A toy story

July 13, 2006
Don't tell Buzz Lightyear, but all action figures begin as merely a glimmer in a designer's eye.

Bill Barschdorf, owner of BNT Studios, works on one of his many toy creations.


They are sketched onto paper and, if they're lucky, approved by the toy company that will eventually manufacture them.

From this point, however, one artist has revolutionized the process of making toys using a Roland MDX-650 benchtop Subtractive Rapid Prototyping (SRP) device. Bill Barschdorf of BNT Studios in California quickly and easily mills toy prototypes out of modeling wax. When his client wants to make a change, he uses CAM software to rescale and edit models.

While most artists sculpt everything by hand, Barschdorf's toy prototypes come to market faster and more closely resemble the toy company's vision. "There is simply no reason to sculpt anything entirely by hand," says Barschdorf. And since SRP systems costs several times less, he says he can create models using a wide variety of materials.

Previously, the toymaker would have had to learn G-code to program an automated milling machine. Now, he uses Visual Mill by Mec Soft. "The folks over at Mattel tell me, 'No one else offers the same detail or precision,'" says Barschdorf.

Sponsored Recommendations

7 Reasons Why Air Bearings Outperform Mechanical Bearings

Feb. 7, 2025
Frictionless air bearings and air bearing stages have decisive advantages in precision motion and automation applications.

Hexapod Robot Applications in Automation and Automotive Assembly

Feb. 7, 2025
Hexapod 6-DOF Robots in Automation and Automotive Assembly | 6-Axis Precision Parallel Robot | Cobot for High Precision Applications

What is a Difference between a Gantry Positioning System and a Split-Bridge?

Feb. 7, 2025
The design of a Gantry Positioning System and Split-Bridge Positioning system are related. Learn how they differ and what to use best for your application.

Application Solutions with 6-Axis Hexapod Positioning Systems

Feb. 7, 2025
Explore applications, articles, and background information on 6-Axis Hexapod Positioning Systems and how they can help you improve your alignment system.

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Machine Design, create an account today!