Yachting on a different scale

This week the focus for the yachting industry is on one of its most glamorous events, the Monaco Yacht Show. While it will be mostly about kicking off your deck shoes and exploring the multimillion-dollar yachts in the famous harbour, there will be plenty of smaller exhibits grabbing attention, too.

We’re talking about scale models, not the sort you buy in your local model shop either, but the exact scale versions of yachts that already exist and ones that are potential projects. It’s a huge business and most of the naval architects and yacht builders will have models on display.

We visited Amalgam Modelmaking in its discreet workshop in Bristol, England, to see what it takes to create these highly detailed scale masterpieces.

It’s also a multimillion-dollar industry, with some models costing as much as R750 000. They can take weeks to create, each element meticulously crafted by expert model-makers using anything from die-cast moulds to the latest in 3D printing technology.

Many of the commissions are from naval architects, requiring a scale version of a new design to present to a client. The investment in the cost of the model is nothing compared to the cost of the real yacht, but it gives a potential owner an idea of how their new vessel might look and how the many facets of the design interact with each other.

Many owners also go on to commission models for themselves to display in the actual yacht or in their homes. Some owners have even commissioned multiple models for their homes or offices around the world. It’s big business.

Some models make use of magnets so that components can be lifted away or moved around. Others feature furniture elements, many of which are 3D printed as exact replicas in the colour and detail of the furniture that might be integrated into the production yacht.

Often a new owner will commission an architect to redesign their yacht ahead of a refit, and so the model can be altered to show how it might look. It’s not cheap, but it’s certainly more cost effective than testing out designs on the real thing.

The models can be as simple or as complex as the client requires. Preston explains that sometimes, it could be very basic, what he calls a “speedform” model, essentially just an overall design without the intricate details so a client can get an idea of what a yacht will look like. Most models are 1:100 scale, though Preston says some detailed models of interiors or other elements can be at 1:25 scale.

Not all are so large, though, often a design house, yacht builder or even defence contractor will require a number of smaller models to give out as gifts. These are often 3D printed and still show tiny details and are in a presentation case to add to the feeling of quality. Talking of gifts, the wife of the owner of the beautiful 25m Alpina sailing yacht once commissioned Amalgam to make a large-scale replica as a present for her husband.

Wandering around the workshop there were all sorts of projects on the go, from top secret consumer product prototypes to boardroom artworks, but it was the yachts and their incredible detail that fascinated us the most. They might be to scale, but they are works of art as beautiful as the real thing.