We look forward to having Chris Poole back in the workshop after a short break. Chris will ease the burden of work as we enter the busiest time of the modelmaking year.

Projects currently booked into our calendar include a topographical model, a commercial building with interior detail and an oil industry exhibit for display at the OE exhibition in Aberdeen this autumn.

Currently under construction is a housing sales model for a major new develoment in Scotland. More images to follow when the model is complete.

Recently completed for our Highlands and Islands Enterprise this 1:750 scale model shows the Enterprise Park, Forres. Fully contoured and with detailed elevations to the buildings this model will be used to promote the site to local businesses.

Sized to fit in the back of an estate car and supplied with detachable legs and Perspex case.

In December HRH Princess Anne visited several organisations in the Nairn area including our clients at Black Isle Bronze. Her Royal Highness was taken on a tour of the facilities where, amongst other things, she saw several casting patterns manufactured by ourselves. After her tour she chatted with Peter Naulls from Inver Models about the value of collaboration between such companies.

Her Royal Highness took a great interest in all that she saw and stayed longer than intended. It was a great privilege to have her visit the area and an endorsement of the high quality work that we do. 

3D printing has developed enormously in quality and flexibility in recent months. We are now supplying high resolution components and models produced using the powder printing process.

We can work with SDL or 3DS files from Autocad, Rhinocerous and similar packages, or we can arrange cad drawings based on any non-compliant artwork. Printing resolution is 360 dpi and full colour. We can also fully-finish components using conventional spraying techniques.

The world of digital modelmaking is progressing fast and we anticipate offering full 3D scanning in the near future.

Much anticipated by the general public as well as our clients at Historic Scotland, our cast bronze model of Fort George (draped in a Union flag) was unveiled in July by Lt Col Fenton of 3 Scots. The 2.5 metre-long model shows the entire fort enabling visitors to orientate themselves as they arrive at the site.

Installation of the half-ton model required careful planning and consent in line with the historic monument status of Fort George. A plinth was built by resident stonemasons and our colleagues at Black Isle Bronze engineered delivery and fixing of the casting.

It has been a privilege to be asked to provide such a prominent model at one of Scotland's most important visitor attractions. It is anticipated that the bronze will be a durable and very long term exhibit.

Image shows press coverage in the Press & Journal.

 The first batch of machined components are layed out in our workshops prior to assembly of 4 pipeline bundle models. Our customer in the offshore oil industry has comissioned 11 models in total. The quarter-scale models have cutaway sections to show all internal components and are used to demonstrate the various spacers, rollers, bearings and tubes that make up a bundle. The bright colours make for a suprisingly attractive model.

 A scale model of Mies Farnsworth House for a private customer. It is very unusual for us to work with individuals rather than commercial organisations but it was exciting to model such an iconic property. Our customer is an enthusiast for Mies work and wanted this as a unique display model in her home.

 An exciting project in our workshops at the beginning of 2012. We are working on a large outdoor tactile model and casting it in bronze. The first of the raw castings is shown - they have yet to be cleaned, polished and patinated. Watch this space for more news of the model and it's high profile location!

The completed model, fitted with Perspex display case and ready for delivery to the customer's marketing suite.

Under construction in our studio in  October 2011 - a 1:500 scale housing sales model. The houses are shown as simple blocks set on the landscaping. plot boundaries are shown and plot numbers will also be added. Tree planting is today's job!

Almost 5 years ago we constructed a large model for a consortium of housebuilders in central Scotland. The model is of modular construction allowing  each phase to be updated remotely, with minimal disruption to the sales office display. We have just completed detailing of 2 new phases and anticipate a third later this year. 

The work coincides with the opening of a new marketing suite by one of the original housing developers.

Always up for a challenge, we have produced this press tool for a customer who manufactures very small numbers of sheet metal components! All the pressure points are machined from hard maple with a supporting base of 60mm MDF.

Not all our models are delicate, this one will need to withstand 8 tons of pressure!

It has been a privilege to work with our client  who is putting together a centre for safety-training young children in the East Midlands. This model shows the dangers of playing on and around railway tracks - both for the children and the train driver. Simple, graphic and hard-hitting without being gruesome. The model was presented in the centre with accompanying videos of the three ficticious characters in the scene.

Our second model for the sfaety centre was deliberately chunky & lacking in detail in order to focus the attention on particular hazards in a typical Leicester street scene. Muted colours were used for the bulk of the model whilst bold primary colours highlighted the danger areas. The people are removable for maintenance reasons. Functional and effective.

Castle Stuart was the venue for this year's Scottish Open Golf Championship, and the subject of two models delivered in June.  The landscape models with larger study models of individual properties were used for marketing purposes. 

A recreation of the pioneering Newcomen engine nears completion in our workshops.

The original steam engine dates from almost 300 years ago and has been faithfully copied as a non-working replica. The London Science museum is it's destination - it will be on permanent exhibition now the original engine has returned to Glasgow. We drew on the skills of local engineer Graham Larrington for the machining & metalwork, whilst all timber work and sheet metalwork have been undertaken by Inver Models. We are grateful to The Network for managing the project at the London end.

Fort Augustus Abbey and its surroundings have in recent years been the subject of an ambitious conversion to residential properties. Anxious to preserve the heritage  and history of the site the property developer approached us earlier this year with a historic model requiring renovation. The model depicts the original fort which previously occupied the site, the maker and age of the model are unknown but we believe it to be over 80 years old. Poor storage had taken its toll and several components had gone missing over the years.  Our work was limited to replacement of the missing parts and a general clean-up rather than a complete restoration. The skill of the original modelmaker is evident in the fact that almost all the model is hand-cut from pine with little evidence of machining. The model seems to pre-date the arrival of plywood as even the wafer thin railings are cut from solid timber. Where possible we were careful to match original paints and materials, though technology has allowed us to take some short-cuts! Some previous repair work to the roofs was of poor quality and had to be re-done. The finished model was mounted on a stained timber base and supplied with a display case ready for exhibition in the impressive cloister area of the Abbey.

Pure indulgence on our part - an Austin Seven pedal car produced purely for our own amusement!

0.45 full size the car has a traditional steel "A frame" chassis with a bodyshell produced from plywood over ash framework. Great efforts were made to overcome the normal peculiarities of pedal-car steering and suspension geometry. The resulting rolling chassis handles well and is strong enough that Peter Naulls was able to test-drive it himself before fitting the bodyshell! 

This 3.5m long Tornado dominated our workshop for several weeks. Commissioned by our neighbours at Black Isle Bronze as a pattern for casting. Once it's purpose was served the pattern came back to our workshops and was assembled for permanent display in the foundry

Chris Poole joined Inver Models in 2009 to help with our increased workload.