The Paint Brush you can Flush Clean

Challenge: When John Geigle isn’t busy bringing other people’s creations to life, he’s often working on his own. So it happened a few years ago that John made his first prototype for what became the EZ Clean Paint Brush. Before creating Masterpiece Models, John was a commercial painter and he hated how long it would take to clean out brushes. So, he nurtured a simple, yet revolutionary idea: A paintbrush with a hollow handle threaded for connection with a standard garden hose to flush the paint from the inside out. With the product made, John needed a way to produce and promote it, which is where Masterpiece Models came in.

Solution: For the commercial production run, Masterpiece Models made brushes from 2” – 4” in half-inch increases with both straight and angled bristles for a complete line of 10 brushes. The handles are molded out of high-quality, recyclable ABS plastic – the same type used for plumbing fittings. EZ Clean Brushes use the highest quality bristles for best painting performance. Because the paint is cleaned from the inside out, the cleaning process uses much less water and cleans the brush more thoroughly, resulting in longer useful life.

Result: The EZ Clean Paint Brushes are in full production and for sale online at www.ezpaintstore.com. Be on the lookout for EZ Clean Brushes in stores and with different colors in the near future.

Turning a Personal Heirloom into a New Product

Challenge: Masterpiece Models projects are usually commercial or personal. It’s rare that we get one that is both. But that was the case when Kathy Trainor found us through the Internet with the idea to take a ceramic horse she had owned since childhood and use it as the model for a children’s bank.

Solution: Kathy’s ceramic horse had cracked over time, so from the beginning we knew we would use plastic for the bank. Our artists sculpted a new horse in a similar pose to her original, though we made it larger to serve its purpose as a bank. Using our original sculpture, we created a roto-mold form, which spins while being infused with plastic, creating the necessary hollow center. To give Kathy more of an edge when presenting the product to investors, we painted the banks in three varieties: Palomino, Paint and Appaloosa.

Result: We produced 25 prototypes, which generated enough commercial interest for us to arrange a production run of 5,000. Masterpiece Models worked with Drawbridge Design to create the commercial packaging.

Challenge: Washington Inventor Julie Mills found Masterpiece Models in August 2005 with a patent for a new product: The Pal-Around. This sport water bottle is great for people and pets on the go, thanks to a removable cup on the base. Julie needed 20 prototypes of her creation to shop around to potential investors.

Solution: We didn’t have to reinvent the wheel for the Pal-Around. We used open-market water bottles and rubber gaskets to hold the removable bowl in place. The bowl is, of course, what makes the Pal-Around so unique. Our initial models were molded to the contour of the water bottle, but we eventually found that an unadorned cylinder design worked best. The packaging became much more important that the product construction. We worked with Drawbridge Design to design commercial boxes for the product.

Result: Julie was so pleased with the way we brought her vision to life, she had us arrange for an introductory production run of 5,000 units. Recently we received an order for an additional 10,000. This new version of the Pal-Around has an option for a carrying strap. You can view and purchase the Pal Around at www.pawsdownpets.com.