The practice of Modelmaking is incredibly versatile and requires a broad range of skills. Models are used in lots of different industries such as the architectural, retail, film, and gaming industries. A modelmaker is the key to bringing the designer’s visions to life and discovering potential issues in production. A practice that especially interests me when it comes to the modelmakers role is trainer design and trainer models and prototypes. The 3D printing process also plays a big role in the production process of trainers.
Sport shoe sole prototype from https://www.oxfordrapidprototyping.uk.com/prototyping-materials/trainer/
This particular model would be used as a working prototype for the trainer. This rapid prototype would be 3D printed using a range of materials giving the model high precision and reliable quality. The role of the modelmaker within this is to create this working prototype using 3D printing as a means of production.
The production process for this has changed and evolved over time, trainers used to be handcrafted using old fashioned techniques such as stitching and knitting whereas now most trainers are 3D printed. As Turner T says in his book The sports shoe, a history from field to fashion “Specialist basketball shoes were advertised in the 1900s, but they remained similar to shoes marketing for tennis. As basketball became firmly established, rubber manufacturers introduced the first basketball shoes with high canvas uppers, top-to-toe lacing, rubber toe caps, and vulcanized rubber soles encircled by strips of rubber foxing.” He then explains that “The sports shoes of the later twentieth century were made possible by new plastics and synthetic materials, changes in the way soles could be made and attached and developments in mass production technology.” Telling us that there has been a huge improvement in the innovative technology within the trainer design production process and competitive sports.
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