Ben - Model Makers Bristol / Amalgam Model Making

EDF Energy Touring Exhibition at Party Political Conferences

September 17, 2013

The modular, highly transportable EDF Energy Touring Exhibition, featuring a number of engaging interactives and streamlined versions of our larger displays, will be present at three upcoming Party Political Conferences. The exhibition has been present at trade shows, conventions, conferences and events since earlier this year. The EDF Energy Touring Exhibition is a portable recreation of the displays and interactives we have made for the various EDF Energy visitor's centres around the country. While the Touring Exhibition has been sent along the length and breadth of the country, our seven permanent exhibitions have been experienced by thousands of members of the public. Nearly every member of staff contributed to these impressive pieces which involved our skills as metalworkers, electricians and engineers, involving CNC machining and traditional hand skills, as well as a keen understanding of human interaction and exhibition design. The EDF Energy visitor's centres and touring exhibition have been regular fixtures…

Amalgam’s Models at DSEI show

September 10, 2013

The DSEI 2013 defence and security exhibition begins on the 10th of September, and will continue until the 13th. The exhibition features over 1500 exhibitors from more than 50 countries, to some of whom we have recently provided our marine model making services. More details on the models will be announced soon. Amalgam Models have provided many models to the defence and security industries, largely as exhibition and marketing applications at global events such as DSEI. One such success is the BMT Mastiff, which includes cast rubber tyres and extremely high levels of detail. Other exhibition and 'event' models we have made for conferences and trade shows include the Seagen Tidal Turbine and the Asry-Centrax Powerbarge, both of which had to be built to withstand regular international touring.

PlanLoCaL scale model gets an update

September 9, 2013

Some years back, Amalgam created a four-baseboard modular scale model of a generic British urban area for the Centre for Sustainable Energy. The model has been back through our doors for touch ups and some fresh paint, but we've added a 1,044 Megawatt Solar Farm, an Anaerobic Digestion Plant, and some 1/1000 scale cows to provide the plant with, erm, fuel. Ultimately the model is designed to show a community the various renewable energy options available to them. It also allows them to consider whether a certain process is appropriate for their local economy, or what the visual impact would be on the surrounding countryside. Amalgam have provided a range of models to the Centre for Sustainable Energy over the years, including our Wall Insulation models (of which we made 13 sets) ,and the Energy Home, which shows how a modern family home can be made more energy efficient. Head to Our Work…

Amalgam Certified for Environment Support

August 20, 2013

Amalgam Models has been donating waste materials to Children's Scrapstore for re-use as a creative resource. The materials are distributed to a range of educational and support establishments for children to use in their play and personal development. The network supports over 150,000 children, and Amalgam are proud to contribute to the system. Recycling materials in this way ensures that the amount of waste sent to landfills is minimised. We have a range of environmentally conscious systems in place, and ensure that our offcuts and project waste is recycled back into other projects or donated to causes that would benefit from it. Other environmental and charitable causes we have contributed to include Movember, Race for Life (which Amalgam's Lucy Fox and Helen Peel took part in) and providing prototypes for Bruce Munro's Beacon on the Hill for Cancerkin. We also continue to run our staff Tuck Shop, the profits…

Holborne Museum ‘Ghosts in the Garden’ interactive props

August 5, 2013

Interactive props connect past with present Our interactive props for Sydney Gardens and the Ghosts in the Garden project, devised by Splash and Ripple, are soon to be decommissioned as the year-long event draws to a close. Visitors take a Georgian 'listening device' with them as they wander through the grounds. The device picks up the voices of historical Georgian 'ghosts', who describe events and facts about the Garden's past and heritage. There is still a week left to visit the Holborne Museum in Bath and enjoy the experience. The interactive prop boxes were handpainted to a strikingly realistic aged-mahogany finish by our props department, and dressed with clockwork gadgetry and sprocket work to create the effect of a ticking, whirring machine. To play the ghostly voices, each prop contained a Minirig, a portable, rechargeable speaker made in Bristol. More details on the interactive props can be…

