By Tom Davies-Kent, Director, Complete Fabrication. Updated November 2026.
Designer Craig McGarrell asked what a much-loved 1990s games console would look like if it were designed today, with a virtual reality headset to match. We worked with Craig to build two full prototype sets of his design: a VR headset, a console and controllers. The work used vacuum casting, SLA 3D printing, CNC machining, painting and direct printing.
Craig had a finished design concept and wanted it made real. The parts had to look like production mouldings, not painted prints, so the project used most of the processes in our workshop.
Vacuum casting is not the usual route for two prototypes. Here it was the only way to get tinted translucent cases with real depth of colour, so we cast them in polyurethane resin. We supplied sample swatches at the real wall thickness so Craig could fine-tune the tint. Dummy PCBs and a CNC machined heatsink sit inside each case, giving the view through the casing that a production unit would have.
The mirror polish and satin texture were created on the master models before the silicone tools were made. Every casting then came out of the tool with both finishes in place.
We added to Craig's CAD so the buttons are tactile and the joystick rotates through 360 degrees. Branding and product labels were printed directly onto the parts. No rub-down transfers were used, so the graphics last.
The headset brings several materials together in one assembly. Our design team worked out the assembly method in CAD and proved it on the master SLA prints before finishing and tooling. The finished headset combines soft, compliant touch-point materials, painted SLA prints and a vacuum cast rigid polyurethane case. The lenses were CNC machined and hand polished to a water-clear finish.
Two complete prototype sets that look and feel like a production product. The project shows the full route: taking a client's CAD, making it prototype-ready, then building the show model.
| Designer | Craig McGarrell |
| Quantity | Two prototype sets |
| Processes | SLA 3D printing, vacuum casting, CNC machining, painting and direct printing |
| Materials | Tinted translucent and rigid polyurethane resin, SLA resin, machined and polished clear lenses |
| Our design input | Button and joystick mechanisms, and the headset assembly method |
| Year | 2019 to 2020 |
See painting and finishing, CNC machining, model making and design for manufacture, or browse more case studies.
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