A ward of many talents
FERNDALE – George Veltchev has been bringing the visions of architects to life for the past 30 years.
Ward 104 councillor Mike Wood has highlighted some of the hidden business gems in his ward.
According to Wood, there are many different, interesting businesses that many may not know about. “Since starting as a ward councillor in 2011, I have discovered so many people doing extraordinary things for both business and community projects,” said Wood.
One such business is that of George Veltchev who has been bringing the visions of architects to life for the past 30 years. He owns a family business of architectural model building called Model99 at 361 Vale Avenue in Ferndale.
Veltchev has been building intricate models of new, exciting and well-known Randburg landmarks since 1992, but mastered his skills in his native Bulgaria years before.
One of his biggest inspirations was his father, who was a three-time world champion model shipbuilder over 30 years ago.
He said, “Model building is something that we have had a passion for in our family for decades, and we can definitely call this a family business.
“These models are expensive and there is a lot of intricate and delicate work that goes into them to produce something of such high quality.”
He said that one of the most difficult parts of the job is transferring the fine details of the architectural design into the elements produced in the architect’s vision. “All designs come to us in a digital format, and these need to be made into a language that can be read by our CNC machine to craft every small part to scale.”
Finer details, such as foliage, are all crafted by hand.
Veltchev also commented on youngsters who may wish to hone their passions for design and architecture and follow in a similar field. “I personally did not have much background in architectural model building, and I actually did not know where to start. But we are lucky that, in the age that we live in, there are so many universities, colleges and training facilities where youngsters can learn these skills.
“We have had many youngsters that have come to us to learn their skills in a simple and practical way.”
Wood added, “We have so many different and existing business that people have never heard or even thought of before and, in my engagement with our community, I have found that there are so many. We really are a ward of many talents.
Details: www.model99.co.za
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