The architectural industry is continually developing creative solutions for our work and living spaces, with increasing investment being made into the regeneration of our town centres, schools, hospitals and recreational areas. Constantly striving to improve design excellence, Architects, Artists and Designers are pushing the boundaries to create inspiring, innovative and increasingly, environmentally friendly, structures, Additive Manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a key part of this.
Whilst high-tech design software can provide photo-realistic images, a tactile, 3D model of their proposed design can play a vital role in visualising the concept or securing a tender bid, and can be used as a demonstration piece at promotional events or in marketing photography.
AM is becoming their method of choice when creating a model of their concept or design, as intricate details can be easily replicated and previously ‘impossible’ structures and forms created. Created directly from the 3D CAD data, AM is an extremely cost-effective, quick and accurate process when compared to other more traditional model-making techniques. Parts can be produced up to 1m long, thereby reducing the need for joins and increasing strength and functionality.
Offering high levels of functionality combined with aesthetics, our highly skilled modelmakers and post-processing specialists can generate fully finished models with outstanding paint effects and intricate details such as trees, people, sign posts and vehicles, all supplied in a glass display cabinet.
Works of art using Plastic AM
Artist Michael Eden uses Plastic Additive Manufacturing to create stunning works of art in a way that was previously impossible. The process enables him to design intricate details into his works, and 3T’s in-house finishing team use their own specialist techniques to colour each piece to an exact RAL colour, with a soft touch mineral coating …
Plastic AM mass production of conference gifts
Demonstrating the true production capability of plastic Additive Manufacturing together with our post-processing capabilities, we built and hand finished 2,500 identical awards in just 19 days, taking a total of 540 hours to build ...
CAD expertise assists art installation
Working with Ron Arad on his “In Reverse” art installation, our in-house CAD services and fast build times enabled the plastic pieces to be built, assembled and shipped within very tight timescales ...