Architects models

[Yertis]

I'm surprised you're not delighted to have an excuse to get back to basics and use old craft skills for a change. I'm just skiving off from some digital project contracts to knock out a graphic for my brother's new mountain bike, using a pencil and pad, and think it's important to do this sort of thing.

[Equus]

marcg said:

lufbramatt said:

Fair play if you can get someone to do this, but as an industrial designer who's "pretty good" at 3D modelling it does grate when I get asked to "quickly CAD something up" for pennies.

Would you design me an extension for £150? Doesn't need to be Norman Foster standard but it would only be a few days work... ;-)

No, but I'd let my technician moonlight for you to draw up something you'd designed and are taking responsibility for, at £25 per hour. I take your point but you are looking at it from the wrong end. I'm looking for someone used to earning £12 per hour and looking to pay them double. I'm not looking for someone at £50 per hour and looking to pay them half.

I also run a small architectural practice (though a little larger than yours) and I'm with Lufbramatt: If you're expecting something for £150, it's time to break out the scalpel, cardboard and glue yourself.

We use Hobs Reprographics for 3D printing, but you'd have to add a zero to your budget for something properly worthwhile.

[Anglade]

If your practice is incapable of doing this yourselves; why would you display it in your storefront as if you could?

Moreover; if you have to get someone else to do it, why would you expect to pay a fraction of the going rate for this which is minimum £750?

[Equus]

The other thing to be aware of is that this is literally you Practice's shop window we're talking about.

If the end result looks as amateurish as the one on your OP, it's not going to do much to impress.

If you're really that strapped for cash, have you considered something like a 3D crystal cube? A largish one with suitable lighting (and maybe on a turntable) can be quite eyecatching, and they're relatively cheap. There are companies out there that will produce them direct from your .stl or .3ds CAD data.

[Bomma220]

Just as an aside, do architects really have shops with a window front these days? I wouldn't have thought it was the type of business that would attract a lot of 'walk in' trade? As in, 'ooh, there's an architects shop, let's pop in there'.

I imagined them being tucked away in an office somewhere. Not saying it's right or wrong either way, just curious.

[Equus]

I know of a few, who for convenience/availability of premises happen to have set up their offices in small 'shops' on the high street, yes.

It's just the building they happen to work in, though - as soon as you walk through the door, it's a conventional architect's office behind the reception desk. It's not like you have shelves full of plans, for them to browse through and pick one.

If you happen to have picked an office in a high street location, you might as well put promotional material in the window though: if people pass by, they'll look at it, and when the time comes that they need an architect, they may bear you in mind if they liked what they saw. If they saw a scabby cardboard model that looked like it was knocked together by a ten-year-old and was covered in dust, they might decide they're better off looking elsewhere, mind you...

[SystemParanoia]

Go big or go home!

Edited by SystemParanoia on Wednesday 22 March 10:55

[Yertis]

Must admit I do love architectural models. There's something engaging about an actual model that's very different a 3D rendering experience, regardless of how virtually real that might be. Chris Wren's model of St Paul's Cathedral is especially cool, in that you can get inside and see how it works from inside too.

[CubanPete]

http://ldd.lego.com/en-gb/

[williamp]

SystemParanoia said:

Go big or go home!

Edited by SystemParanoia on Wednesday 22 March 10:55

Lightweights!!

[SydneyBridge]

Try this.

https://arckit.com

Or buy a lego architecture studio

https://shop.lego.com/en-GB/Studio-21050

[anonymous-user]

Hi

I have made some architectural models for work in the past (well more like highly detailed accurate scale models of timber framed buildings).

PM me (I looked but you didn't have a PM option in your profile) and we can discuss some more details.

edit - derp! just realised that you do have an email link in your profile. Have dropped you a PM.

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 23 March 23:04

[AER]

lufbramatt said:

Fair play if you can get someone to do this, but as an industrial designer who's "pretty good" at 3D modelling it does grate when I get asked to "quickly CAD something up" for pennies.

Would you design me an extension for £150? Doesn't need to be Norman Foster standard but it would only be a few days work... ;-)

Edited by lufbramatt on Tuesday 21st March 08:50

Amen!

[Shenanigans]

Don't understand how a small - medium sized architectural practice see's any benefit in making card 3D models for residential projects....70-80% of the time the clients want to change the layout or external material or the planners don't like it...surely it can't be feasible.

