These are modular terrain for tabletop war games. It has a Lego-like design, but the pieces can be locked together to prevent them from falling apart when carried.
Design of the modular terrain
The first thing we have to do is functional design. The requirements are: first, they are all detachable, and second, some components can be disassembled and moved as a whole (like a sub-module). So that when reassembling or carrying, some components do not need to be disassembled in their entirety, which can save time.
In terms of function, this product is a bit like Lego blocks. However, it cannot be made exactly like Lego because, firstly, in terms of the appearance of the product, the original structure of Lego is not competent, and secondly, the wall thickness of Lego blocks is very uniform, but the wall thickness of this product is more difficult to achieve uniformity, and the requirement of injection molding parts is uniform wall thickness, so this also makes a challenge to the design.
After a few days of design, we finally came up with this set. The product consists of 7 parts, but the whole wall and half wall is divided into two kinds of windows and no windows, so the total is there are 9 kinds of parts.
The pillar covers and pillar connectors can lock the walls to the pillars, so they can be moved around as a whole.
As you may notice the worn-out appearance is made quite simple, but this can be made to a higher level, only the design and mold cost will be higher. We need to commission this job to outside designers.
The injection mold:
The client who commissioned us to design these products was a tabletop gaming enthusiast, but he had a limited budget. So we need to use as few molds as possible to make all the products needed.
We finally used 4 molds to make all the components. It is quite amazing that the parts made by 4 injection molds form so many versatile modules (combinations).
| Material | ABS |
| Dimensions | Wall: 76*78mm |
| Net weight | Each varies, from 1.6 to 22 grams |
| Mold information | 4 family molds |
| Runner type | Cold runner |
Since the full wall and half wall with and without windows are made by the same mold, so we used 2 inserts to cover the hole. There is a bit of flashing at the position of the window, but they are not too noticeable.
Tight tolerances:
Like Lego, each part of this product has to be able to fit interchangeably, so its tolerances are of the same standard as Lego’s.
