Every product has its own story to tell. Often the best way is with a with a cutaway. Product cutaways are a dramatic way to show how a product works or how well it is made. Manufacturers of pumps, valves, storage tanks, power tools, transmissions and engines are frequent users of cutaways so they can show unique features and present principles of operation. Superior materials and craftsmanship can also be shown. To see quality is to believe it.
The use of product cutaways is not always confined to tradeshows or sales calls. Other uses are for education, in museums, sales training, engineering training, assembly training, and photos for technical manuals or advertisements. Product models are useful anywhere a three dimensional product or process needs to be explained. Cutaways have a stronger impact than an illustration.
There are many types of product cutaways. Some are associated with equipment that is contained in a metal casting - a hand held power drill for example, or a transmission. However you shouldn't confine cutaways to just those types of equipment.
You could:
- encase the guts of a product, such as a switch, in clear plastic so that you can watch it work.
- build a small cutaway model of a large product such as a turbine or a large model of a small product such as a microchip.
- construct multiple cutaways to demonstrate a process.
- animate the cutaway with mechanical motion or sequenced lights.
The success of a cutaway depends on how well you are able to show your product story. You could have someone just cut your model apart but you should use skilled professionals to help you. Some points to consider in having cutaways made are:
- is the product the right scale or should you have a smaller or larger cutaway made?
- does the cutaway need to have its parts move to demonstrate how it works?
- should hot areas be painted red and cool areas painted blue?
- should parts be polished, plated, painted, etc. to project a quality image?
- should there be labels on the cutaway parts?
- is what you want to show clearly visible or should more of the casing be cut away?
- rather than simply cutting a product in half, should you have it cut at a dramatic angle to make it more interesting?
- should you have small cutaways made for your sales representatives to use as a focal point of their customer presentations?
If you have a dramatic product story to tell from the inside out, use a cutaway. If you would like more information about getting a product cutaway done send an email to info@modelbuilders.net .