I'd rather alter a model in Sketchup than start all over again with expensive card and glue!
You could get your hands on a VR headset to allow clients see the designs in a walk through. Seen a few architects that provide them.

[dr_gn]

Shenanigans said:

Don't understand how a small - medium sized architectural practice see's any benefit in making card 3D models for residential projects....70-80% of the time the clients want to change the layout or external material or the planners don't like it...surely it can't be feasible.

I'd rather alter a model in Sketchup than start all over again with expensive card and glue!
You could get your hands on a VR headset to allow clients see the designs in a walk through. Seen a few architects that provide them.

Why would they want to change a shop window display model in that way?

[Shenanigans]

dr_gn said:

Shenanigans said:

Don't understand how a small - medium sized architectural practice see's any benefit in making card 3D models for residential projects....70-80% of the time the clients want to change the layout or external material or the planners don't like it...surely it can't be feasible.

I'd rather alter a model in Sketchup than start all over again with expensive card and glue!
You could get your hands on a VR headset to allow clients see the designs in a walk through. Seen a few architects that provide them.

Why would they want to change a shop window display model in that way?

I'm not saying its a bad idea...just thinking the money could go to something better surely.

A suspended tv/monitor in a nice stainless steel surround showing renders/ images etc of their portfolio is more than likely to impress people more than a dusty model?

[dr_gn]

Shenanigans said:

dr_gn said:

Shenanigans said:

Don't understand how a small - medium sized architectural practice see's any benefit in making card 3D models for residential projects....70-80% of the time the clients want to change the layout or external material or the planners don't like it...surely it can't be feasible.

I'd rather alter a model in Sketchup than start all over again with expensive card and glue!
You could get your hands on a VR headset to allow clients see the designs in a walk through. Seen a few architects that provide them.

Why would they want to change a shop window display model in that way?

I'm not saying its a bad idea...just thinking the money could go to something better surely.

A suspended tv/monitor in a nice stainless steel surround showing renders/ images etc of their portfolio is more than likely to impress people more than a dusty model?

Personally, I'd be far more inclined to stop and look at a physical model in a shop window than a computer render. Then again, I'm a keen scale modeller, as well as someone who spends a significant amount of their working day producing and/or looking at CAD models.

To me, a well built, well detailed physical model will always be more impressive than any CAD model on a screen, no matter how complex the computer version is.

[Equus]

dr_gn said:

To me, a well built, well detailed physical model will always be more impressive than any CAD model on a screen, no matter how complex the computer version is.

I wouldn't disagree with that.

But the OP is not going to get a well built, well detailed model for £150.

[Shenanigans]

dr_gn said:

Shenanigans said:

dr_gn said:

Shenanigans said:

Don't understand how a small - medium sized architectural practice see's any benefit in making card 3D models for residential projects....70-80% of the time the clients want to change the layout or external material or the planners don't like it...surely it can't be feasible.

I'd rather alter a model in Sketchup than start all over again with expensive card and glue!
You could get your hands on a VR headset to allow clients see the designs in a walk through. Seen a few architects that provide them.

Why would they want to change a shop window display model in that way?

I'm not saying its a bad idea...just thinking the money could go to something better surely.

A suspended tv/monitor in a nice stainless steel surround showing renders/ images etc of their portfolio is more than likely to impress people more than a dusty model?

To me, a well built, well detailed physical model will always be more impressive than any CAD model on a screen, no matter how complex the computer version is.

Agree with you on that 100%. But a well built, well detailed model comes at a high price unfortunately. It's a dying skill with 3D printing coming into the industry.

[anonymous-user]

For me a physical model is so much more appealing than a computer generated one. I think it is much easier to take in the proportions and idea behind a design when you can look at a physical object.

As for the OPs requirements, the model posted on the first page could be made if they had a reasonable set of cad drawings for the sort of money they are looking to spend (perhaps up the budget a bit). If I were doing it, I would use the cad model to rob outlines of walls, roof, windows etc, then laser cut them using MDF or plywood.

Then airbrush the different elements the correct colour. Laser cut window frames and back with acrylic. Glue the whole lot together and pop it on a base. Some of the finer details would need to omitted or simplified to keep costs down.

If the OP has a decent set of drawings for the building shown then such a model in something like 1:24th scale could be put together for not a massive amount of money - but those buildings looked fairly simple to model. I have built totally acurate 1:10th scale timber frame buildings for work and one of them probably has well over 150 man hours in it.

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 29th March 20:40