The hard part is not making terrain three-dimensional. It is deciding which terrain.
The translation itself, from elevation data to a physical surface, is almost mechanical. Everything before and everything after is a decision. Here is the order we work in, and what actually gets settled at each step.
1. The window
First the frame is set. How wide an area goes in, and where in the square should the summit sit?
It sounds like a detail but it is the biggest decision in the whole process. Too wide a window turns the mountain into a small bump in a large landscape. Too tight a window cuts away the valley that gives the summit its proportion, and then the place stops being recognisable. We normally try several windows and look at them side by side before anything is built.
2. The height scale
Then we decide how much the height should be scaled up. At true scale a thousand vertical metres becomes around two centimetres on a 25 centimetre wide piece, which is too flat to read at a distance. The plan is never touched, only the height axis. We have written more about why in the piece on vertical exaggeration.
3. The nameplate
On most models a small field is cut out of the relief where the name and height of the place sit. The cut follows the terrain rather than a straight line, and it is placed where the ground is at its lowest, otherwise it would eat into a slope that is needed.
It is also why the version without text is not simply the same piece with the lettering removed. It is a separate model, where the whole square is terrain.
4. The print
The model is printed layer by layer on our 3D printers. A large relief takes a long time, and that time cannot be cut without the surface becoming coarse. After printing, the surface is worked to get the right finish. That step is what decides how the relief takes light: a matt, even surface gives soft shadows that follow the terrain, while a glossy surface only gives reflections.
5. The frame and assembly
The frames are built by hand. The relief is mounted onto the backing plate, framed and checked before it is packed. All of that happens in Sweden, and every piece is made to order rather than sitting finished on a shelf.
In practice that means it takes 1-2 weeks before your piece ships. It arrives fully assembled and ready to hang.
Why the order matters
All five steps depend on each other backwards. Change the window and the height scale changes; change the height scale and the nameplate ends up in the wrong place. That is why a new place does not happen in an afternoon, and why the range grows slowly.
To see the result of the process on a place you choose yourself, make the window in FRMD by You. To see the finished subjects instead, they sit under all products. And more about the people doing it is on about us.