The 1 metre long 1:4 scale model crowns a collection of perfectly detailed replicas of Max Verstappen’s 2022-dominating Red Bull
     
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Bristol, UK, 26th of September
- Amalgam Collection reveal first photographs of their enormous ‘flagship’ 1:4 scale model of the RB18 based on Max Verstappen’s victory at the Formula One Heineken Dutch Grand Prix.
- Only eighteen handcrafted 1:4 scale models will be built bearing the number 1, and several have already been pre-sold to devoted followers of the Dutch World Champion.
- Amalgam worked closely with the Oracle Red Bull Racing Formula One team and their official partners, and sponsors to develop the models.
- The RB18 collection also features models at 1:8 scale, a full-size replica steering wheel, and miniature replicas of the car's nosecone and steering wheel at 1:12 scale and 1:4 scale respectively in development.
The car that returned the World Constructors’ Championship to Milton Keynes after an eight-year absence, the Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 will be forever remembered as the car that dominated the first year of the new aerodynamics era in Formula 1. Alongside their reference level replicas at 1:8, the world’s leading automotive model creators at Amalgam Collection have now revealed the first photographs of their enormous ‘flagship’ 1:4 scale model of the RB18.
Based on Max Verstappen’s victorious outing in the Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort on the 4th of September 2022, each 1:4 scale replica measures in excess of 1.04 metres (41 inches) long, and precisely captures every aspect of the car’s complex aerodynamics alongside its distinctive blue, red and yellow Red Bull livery. Only eighteen handcrafted 1:4 scale models bearing the number 1 will be built, so every client and collector can be assured of exclusivity in their purchase, several of which have already been pre-sold to devoted followers of the Dutch World Champion. Amalgam are now accepting orders on the remaining models left in the edition. Models of Verstappen’s teammate Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez can be built to order.
The colossal edition of models has been developed primarily to meet the requirements of the Oracle Red Bull Racing Formula One Team, along with their official partners and sponsors, and necessitated over 4500 hours of development. Working from CAD data supplied directly by the Oracle Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team, Amalgam’s engineers developed a pattern for each component of the model, utilising the team’s data to ensure that the details were accurately reflected at a quarter of the real car size. The master patterns were created for each piece of the complex assembly using 3D printing, followed by meticulous hand finishing. Moulds were then taken from each pattern and used to create a small batch of cast components, each one fettled and fitted to make a complete set, before painting, finishing and assembly. The resulting prototype only received the approval of the Oracle Red Bull Racing designers and engineers once they were fully satisfied with its accuracy of representation. Each subsequent model takes over 450 hours to cast, fit, fettle, paint and assemble in one of Amalgam’s global workshops, as teams of artisans focus on ensuring that every minute detail was accurately depicted on every model.
Previous collaborations between Oracle Red Bull Racing and Amalgam Collection have centred around major achievements in the team’s eighteen-year history. Sandy Copeman, Brand Director at Amalgam, said “We have collaborated closely with Oracle Red Bull Racing for over fifteen years now, first building models of the RB3 cars driven by David Coulthard and Mark Webber, before moving onto the four double Championship-winning cars of Sebastian Vettel. We are relishing the opportunity to celebrate the latest success of a team that continues to warrant its place at the front of the grid, along with a driver who looks well set to continue making Formula 1 history.”
The RB18 proved to be a masterful response to a set of radically new aerodynamic regulations for the 2022 season. Despite its dominance, it did not start the year as the fastest car and had to be developed over the course of the season to unleash its full potential. The RB18’s designers developed many unconventional but ultimately pioneering components, many of which that were later replicated by their rivals, the ultimate compliment to the engineers’ ingenuity. The RB18 swiftly became one of the most successful cars in the sport’s history, winning seventeen of the twenty-two races, fifteen with reigning World Champion Verstappen and two in the hands of Pérez.
The 1:4 scale headlines a growing collection of models in Amalgam’s RB18 Collection. Models of the double championship race-winning machine are also available at 1:8, a full-size replica steering wheel, and miniature replicas of the car's nosecone at 1:12 and 1:4 scale respectively. The first batches of models at 1:8 scale have already been delivered to customers, including team principal Christian Horner. Limited to 99 pieces per driver, this edition necessitated over 2500 hours to develop the prototype, and each subsequent model requires 250 hours of complete build time. Every miniature nosecone replica is handcrafted from precisely engineered parts by small teams of craftspeople across Amalgam’s global workshops. The nosecone measures 16cm (6 inches) wide, took over 500 hours to develop and is removable from its mounting, inspired by the real pit lane garage storage racks. The full-size replica steering wheel is limited to just 175 pieces and is an exact reproduction of the one used by the drivers, featuring working buttons, switches and paddles. Every model built by Amalgam is presented on an acrylic base with a clear dust cover and comes with a certificate of authenticity.
The full Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 Collection can be found at www.amalgamcollection.com.
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High resolution images of the Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 Collection can be found here >
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ABOUT AMALGAM COLLECTION AND THEIR HISTORY
- Amalgam are recognised worldwide as makers of the finest hand-made large-scale models. Their work is unique in its attention to detail, with a focus on creating models that truly capture the style and spirit of each car. They have dedicated all their skill and passion to achieving a level of excellence that raises the impact and value of each finished piece to a level far above anything previously created.
- For owners of cars they have already modelled at 1:8 in a limited edition, for which the tooling already exists, they offer a tailormade service, customising a model to perfectly match the specification of the real car.
