Architectural Models
A massing model at 1:200 has to hold detail at a millimetre and be on the table on Thursday. Printing it is the only route that does both.
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Print the Whole Block, Not Eleven Pieces of It
Architectural models are usually made in sections and joined, and every joint is a line the client can see. A 700 × 400 × 400 mm build envelope removes most of those joints — a whole city block, a whole facade bay or a whole massing study in one piece.
Where detail matters more than size, SLA holds 0.3 mm features with a surface that needs no sanding: mullions, louvre fins, balustrades and signage that read correctly at 1:200 instead of turning into a texture.
Talk to an EngineerSix Things That Decide Whether It Works
The mistakes that come back to us, and how to design them out before the file is sent.
Decide the scale before the material
1:500 massing is an FDM job; 1:50 facade detail is an SLA job. The scale chooses the process.
Thicken to survive handling
At scale, a 0.3 mm mullion is correct and unbuildable. Set a minimum printable thickness and thicken uniformly rather than per element.
Print in white and light afterwards
Uniform white reads as a model; multicoloured reads as a toy. Colour comes from lighting and from base materials.
Split on a real edge, not through a face
If a model must be split, split on a building line, a setback or a level change so the seam looks intentional.
Model the site as a separate tile
A printed baseplate with contour steps registers the buildings and survives transport.
Budget for finishing
Filler primer and a light sand turns a good print into a presentation model. It is a day, and it is the day people remember.
Which Material for Which Part
| The part | Process & material | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Massing model | FDM · PLA, white | Cheapest per volume; big single pieces |
| Facade detail | SLA · standard resin | 0.3 mm features and a surface needing no sanding |
| Large single-piece block | FDM · PET-G | Up to 700 × 400 × 400 mm, tough enough to travel |
| Terrain and contours | FDM · PLA | Fast, cheap, easily sanded |
| Transparent glazing | SLA · clear resin, polished | Reads as glass rather than as a hole |
| Presentation finish | Any + finishing | Filler-primed, sanded and sprayed |
How We Would Make It
Vacuum Casting
Moulded-looking parts in colour, without a steel tool.
Finishing & Assembly
Sanded, painted, inserted and assembled before it ships.
People Who Print This Also Print
Cosplay & Props
A prop has to survive one thing: being looked at. Right shape, takes paint convincingly, and light enough to wear for eleven takes or a whole convention day.
Functional Prototyping
A prototype earns its cost by telling you that you were wrong, quickly. Printed in the polymer the production part will use, it tells you that under load rather than on a screen.
End-Use Parts
Somewhere between ten parts and ten thousand, tooling stops making sense. Additive fills that gap with parts that go into the product, not into a review.
Send us the part
Upload the file and tell us the quantity and what it has to survive. You will get a design-for-manufacturability review and a price back — not just a price.