Rapid texture prototyping

[cicididi]

The invention comprises a method for simulating the apperence of an article having surface texture comprising the step of applying a textured skin having a surface texture to a cnc prototyping to produce a textured prototype, thereby to simulate the appearance of the article having surface texture.
The invention further comprises a method for producing copies of a textured prototype comprising the steps of: applying a textured skin having a surface texture to a prototype to produce a textured prototype; producing a mould of the textured prototype; and using the mould to produce said copies. The skin may comprise a skin layer with relief material attached thereto as a surface texture. The skin layer may constitute a release backing peeled off the prototype after application of the relief material thereto.