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Wow, my Hawthorne tree out front has a few yellow leaves on it. It is getting close to the time to watch the Elk bugling and rutting in Rocky Mountain National Park. The local stores have isles of costumes and scary decorations. It must be fall and time to start marketing to the passionate skiing community. I am amazed at the fervor and dedication some people express about skiing.

The first year I came to Colorado I hiked up to St Mary’s Glacier in the middle of July. I was shocked to see hikers, carrying skis, coming down the trail. When I got to the glacier in 80 degree weather, I watched people herringbone up the snow for half an hour in order to experience about 30 seconds of heart jumping skiing.

Passionate skiers going to winter resorts are still going to want to see marketing models this year. I recommend that 3D model requests get sent in as early as possible. I look forward to hearing from our stalwart clients and I am excited about the possibility of attracting some new resort communities to our architectural scale models.

Any resort developers and sales people please comment and let me know how the season is shaping up. There is good news in some sectors and it would be great to hear if you are seeing some heated up activity on the horizon.

Also, if you have any fun ski related stories to share, either contact us or use the comment section at the bottom of this post!  We’d love to trade stories with you.

Below are just a few samples of 3D models we have created for ski resort developers:

Chicago just finished building a model of the city and I have to say I am disappointed.  Why build a white 3d model of Chicago. Surprisingly, Chicago is a colorful place but you wouldn’t know it from this display. Modern technology is again allowing us to take short cuts that are not actually improvements. This model was made using 3D printing technology which I use myself and I heartily agree with this choice. 3D printing is great as it builds complicated shapes quickly and cheaply. With this model, cheaply seems to be the dominant theme. I understand that cost is always a factor but this is a central show piece for the entire city, why make it a ghost town? To me white models do look clean and are great for architecture meetings or design review boards but not for the general public. Color is what gives a model life and creates a miniature reality that the people living there, and who love the city, can relate to.

This model was in fact painted. The 3D printer that was used, grew the buildings from a clear material. Someone made the choice to paint everything white! Where are the parks? Where is the cool reflective light from the windows? The only way this mimics the Chicago skyline is in silhouette.

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From what I have read, this model is getting good reviews from the press which I think is a testament to how effective models are in general and how inexperienced the press is when it comes to these types of displays.

I admit that I am a model snob but when we created a model of downtown Denver we captured the character and the life of the city with lighting and color. We don’t live in a white, white world, and there is no good reason it should be modeled that way.

Tell us what you think of the comparison between the white Chicago 3d model and the images below of our downtown Denver model.

Craig Martin - President - Archetype 3D

I’ve been making models of buildings for a long time but had little experience in moving into actual new construction until now. Moving into a building that doesn’t yet exist has distinct advantages, the most obvious being that we were able to design our space to be a model shop instead of modifying an existing space. Although I got a full set of plans from the architect, electrician, engineer, and lighting consultant, this place is still full of surprises. One of these surprises is a series of small mysterious buttons placed on several walls in key locations. The electrician explained that they are to turn the lights back on after the timer shuts them off. I come to find out that the city of Louisville, Colorado, in an attempt to be green, plays the role of the Dad who yells at his kids “Don’t leave the lights on. What, do you think, that I am made of non-renewable energy?” The timer is programmed to shut off the lights after all employees leave the building. The guys who thought this up obviously never worked in a model shop. Employees have been known to work at all hours and even though I do my best to keep my people on a regular schedule, things come up that require late night model making. The electrician explained that if people are working late and the lights go out you just hit one of these mysterious buttons and you will get a couple of more hours of light. “Great” I said. “Does the timer also cut the power to the table saw, band saw and joiner?” “No”. “Huh, so I am risking cutting off a finger in the middle of the night because the lights go out while we are working?”

We never set the timer. This means I have the difficult task of telling my employees “would the last person out of the building please turn out the lights?” I know it is a huge task and honestly not every employee I have ever hired is up for the responsibility. But I don’t allow power tool use unless there is more than one person in the shop. Hopefully one of them would have the sense to turn off the lights before locking up. If they don’t? Oh well, that at least is an acceptable risk.