Design

Here at Forge Model Works we see good design as crucial to the success of any product or client project. Our staff have decades of experience not just in the drawing side of design but in the creative and innovative side too.  It can be all too easy to draw something that cannot be made, or requires significant changes once it has been made.

We apply a very detailed and thoughtful process to product design, whether it is a single simple component or a complicated structure or mechanism.  

A coloured cross section of a computer aided design model of a model railway locomotive produced by Forge Model Works. The image show the high level of detail and how a mechanism is designed to fit in the limited space inside the locomotive

Most importantly we design around the capability of the production processes that we use, to ensure we deliver the most efficient and effective product design.

Our designs are developed on 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) software - we use SolidWorks. This is an industry leading CAD system that allows us to create highly detailed models in whatever scale we choose and also to design mechanisms and moving products – usually rolling stock - too.  The software allows to model products at full size, then reduce the scale to 7mm scale, 2mm scale or any scale needed.  The fact that we design in 3 dimensions means that when we come to show prototype bespoke models to clients we can visualise the whole model in great detail and this gives our clients confidence that the end product is just what they want.

The other benefit of designing in this way is that component design information can be sent directly to production equipment ensuring that what we have designed is exactly what is manufactured. This is particularly so with 3D printed models where the 3D model seen on the screen is precisely what is made by the 3D printer.  

A composite picture showing firstly a computer aided design model of a pair of wagon wheels on axles created by Forge Model Works to show the detail of a design before manufacture. Plus another image of the 3D printed wheels after manufacture

This data transfer also applies to 2 dimensional information as well and information on metal or timber profiles is sent directly to profiling equipment.  This means that we are able to design complex sheet metal components or highly detailed interlocking timber parts with equal ease.

A computer aided design model of model railway baseboard produced by Forge Model Works showing how complex timber components can be designed and assembled in an innovative way.

This overview of our design capabilities shows that the excellence of our products is based on the fundamental excellence of our designs.