Heysham visitor centre and EDF Energy Exhibition News

July 11, 2013

Heysham visitor centre is now open to the public, featuring a series of interactives and exhibition pieces designed and built by Amalgam modelmakers. This is the seventh visitor centre we have supplied interactives for, in a project that began early last year and has drawn in nearly every member of staff to assist in the design, fabrication, assembly and installation of these engaging pieces. As well as Heysham visitor centre, we have provided models and interactives for other sites including Dungeness, Hinkley, Hunterston, Sizewell and Hartlepool, as well as a streamlined touring exhibition which has been making its way around the country for the past few months, most recently at Dunbar Science Festival, where over 6000 people passed through the exhibit. The physical size of our workshop, variety of the skills of those working here and investments in cutting-edge technologies mean we can easily take…

New Blades and Made in Brunel graduate showcases

June 14, 2013

This time of year sees the advent of two significant degree shows; the New Blades Modelmaking degree show and the Made in Brunel graduate showcase. Both are an opportunity for graduates to make invaluable contacts within their industries, to show off their work, skills and passions, and for seasoned professionals to meet young people with fresh eyes and good ideas. The New Blades took place at Holborn Studios and featured some truly outstanding work; the show guide is available for download at the 4D Modelshop website. It is also a chance to meet old friends and former colleagues as the bulk of the UK's model making companies and their representatives meet. The Made in Brunel Graduate Showcase aims to draw the attention of the design industry to a pool of innovative aspiring designers and engineers. This year, former Amalgam intern Jeremy Ireland (https://madeinbrunel.com/) will be showcasing his…

Prototype Plastic Moulding: Vacuum Casting and 3D Printing

June 13, 2013

A little over twenty years ago, 3D printing or Rapid Prototyping as it was then known, changed the world. The recent explosion of interest in the process is not indicative of a sea change in the industry, but a public awakening to an industrial process that is quick, convenient and downright cool. The science fiction ideal of being able to manifest objects from your computer captures the imagination; could you 3D print a model yacht, a concept design of a yacht, a full-sized working cruiser? Designers, architects and artists have embraced 3D printing and innovative projects are appearing daily. There are, however, limitations. It is important to remember that 3D printing and all the associated Additive manufacturing technologies, stereolithography, laser sintering, etc. are stages of a greater whole - prototyping. A 3D print is generally a step towards production, not production itself, and while it is tempting to think of a…

Interactives at Torness power station visitor’s centre now open

May 17, 2013

Torness power station will be re-opening its visitor's centre, for which Amalgam supplied a range of highly engaging interactives and exhibition pieces. EDF Energy has said that the new visitor's centre will give 'thousands of people' access to information on nuclear power, and how the process is managed. Amalgam have so far provided exhibition design and display pieces for seven of EDF Energy's power station visitor's centres, with the centre at Hunterston B opening last August. The visitor's centre at Torness power station will be open every day, but security considerations mean advanced booking will be required. The interactives we have built for EDF Energy has been a truly huge project, drawing in nearly every member of staff and department head. We have produced over thirty individual units, and innumerable graphic display pieces for these visitor's centres. More details and photos will be announced later this year.

Exhibition Design and Build Team install for Chelsea Flower show and British Ecological Society

May 14, 2013

Amalgam's Dan Fenwick and the exhibition design and build team have recently finished fabricating and installing a huge set piece for Chelsea Flower Show and the British Ecological Society. The set, designed by Ravenhill Design, combined a range of CNC machined, slot-together components, optimised for easy, on-site assembly. It also made great use of our in-house scenic art-working talent to create not only realistic textures and finishes on faux brick work etc. but also a completely painted walled garden backdrop complete with bushes, shrubs, flowers and an (Optimistic) sunny sky. Our exhibition design and build team is well experienced and equipped to fabricate, assemble and install large-scale exhibitions and set displays of all sorts for corporate events, theatre, public exhibitions and museums. Head to Our Work to see more examples of our work in this area. More images and details on our involvement with Chelsea Flower Show be announced later in the Spring.