- For owners of unique very high value cars, Amalgam Collection offer an even bigger 1:5 or 1:4 ‘one-off’ model build from their UK workshops in Bristol, England. They will digitally scan the car wherever it is in the world and take up to a thousand pictures of every detail, allowing them to perfectly and accurately replicate everything at scale. Given the significant number of hours required to develop a unique model the costs are high, so the model is built at a very large scale to maximise the impact and detail, and to deliver the ultimate finished piece.
Amalgam Collection’s design, management and development heart is in England, with extraordinarily skilled and dedicated teams producing the bigger editions in Hungary and China. They are a multinational, multicultural team of crafts-men and women, dedicated to creating the world’s most precise, beautiful and exclusive models. Inspired by the F1 teams and iconic luxury car marques of England and Italy that they serve and partner with, they take huge pride in their mission to perfectly capture the designs, and honour the designers, drivers and creators of the automotive art they love.
Originally a partnership of four talented model-makers formed in 1985, from the start Amalgam created finely tuned models for the most important UK and German designers and architects. Working closely with Norman Foster’s team on the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and on the Hong Kong Airport project was a fast, steep learning curve which quickly opened their eyes to subtle aesthetics and refined engineering. Working with such gifted architects their passion and desire to model the very best designs was ignited, which in due course led them to Williams F1 and Adrian Newey who were dominating the F1 championship in 1995, then on to Maranello and to the massively important design heritage of Enzo Ferrari in 1999, and latterly to the works of Pininfarina and Ettore Bugatti.
The seminal performance and luxury car designers of the early to mid-20th century were obsessed with achieving ever higher speeds, lighter and more powerful engines, more streamlined bodies, an impassioned quest that inevitably resulted in elegant and beautiful solutions as a consequence of stretching the supreme excellence of the craftsmanship and engineering to the very limits of what could be achieved at the time.
The companies that today bear these iconic names continue to be inspired, and their creativity is still fuelled, by the extraordinary passion and genius of their founders. Amalgam Collection too find inspiration in the creations of the founders and their companies who continue to design and create automotive artworks.
Recognising the beauty and importance of these designs Amalgam Collection have utterly dedicated their energy and passion to modelling these cars to a level of accuracy, precision and excellence that raises the finished replica to a level far beyond anything previously created. Amalgam have chosen to work at a scale of 1:8 which is widely acknowledged to be the most satisfying scale to comprehend the entirety of a car’s design at a glance, whilst in addition showing the most minute details.
To create perfect scale replicas of modern cars they use original CAD data supplied by the manufacturer and work closely with the design team to perfect their rendition of the interior and exterior finishes.
With regard to classics, in their quest for supreme accuracy and authenticity Amalgam’s team goes to great lengths to locate the best examples of original cars and digitally scans them to capture the precise shape and proportions of every part of the car including the chassis, engine and drive train. In addition, 600 to 800 photographs of every aspect and detail of each car are shot, to ensure a complete understanding of the finishes and detailing. The resulting models beautifully and precisely capture the entirety of the original and are impossible to discern from a real car in photographs.
Amalgam is the only maker of model cars in the world that can be considered alongside a maker of luxury watches like Richard Mille or Hublot. In fact, Richard Mille is an Amalgam patron who recognising a shared passion for engineering detail and perfection has commissioned from Amalgam Collection many unique models of his own cars and those he sponsors.
HOW THE MODELS ARE CREATED
- The patterns are created using original CAD from the manufacturer, or extraordinarily accurate digital scans and hundreds of photographs of an original classic car.
- The patterns are used to create silicon rubber moulds that capture every detail.
- Prototyping resin is used to cast the parts from the silicon moulds. Around 20 to 30 parts can be cast from each mould and then a new one must be made.
- Each model is built from thousands of parts: castings, photo-etchings and CNC machined metal components.
- Genuine car paints and manufacturer or archive colour references are used to spray the bodywork.
- It takes between 2,500 and 4,500 hours to develop the tooling for each model.
- It takes between 250 and 450 hours to cast, fit, fettle, paint and build each model.
Every Amalgam Fine Model Car is made entirely by hand from thousands of parts. Detailed original CAD data is supplied by the car's manufacturer or the race team of the car to be modelled. The process of developing each model and creating the master patterns takes between 2,500 and 4,500 hours of skilled work depending on the complexity of the car, with classic cars taking the longest.
In the case of the classic cars an extremely accurate digital scan is made of the car, and hundreds of photographs of all the details of a carefully selected original car are taken, to ensure complete accuracy and adherence to the authentic finishes and materials. Many parts of the model are machined from metal with the major components hand cast from prototyping resin. Each model is individually assembled by a small team of highly skilled model-makers. In total the time taken to machine, cast, hand fettle, paint, polish and assemble each model is between 250 and 450 hours of highly skilled work depending on the complexity of the car.
The finished model is a very precise scale replica of the original car with every detail perfectly and authentically represented at an 8th of the original size. This is modelling elevated to such a high level that it becomes an art form.
Since 1995 Amalgam have been admired and hugely respected by leading designers and engineers in the European automotive industry, as well as F1 designers, drivers and team principals. Amalgam's models appear on the desks of CEOs and presidents of the world's most important car companies. Due to the extreme accuracy and authenticity of Amalgam's creations, made in small limited editions, they are also much sought after by devoted collectors of fine handmade objects across Europe and in the USA.
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