Silver Arrows Marine, in partnership with Mercedes-Benz Style, has been developing a unusual luxury motor yacht, the first Granturismo of the seas, which was recently given a special place in Italy's revered automotive coach-building industry.
The Silver Arrows Marine (SAM) Granturismo Concept 14m yacht is the first boat to be used as a subject for trainee model-makers at CEMI, the European Centre of Industrial Modelling.
SAM Communications Director Paolo Bonaveri stated, "From the perfect motor yacht these highly skilled young people have made the perfect model that from the perfect motor yacht, highly skilled young people made the perfect model. We have loved working with CEMI because it reinforces the links between luxury car and boat that are at the heart of the SAM project."
CEMI students have perfected their skills in past opportunities, in projects involving cars, motorcycles, and even an Egyptian chariot but the SAM experience was their first time working with a ship of any kind.
"This project was a unique experience for the students," said CEMI coordinator Costanzo Rinaudo. "It is important that they have experience of jobs outside the automotive world. Such collaborations have a great bearing on the craft and technology of model-making.
"Projects like this also allow students to interact directly with style centers and prototyping companies, such as Stola Engineering and GR Painting of Turin. We are greatly in debt to both companies for their invaluable support and all the practical experience they offered the students. It will be a big help for them as they start to find work in the industry."
CEMI (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) was set up in 1998 in the heart of the Italian coach building, Savigliano, just south of Turin. With backers such as Italian automotive design legend Giorgetto Giugiaro, CEMI has the mission of training unemployed young people into a new generation of model-makers in order to to meet the increasing demand from coach building firms and design centers.
It is the only school of its kind in the world and so students come from across the globe, including one from Korea who was part of the team involved in making the one-tenth scale model of the SAM Granturismo Concept. Today the center collaborates with companies that include Ferrari, Italdesign, Mercedes-Benz, Ducati, Pininfarina and Bertone.
The highly-skilled work relies on precision and dexterity with materials such as resin, clay and plaster to render the designer's work as accurately as possible in 3D form.
