We love working with Manchester companies on prototypes and we have had fun in the office this month working with a Greater Manchester model flying club who required a prototype for one of their planes.  The Oldham Model Aero Club (OMAC), a BMFA affiliated model flying club are keen to engage a younger audience and so they hold flying sessions and invite groups such as the air cadets to attend.  They had heard about candy droppers however couldn’t find one on the market that met their requirements.

The Challenge

The club representative came to our office with some of the planes and lots of ideas!  We had a good chat about what they were trying to achieve and where they were at with their prototype design.

We worked with the club to draw some initial concept sketches.  Initial sketches allow us to understand what the prototype will look like and how the components will fit together.  We discussed which design requirements were vital and which could be modified.  Strength and weight concerns were addressed.

Once OMAC were happy with the initial sketches then we set to work on designing the 3D model on Siemens NX, one of our CAD software packages.  At this stage we again reviewed the design with OMAC and design iterations were agreed and implemented.

Once the CAD designs were agreed then we 3D printed the parts on our PLA printer in our office.  The fact that we have a 3D printer on site allows us to easily review the design at this stage and reprint where required.

The Results