You bring the idea.

Build it. Break it. Improve it. Build something new.

RC and model projects rarely stay standard for long. Something breaks, something doesn’t fit, or something could simply be better. Studio Variant can work on a single component, on one stage of a build, or alongside a complete custom project from the first sketch onwards.

Typically covers

• RC cars
• RC aircraft
• RC helicopters
• Drones
• Model engineering
• Robotics
• Custom builds

Components people ask for

• Brackets
• Mounts
• Body components
• Lightweight structures
• Adapters
• Housings
• Enclosures
• Replacement components
• Custom interfaces
• Aerodynamic and exterior pieces
• Prototypes
• Decorative details
• Mechanical components

Route A — a broken RC component

1. Broken RC component
2. Scan / measure
3. Reverse engineer
4. Material review
5. Replacement

Route B — a custom RC project

1. Idea
2. CAD
3. Prototype
4. Test
5. Refine
6. Final component

Route C — a lightweight aircraft component

1. Requirement
2. Design
3. Suitability review
4. Additive manufacture
5. Component fitted

Not every component on an aircraft, helicopter or drone is suitable for additive manufacturing. Structural and safety suitability is assessed per part, on what the component actually has to do — never assumed from the process.

Can’t buy it? Let’s see if we can recreate it.

A handle snaps. A clip perishes. A knob disappears and the model was discontinued fifteen years ago. You don’t need to identify the plastic, name the part or find a drawing of it. Sometimes the easiest way to explain the project is simply to show us the part.

Often asked about

• Broken handles and knobs
• Perished clips and catches
• Obsolete fittings
• Missing brackets
• Appliance components
• Furniture parts
• Hobby and equipment spares

The usual route

1. Broken / existing part
2. Scan / measure
3. Reconstruct
4. Material / process
5. Replacement

Not every component can be safely or economically reproduced. Some parts carry loads, heat or pressure that make a like-for-like copy the wrong answer, and some are cheaper to buy than to recreate. We’ll tell you which one yours is before anything is made.

It doesn’t have to exist yet.

Plenty of the things people want simply aren’t made. There is no part number, no listing and nothing to buy. That isn’t a harder project than a replacement — it just starts a step earlier, with what the thing has to do rather than with what it looks like.

Could be

• An invention
• A custom tool
• An RC vehicle
• A mechanical object
• An accessory
• A home product
• A custom enclosure
• A display piece
• A completely original object

Idea to object

1. Idea
2. Sketch
3. CAD
4. Prototype
5. Test
6. Refine
7. Finished object

The first version is deliberately not the last. Most original pieces change once somebody has held one — which is far easier at the prototype stage than after the finished piece exists.

Find out whether it works before it’s finished.

If an idea has to be proven — that it fits, that it holds, that it feels right in the hand — the fastest way there is usually a rough version first. Prototypes exist to be wrong in useful ways.

A prototype route

1. Rough idea
2. CAD
3. Additive prototype
4. Test and revise
5. Final design

A prototype is a question, not a product. What it’s made from is usually chosen to answer that question quickly, and the finished piece may well be made a different way.

Made for your space. Not everyone else’s.

Awkward alcoves, odd dimensions, a bracket that doesn’t come in the length you need, a vase for a specific shelf. Standard products are made for average rooms. Yours probably isn’t one.

Functional

• Organisers
• Shelving accessories
• Custom brackets
• Storage
• Desk accessories
• Lighting components

Decorative

• Vases
• Planters
• Decorative objects
• Wall pieces
• Display stands
• Sculptural pieces

Designed around the space

1. Custom dimension
2. Custom design
3. Custom material / finish
4. Object made for that space

Where a piece lives decides more than how it looks. Sunlight, heat, damp and weight all change what it should be made from, so that question comes before the finish does.

More than the event. Something to take from it.

Birthdays, anniversaries, christenings, graduations, retirements, reunions. Most of what gets handed out at an occasion is thrown away within a week. A piece designed for the occasion doesn’t have to be.

Might include

• Table pieces
• Personalised keepsakes
• Milestone objects
• Signage details
• Awards and markers
• Gifts for a group

The usual route

1. The occasion
2. Personalised design
3. Manufacture
4. Something to keep

Timing matters more here than on almost any other project, because the date doesn’t move. The earlier an occasion piece starts, the more of it can be personalised.

Put something on the shelf that doesn’t exist anywhere else.

Display models, custom stands, mounts, plaques, scale pieces and shelf objects — made once, for you, rather than produced by the thousand for everybody.

Often

• Display models
• Custom stands
• Mounts and cradles
• Scale pieces
• Plaques and nameplates
• Hobby and club pieces

Idea to shelf

1. Reference / idea
2. Design
3. Model
4. Custom stand
5. On the shelf

Studio Variant doesn’t hold rights to protected characters, brands or designs. Where a piece is based on a design that belongs to someone else, we look at what can properly be made before agreeing anything — per project, and honestly.