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Qinetiq Autonomous Firefighting Vessel

  This striking diorama for Qinetiq makes use of the light-catching properties of acrylic to create a glowing Tron-lines and flowing waves, which fade through shades of blue. As with all our marine models, the symmetry and linework in the hull was preserved by using computer aided manufacturing processes. Nearly every processes beyond this relies on traditional hand skills and experience to bring the model to completion, with immaculate colour-matched spraypaint finishes and intricate details such as masts, funnels and railings. Dynamic lighting is a effective addition to any model, particularly at trade shows and exhibitions, where animation and movement help grab attention.  

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Tots Up Big Red Bus

Tots up Big Red Bus 3D prototype

3D prototype. Tots Up Big Red Bus, a reward chart for children Sally Marks set out to create a visual reward chart, to help her manage her children’s behaviour at home, and hit upon the idea of supporting it with a mobile app. Sally teaches graphic design, so developed her own sketches for the Tots Up Big Red Bus reward chart, using the theme of developing the children’s behaviour as a journey.  When she began looking at the concept, a contact from Exeter University’s Innovation Centre put her in touch with Amalgam to help her develop a 3D prototype. Her objectives were: To take the Big Red Bus design and create a 3D prototype of the real product. To develop the design further, so it could stand up alone, or stick to a fridge. To test options for the characters to meet safety standards for children. From the outset Sally…

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Santos Dumont No.6 Airship Model

Airship Model

This Airship model was made as part of the exhibition Cartier in Motion curated by Norman Foster at the Design Museum in London, made from the hand-drawn plans of the designer and pilot Alberto Santos Dumont, dating from the turn of the century. Dumont piloted the airship from Parc Saint Cloud to the Eiffel Tower and back in 1901, winning the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize. Cartier subsequently created a wristwatch - the first men's wristwatch - for Dumont in 1904.   The main balloon element of the airship model was 3D printed; the chassis suspended beneath was soldered together from etched brass components, and rigged by hand using fine wire. All other details - sandbacks, motors and baskets - were handmade.     The model was designed to be suspended from a ceiling by fine attachment points set in the main balloon. Despite designing the unit to be as…

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Ngoni Half Hull Model

This 1:50 half hull model was commissioned by the yacht's owner, to present as a gift to Monaco Yacht Club. Bulked out on our CNC machine and finished by hand, the model incorporates maple veneer and sits mounted on a steel and carbon fibre backing plate - a modern twist on the traditional half-hull presentation form, in keeping with the sleek, progressive design of the yacht itself. The model now sits among other half hull presentation models on the walls of the clubhouse. This model is the little sister of the high-detail variant, right, built for the owner.  

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Full Rig Model – Ngoni

First Incarnation: Stub-Mast Model   While this high-performance sloop, Ngoni, was being built at Royal Huisman’s main site in Vollenhove, the owner commissioned Amalgam to make a high detail scale model of the design at the scale 1:50. When this innovative project was first announced, nicknamed ‘The Beast’, the yachting world pricked up its ears. The owner had requested a progressive new yacht, with an ‘edgy’ design to marry comfort, style and high performance, and appointed the teams at Dubois Naval Architects and Royal Huisman to bring it to life. To launch the design during 2014 Monaco Yacht Show, Dubois contacted us to make a limited detail stub-mast model at 1:60 scale seen in all the press photography. Once extensive tank tests were completed to finalise the hull lines, the team building this 58m striking sloop in the Royal Huisman shipyard in The Netherlands were working closely with Captain Iain Cook…

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Wiltshire Air Ambulance HQ Fundraising Model

  This model for Wiltshire Air Ambulance Service was made primarily as a fundraising tool for their new HQ. The model featured as a centrepiece at VIP and fundraising events.   Although a relatively quick and simple model, attention has been given to the surface finishes and illuminated features to attract attention.    

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Acorn Properties Hope House

This 1:200 model for Acorn Properties includes models of the six main developments in the Bath scheme, built into an extensive site baseboard. The models were made to a higher level of detail than would be typical at 1:200 scale, to highlight the period-style features and other details requisite of schemes built to Bath-area planning specifications. This included considered recreations of the Ashlar facing, flagstones, paving and brickwork, and we kept a continuous dialogue with the client to ensure the colours, textures and forms of the model clearly demonstrated adherence to planning regulation.          The baseboard was built to such large extents to include the public park and the numerous listed trees in its grounds. This included the mating territory of a local species of endangered bat, protected by environmental regulations, which informed the aspects of the development's design.

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Private Residence model

  This 1: 100 model was made as a private commission for the owner of the property, primarily to demonstrate the unique treatment of the elevations. The upper portions of the building were clad in charred timber; on the inner courtyard section, this texture was printed onto glass, fading out in opacity to be completely clear.   To recreate a decreasing opacity gradient, we used spray effects to establish the colour and opacity, overlaid with photographs of the real timber texture printed on transparent vinyl. This combination of processes gave striking photographic depth to the elevations.

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Forest Green Rovers Ecopark Ver. II

  This second masterplan model for Ecotricity depicts their concept Ecopark business and technology hub, scaled up to a higher level of detail. The site includes the home stadium of Forest Green Rovers football team, a sports campus, and a range of generic mixed use developments, following a loose style guide.     This style guide was a collection of images giving broad overviews of the style of building, surface finish and design features the client wanted to see in the scheme. There were no set designs as such, but a list of surface treatments by percentage, for example '25% timber cladding, 30% stone,' etc. The only other specification was that the buildings have broad faces of curtain glazing, and a mix of sedum and solar roof styles. Taking these guidelines, we built each building as a stack of acrylic floorplates, and created a set of multipurpose vinyl 'kits' of…

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BRE Group ‘Trailblazer’ Proof Of Concept Model

proof of concept model vehicle

This proof of concept model of a portable solar power installation was commissioned to function as designer's aide in configuring the size and spacing of the internal components, and to present the concept to a competition panel. Ultimately, the process of making the model became a dialogue between Amalgam and BRE Group, which informed the design process and helped them better understand their overall goal - and assisted them in successfully securing the commission to move into production. BRE Group wanted to convey a certain level of functionality in the model, and the conversations included how best to make these features function at scale with minimal compromise - bearing in mind the model had to be held, interacted with and taken apart, while remaining a scaled-down prototype and tolerance designer's tool. Part of our solution was to construct the model almost completely from 0.75mm steel, which allowed us to fabricate…

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