This special Man and Machine Edition is limited to just five pairings, with three already sold
Bristol, UK, Thursday 22nd February 2024
- Amalgam Collection announces a special 1:8 scale Man and Machine edition, capturing Jean-Pierre Wimille and his Bugatti Type 59 at the Belgian Grand Prix in July 1935.
- The 1:8 scale figure of Jean-Pierre Wimille stands around 22 centimetres (eight inches) tall, and has been digitally sculpted, 3D printed and exquisitely hand-painted in Venice by a small team of artists.
- This special edition at 1:8 scale is limited to just five model and figure pairings, three of which have already been purchased by distinguished collectors.
- This Man and Machine pairing is the first in a new series from Amalgam, with many more iconic drivers and their cars, planned for the future.
- Media assets can be downloaded here.
The world’s finest makers, Amalgam Collection, today announced a special Man and Machine edition perfectly capturing Bugatti legend Jean-Pierre Wimille and the Type 59 he raced at Spa-Francorchamps in the Belgian Grand Prix on the 14th of July 1935. This special edition at 1:8 scale is limited to just five model and figure pairings, three of which have already been purchased by distinguished collectors. The model can be ordered in pristine clean pre-race condition, or patinated to reflect the post-race dust and grime.
The figure of Jean-Pierre Wimille that accompanies each model in this special edition stands around 22 centimetres (eight inches) tall, and has been digitally sculpted, 3D printed and exquisitely hand-painted in Venice by a small team of artists. After a deep dive into the archives, sourcing photographs and historical descriptions of Wimille’s likeness, the team in Venice have created a figure that accurately represents his physicality and character at the time of the race. “We have long wanted to create driver figures that will match the quality of our 1:8 models and sit or stand well alongside them” says Sandy Copeman, Director of Brand at Amalgam. “Our research into his appearance at the time of the race has been deep and extensive. The type of suit he wore, his shoes, his physique and complexion have all been very carefully considered and rendered into this fine figure of J.P. Wimille.”
The Bugatti Type 59 model is the result of around 5000 hours of skilled design and development. The extensive process began with a detailed digital scan of an original Type 59, chassis 59122. Exercising outstanding skill and artistry, Amalgam’s team set about reworking the CAD before 3D printing and hand working hundreds of patterns. Moulds were made, and every part was cast in prototyping resin, then fettled and fitted, painted and assembled into these impressive artworks. The original prototype only received the approval of the historians at Bugatti once they were fully satisfied with its accuracy of representation. Each subsequent 52 centimetre (20 inch) long piece takes 500 hours to cast, fit, fettle, paint and assemble. Every visible detail of the car as raced at Spa in July 1935 has been captured and perfectly replicated using archival imagery and data, shared by Bugatti and the Bugatti Trust. The model features a completely removable engine cover which is secured to the model with scaled leather straps, exactly as the original car, under which lies the supercharged 3.3 litre straight-eight engine. Every minute detail has been captured, from the ‘engine turned’ pattern on the dashboard, to the cable brake linkages and the perfectly engineered piano wire spoke wheels. Each wheel is a piece of art in its own right, with over 80 parts, demanding several hours of precise assembly work.
For customers that request patination, Amalgam’s artisans will meticulously hand-paint and detail the model to reflect its condition post-race.
The ultimate expression of the Bugatti Grand Prix car, the Type 59 was a testament to Ettore and Jean Bugatti’s extraordinarily creative engineering talents. In an era when the art of race car design was arguably superseded by the science, the Type 59 remained competitive despite its continued use of ‘old-fashioned’ mechanics. It remains Bugatti’s last successful Grand Prix racer. Jean-Pierre Wimille is considered one of the finest racers of all time, and was cited as a paragon by even the great Juan Manuel Fangio. Joining the Bugatti racing team as the giants of Mercedes and Auto Union began to dominate Grand Prix racing, the fact that Bugatti remained competitive was testament to Wimille’s abilities.
“This very small and exquisite edition of the Bugatti Type 59 and Jean Pierre Wimille is just the start” continues Copeman, “we look forward to sharing more very refined and perfectly posed figures of motorsport’s most iconic figures going forward.”
The Bugatti Type 59 Jean-Pierre Wimille Man and Machine Edition is available from www.amalgamcollection.com.
----------------------------------------------------------------
High resolution images can be found here >
EDITORS' NOTES:
MEDIA CONTACTS
PR & Media Enquiries: tom.gibsoncommunications@gmail.com, T: (201) 476-0322, Mobile: (201) 264-3646
PR & Media Enquiries: pressandmedia@amalgam.com
Director of Brand and Business Development: Sandy Copeman sandy.copeman@amalgam.com
Business and Sales Enquiries: enquiries@amalgam.com
About Amalgam Collection:
Amalgam’s team of crafts-people 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 far above anything previously created.
For cars they have already modelled at 1:8 in a limited edition, the team at Amalgam offers a tailormade service, customising a model to perfectly match the specification of an owner’s real car. For owners of unique very high value cars, Amalgam Collection offers even bigger 1:5 or 1:4 ‘one-off’ model builds from their UK workshops in Bristol, England. The team 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 craftsmen 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.
HOW AMALGAM 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.
SCALE GUIDE
