Bill Brewer, a craftsman at Built To Scale in Fair hope, Ala., glues piping on a replica ATB ammonia barge being constructed for Savage Services.Vessel models measuring 24 to 36 inches typically cost from $7,500 to $8,500.
At Built To Scale (BTS), a handful of artisans fashion a myriad of tiny detailed parts into, among other things, vessel models. The shop, a kind of computerized Santa’s workshop free of snow and dwarfs but stuffed with tools, materials and models, is nestled in a pastoral setting east of the picturesque community of Fairhope, Ala., on Mobile Bay’s eastern shore.
“There are about 45 model builders that are in the same league as us, especially when specializing in marine models,” said BTS owner Matt Aubrey. “And of those, only a handful that have the production capability that we have.”
In 2015, Aubrey bought the business from his father-in-law, Randy Skinner, who founded Skinner Models some 30 years ago. The Skinner shop established a legacy in the model-building community, primarily creating one-of-a-kind re-creations. Skinner, also a commercial shrimper, has moved on to design trawl systems that minimize damage to the sea floor and reduce protected by-catch.
For 25 years, Aubrey was a land surveyor, construction engineer and construction superintendent, predominantly employed building bridges and highways. He also worked for Skinner building models for a couple of years before acquiring the company.
The scope of BTS extends beyond the marine industry to include the automotive and aviation industries and the architectural community. It also includes constructing 1:1 models of equipment for trade shows, projects that are driven by the cost savings and efficiency realized by handling light models of heavy equipment.
One of those models was a hybrid electric generator for BAE Systems, Aubrey said. It would have been costly and cumbersome for BAE to transport an actual 900-pound generator from trade show to trade show, then hire expensive staff to set it up on the show floor. The model weighs 27 pounds (127 pounds in its case). Two people can roll the model to the booth.
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