The application of the recent model-based control schemes for robot manipulators require the solution of problems concerning various aspects, from the mechanical design to the necessity of determining a robot model suitable for control, and of experimentally testing the control performances. For one solution, integration of SolidWorks with Simscape for designing and controlling robot manipulators is presented in this paper. The integration provides a platform for rapid control prototyping of robot manipulators without the need for building real prototypes. Mechanical drawings of a robot are first created using Solidworks and imported into the Simscape, where a robot is represented by connected block diagrams based on the principle of physical modeling. Simulation examples for 7-DOF SAM ARM made by Berrett Technology Inc. are testified to show effectiveness of the presented platform.