Ever since Bill Barschdorf
changed his profession from scaring
kids to entertaining them, he dreamed
that there was an easier way to directly
create prototype models and sculptures.
You see, Barschdorf used to create
the makeup and monsters used in Hollywood
blockbusters like “Nightmare
on Elm Street, Part 4” and The
Abyss. However, one day in 1994, when
he was still working in the movie
business and running his company called
Altered Anatomy FX, he received a
call from Mattel Toys offering him
the opportunity to design foam footballs.
Ever since then, the monster maker
became a toy maker. After 7 years
running that company he closed the
doors and opened BNT Studios in 1998
(www.bntstudios.com and www.bnt4cncrp.com)
in Riverside, California. He now describes
himself as a toy sculptor, prototyper,
designer and model maker. Since that
day almost 10 years ago, he has streamlined
his process, while picking up new
big name clients such as Jakks Pacific,
Fischer-Price and Hasbro.
Figure 1: A toy figure Barschdorf
created, machined and cast with
the help of VisualMill.
Learning a New
Craft
Barschdorf first began using digital
modeling and CNC milling for the creation
of all his sculptures and model-making
projects about five years ago. He
streamlined the design phase when
he learned about Rhino, a general
3D modeling program from Robert McNeel
and Associates. “I wanted to
get the design and modeling part down
first, before I streamlined the machining
end of things by upgrading to better
equipment and CAM software,”
Barschdorf recalled. While Rhino fulfills
much of his needs, he also taught
himself other modeling programs such
as Newtek’s Lightwave and 3D
Studio Max from Autodesk and is working
on learning Maya and Autodesk Inventor.
While these programs were the turning
point for increased design creativity
and workflow productivity, it was
Roland’s 1998 introduction of
the MDX-3, a desktop milling machine,
which allowed Barschdorf to realize
his dream of a machine that could
sculpt for him. He used the MDX-3
for about three years along with the
software that comes with the machine,
and its limitations “just about
drove me nuts” said Barschdorf.
The toolpaths it created were flawless;
however, it just didn’t give
him the versatility in machining he
needed.
Figure 2: A toy figure Barschdorf
created, machined and cast with
the help of VisualMill.
Despite these problems,
he decided to make a transition when
he purchased Roland’s flagship
milling machine, the MDX-650, which
he now uses. “It is so much
faster than the previous machine,
it couldn’t be called a desktop
milling device, but rather a subtractive
rapid prototyping (SRP) machine (as
opposed to most RP processes which
add material),” Barschdorf suggests.
He was very excited about this new
device, because of its superior speed,
but once again, the software that
Roland provided with this product
was not capable of meeting his needs.
“I realized that acquiring a
new CAM (computer-aided manufacturing)
application was the key to solving
all my problems and addressing the
current limitations,” Barschdorf
says.
Figure 3: A toy figure Barschdorf
created, machined and cast with
the help of VisualMill.
Enter VisualMill
After investigating different applications,
he came across VisualMill from MecSoft
Corporation. He bought the program
and eventually taught himself how
to use it even though he had little
CAM experience. After a few months
of using VisualMill he saw his productivity
rise dramatically. “I think
a lot of people would like to get
to the point where I am at, but are
afraid of the time involved and the
long learning curve. However, you
have to start somewhere – I
went from knowing absolutely nothing
about this type of technology to being
considered the ‘leader of pack’
in my field in just a few years.”
He now does 98% of his workflow in
the digital world, compared to old
school traditional sculpting on an
armature with clay or wax or as Barschdorf
puts it “I now use my arsenal
of digital sculpting tools instead
wire loops and rakes.”
Barschdorf points to two specific
VisualMill commands that really aide
his productivity. One is called Parallel
Finishing and the other is Pencil
Trace. With VisualMill, Barschdorf
can easily rough out a part on his
milling machine with a large tool
and then proceed to the Parallel Finishing.
The Parallel Finishing command helps
Barschdorf cut the material properly,
compared to the Roland software which
had minimal options. As Barschdorf
points out “the versatility
of the parallel finishing operations
in VisualMill has given me the right
type of commands to program the types
of tool paths I have needed for a
long time.”
Figure 4: The Horizontal Roughing
tool in VisualMill is another
useful command for Barschdorf.
After the Parallel
Finishing runs are done he uses the
Pencil Trace command to calculate
the material that is remaining and
creates tool paths just to remove
the last bits of residual material
with a finer tool. “Since all
my machining is so small this feature
is invaluable to me. I think I am
using smaller end mills than most
CAM users and machine operators as
I typically have to machine to a .050-
.030 inch ball end mill, and that
is tricky machining. It’s like
doing the final detail hand work,
but now a lot of it is done right
on the machine.” With the addition
of VisualMill to his arsenal now every
part that comes off the MDX-650 is
between 95% - 98% completely sculpturally
machined. In addition, “my hand
clean up and detail work now takes
very little time,” notes Barschdorf.
“It is reduced to a brush down
with naphtha and only small wire loops
and pin tools for delineating the
really small details.” In the
past, with the Roland software, he
may have had to run the entire original
tool path three or four times, each
time with a progressively smaller
tool in order to achieve the fine
detailed needed in his toy products.
It was like “machining the same
part four times…downright painful
and simply too time-consuming,”
noted Barschdorf.
Figure 5: In addition to toys,
Barschdorf also does mechanical
parts, and here is the completed
part shown in figure 4.
Data Translation
Barschdorf also talked about the flawless
translation of data between Rhino
and VisualMill. “The software
has a direct import capability with
Rhino so it keeps the model within
proper, workable tolerances,”
Barschdorf said. He also noted that
he wishes there was direct import
from 3D Studio Max and Lightwave,
as the DXF neutral format he has to
employ requires some prep work in
order to get the tolerances correct.
These manual calculations ensure that
the resulting mesh will be dense enough;
if not, the final machining won’t
be as smooth and detailed as he requires.
Conclusions
So the road to modernization hasn’t
always been a smooth one for Barschdorf,
but he has hung in there, taken his
lumps, and progressed onward. He still
thinks of himself as “not all
the way there yet, but getting through
it.” Yet, he encourages others
to follow his lead. With VisualMill,
he found an affordable package that
maximized his productivity, while
fueling his creativity. He concluded
by saying, “I am on the cutting
edge of subtractive rapid prototyping
– and pioneering it in many
new ways. As a result, my dreams have
been realized.”
As a final bonus, it’s always
nice when others appreciate your efforts.
As Larry McCauley, the Manager of
the Boys Sculpting division at Mattel
Toys says, “in my opinion, Bill
Barschdorf is probably the most proficient
sculptor who successfully blends the
digital modeling and traditional sculpting
media together.”
