Our work / Mojo Outdoor Duck Decoy
Outdoor Gear Design | Mojo Outdoors Duck Decoy | LA NPDT
Mojo Outdoor Duck Decoy
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Turning a hand-made prototype into a production part means rebuilding it as parametric CAD, not just capturing a mesh. 3D scanning provides the reference; the manufacturable model is modeled on top of it.
Mojo Outdoors gave us a hand-carved wooden duck decoy with an intricate feather pattern. We combined several 3D scanning and modeling techniques to recreate the detail, then produced the CAD Mojo took into manufacturing for the season.
Project at a glance
- Client
- Mojo Outdoors — motion duck decoys and hunting gear
- Category
- Outdoor and hunting products
- Starting point
- A hand-carved wooden duck prototype with intricate feather detail
- What we delivered
- 3D scanning, multi-method 3D modeling, production CAD, mold-ready parts and assembly drawings
- Key constraints
- Reproduce the carved feather pattern exactly while making the body manufacturable
- Outcome
- Mojo Outdoors moved into manufacturing in time for the duck hunting season
The client
The challenge
Our solution
The result
Thanks for reading!
Hand-carved prototypes do not become molds
Outdoor products are usually born as something built by hand in a shop — carved, welded, taped. That object carries the intent but none of the manufacturing rules: no draft, uneven walls, no place for the motor, no thought about how two halves close. Converting it is a modeling problem and a molding problem at the same time.
What we delivered for Mojo Outdoors
We captured the physical prototype, rebuilt it as parametric CAD so the client could adjust proportions later, and applied draft, uniform wall thickness, ribbing and parting lines suited to injection molding. Hardware interfaces were designed around the existing motion mechanism so assembly stayed simple on the line.
Capabilities used on this project
Low-volume manufacturing
Bridge tooling, short-run production and supplier management for first commercial batches.
Rapid prototyping services
3D printing, CNC machining, urethane casting and functional prototype builds with published materials, tolerances and lead times.
Prototype design and engineering
Design for the prototype itself: CAD, tolerance stacks, material choices and assembly detail before anything is built.
From a hand-made prototype to a mold-ready part
1. Scan for reference, not for tooling
A raw scan is a mesh with noise, holes and no design intent. It is an excellent reference and a poor manufacturing model — you cannot draft, shell or split it reliably.
2. Rebuild as parametric CAD
Surfaces and features are modeled over the scan so the part can be edited later: change a wall thickness, move a boss, adjust a mating face without starting again.
3. Preserve the detail that matters
On the Mojo decoy the feather grooves are the product. We combined scanning and modeling methods specifically to keep that texture readable while the underlying body became a clean, moldable form.
4. Apply the molding rules
Draft angles, uniform wall thickness, parting line, gate and ejector locations. This is the step that turns a beautiful model into a part a molder will actually quote.
5. Release drawings with the CAD
Assembly drawings, critical dimensions and material call-outs travel with the model, so the factory knows which features are functional and which are cosmetic.
| Raw 3D scan | Production CAD | |
|---|---|---|
| Geometry | Triangle mesh | Parametric surfaces and solids |
| Editable | Barely | Fully — features and dimensions |
| Ready for molding | No | Yes, with draft and wall control |
| Best use | Reference and verification | Tooling, drawings, quoting |
Questions about this project
Can you 3D scan my prototype and send it straight to a factory?
Not usefully. A scan is a mesh — it has no draft, no clean parting line and no editable features. We use the scan as reference and rebuild the part as parametric CAD, which is what a molder needs to quote and cut tooling.
Will scanning capture fine surface texture?
With the right combination of methods, yes. On the Mojo decoy the feather grooves were the whole point, so we used several scanning and modeling techniques together rather than relying on a single pass.
How long does scan-to-CAD take?
For a single hand-made part, typically four to ten weeks including production CAD, DFM and drawings — driven mostly by how much detail has to be reconstructed and how many revisions the mold review triggers.
Industries this project belongs to
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