When it comes to model making, every architect, designer or engineer has their own proven method – whether it starts with a simple sketch and moves to foam core or with various found materials. Regardless of how they got there though, the model that client sees is likely to be considerably more polished – and rarely ever cheap to produce. For architect Damien Murtagh, this proved to be a problem when the recession hit in 2008. Because his models were only being used once or twice before being disposed of, he set out to find a solution that would let him reuse various components of a model without sacrificing quality.…

Since being founded in the spring of 1906 by Charles Stewart Rolls and Sir Frederick Henry Royce, British car manufacturer Rolls-Royce Limited has always been known for superior handmade quality and superior engineering that has led to multiple land and air speed records. Even as more automakers continue to turn to automating their assembly lines in favor of skilled craftsmen, Rolls-Royce has continued to stand by their handmade motto and have insisted that even in 2015, much of their assembly process happens exactly has it did before robotics and automated processes began taking over automobile production. Although the body painting process has since been automated for the sake of consistency…

When it was first bottled under contract in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1899, Coca-Cola was sold in straight-sided bottles with a metal stopper that looked more like vessels for whiskey rather than a refreshing thirst quencher. Over the next two decades, the soda would become so popular that it spawned an entire new industry of competitors who imitated both the Coca Cola recipe as well as the bottle and label designs. It was as this point when the company made the conscious decision to create a bottled that not only stood out from the other straight-sided bottles that their competitors were using, but also a bottle that could be recognized when…

Don your favorite bath robe, cream that coffee and get comfortable with this weekend’s SolidSmack Weekend Reader. This week we saw everything from how to easily turn your smartphone into a holographic projector, an impressive new app from Morpholio that aims to make the creative process easier for designers, the release of the Slide hoverboard from Lexus and more… So lay back, relax and take a load off while reading the top ten stories on SolidSmack this past week. Oh and uh…don’t forget to shed some much-needed sunlight on your face, too.

We fell through the clouds. It wasn’t as if we hadn’t done it before, but this time, amidst the flurry of the cottony innards expelled from a bio-hatch explosion, there were enough obstacles to keep us in freefall with the full expectation we would eventually come face-to-face with these links. Eric Lloyd Brown – Just your plain ol’ ships with a dash of awesome that make them the coolest ever. Some vehicles thrown in as well. Microscopic Jigsaw – Generative jigsaw puzzles? Why yes, please. Nervous has these beautiful one of cellular structures, 20 times to 200 times their actual size. Geeky Growth Chart – Pure awesome for your kiddos… or your office to see…

When it comes to CAD software, there’s likely no topic more divisive than that of maintenance fees. Ahh, fabulous subscription service–the additional yearly charge, on top of any license cost, which typically includes product upgrades and support, often through a reseller of the software. Last week, two SolidWorks Partner websites, TPM and ModernTech, posted a new “Subscription Late Policy” change from Dassault Systemes (DS) for SolidWorks users who let their Subscription Service lapse. Previously, SolidWorks users paid a fixed fee plus renewal to get up to date. This has been the policy since 1995. However, starting January 1st, 2016, lapsed licenses of SolidWorks will have to pay for all years lapsed, up…