Miguel Sánchez
The world of miniatures is one of the great passions derived from motorsports. In this way, guarding a certain scale model is a constant reminder of the real vehicle. Recalling his exploits and technological advances from the shelf of our desk. However, along with the static modeling there is also the dynamism of the slot. A specialty that attracts a multitude of fans, giving the models the courage to move around tracks and models that often faithfully recreate the atmosphere of the old races.
Just the context for which Velasor's creations were born. Endowed with an exquisite detail combined with the research carried out to faithfully reproduce some of the most significant competition models from the time before the Second World War. So things, after having started in 2017 this artisan workshop located in Barcelona has already recreated three iconic models for classic motorsports with a luxury of details that does not fail to impress. That yes, always after a careful selection process where finding an unexpected vehicle and endowed with an interesting history in competition prevails.
In this way, the process begins by documenting the time in books that serve the choice of work. After this comes a wide and detective trance in which to search for plans, photos, files and even direct contact with relatives of engineers or pilots. Something that adds charm to the models of candlestick. Well in its gestation it has always been possible to find descendants or characters that had a lot to do with the history of each design. In fact, in the case of the Sascha they reached the grandson of its designer, Ferdinand Porsche. And in the Bugatti they achieved the original plans preserved by the Bugatti Trust.
CUTTING EDGE CRAFTSMANSHIP
As soon as we saw the first photographs that Sergio Calleja showed us of the Bugatti T13, we fell in love with these slot models. Not only made with extreme precision in the recurring 1/32 scale, but also fully playable with moving parts, reproduced engines and even moving springs. all of it through about 250 pieces in each model, being able to have some of them little more than a millimeter thick. In this way, the artisan assembly in the workshop is a highly precise job where the Velasor team works with precision instruments, lathes and milling machines.
However, the assembly process is only possible after the design of the parts. Phase in which all the capacity for innovation deposited in Velasor is shown, because before reaching the modeling in resin, brass, wood or any other material as appropriate to the piece, many 3D drawings are made. If to this is added a careful study of the car that ends up in the book accompanying all the slot units, the result is one of the finest products that we have seen today in relation to miniatures and, surely, the more elaborate in terms of slot.
AN ERA OF MOTORING PIONEERS
Beyond its manufacturing process, what most caught our attention about Velasor was the taste shown when choosing the models. For now only three given the enormous workload assumed by each one of them, but really attractive to be models as referential as unexpected. And it is that in the slot world it is more or less easy to find reproductions of legends of Group B or Le Mans, much more than everything related to pioneering motorsports.
That in which the first Targa-Florio and Mille Miglia marked the course of sports car racing, with models created by and for racing. In this way, strongly draws attention Austro-Daimler Sascha from 1922. Velasor's first creation. Thus celebrating this Ferdinand Porsche design where agility, low weight and an engine as small as it was happy in turns stood out against the sizes and large displacements of the time. Undoubtedly one of the most innovative and intelligent sports models of all time.
After this came the second creation in the form of the Peugeot L45 and its characteristic sharp rear and the third with the Bugatti T13, of which four units won the first places in the 1921 Italian GP in Brescia. One of the most remembered team feats in pre-war motorsports, leading to these models being known by the name of that circuit. Also, not counting the detail put into the vehicles, Velasor is distinguished by even making models of the pilots. Perfectly equipped with the clothes and tools of the time to further strengthen the reliability of their miniatures. All in all, just what we thought from the start. A marvel.
Photographs: Sergio Calleja / Velasor
