliminated.
Once Zoomer was complete, silver, red, and blue paints were applied as well as a two-part clear coat to achieve a shiny look. The whole process from design concept to build, paint, and assemble took two weeks. According to the company, Zoomer is lightweight and easy to ship.
Design Concepts
www.designconcepts.com
MPF
