The making of the anniversary scale model a miniature world that turned heads

During Tube Düsseldorf, the anniversary scale model on the Selmers stand attracted plenty of attention. The miniature world, filled with coating lines, ships, trucks, lighting and hidden details, sparked conversations among visitors throughout the exhibition. What people saw on the show floor was the result of months of building, testing, painting and improvising.

The idea for building scale models already existed within Selmers. Earlier, a smaller model had even been created internally as a farewell gift for a colleague. For their 60th anniversary year and Tube Dusseldorf exhibition, everything came together. Rob Schouten wanted to create a new model and Mariëtte Poldervaart developed the initial layout and floor plan, as well as the concept of building the miniature world in the shape of the Selmers logo. She also played an important role during the early design and scaling phases.

Ruben Kalkman, industrial designer at Selmers, became involved in the project early on. He was originally hired to work on the CTO project for the UV line. “I like working with my hands and I’m quite creative,” Ruben explains. “Once the design for the CTO line was finished, I basically rolled straight into the scale model project.”

Building, testing and scaling

What followed were a few months of designing, building and adjusting. The model brought together several Selmers processes, including UV, spoolbase, internal and external coating, factory automation and pipelines. The miniature world not only showcased the machines themselves, but also the environment around them: from transport and shipping to pipelines and field applications.

Machines were 3D printed, modified and then painted by hand. Working on scale turned out to be one of the biggest challenges. “You can’t just scale down a machine with the push of a button,” Ruben says. “Some parts became so small that they were almost impossible to print.”

The base of the model was built using wood, polystyrene foam, wall filler and epoxy resin for the water sections. A 1:87 scale was deliberately chosen so standard model-building components could be used. “That way you can simply walk into a hobby shop and buy trees that fit perfectly,” says Daan Kraetzer, mechanical engineer at Selmers.

Even so, most of the work remained highly manual. Foam was cut by hand, landscapes were built from scratch and details were painted one by one. “At one point Rob said: who gets to build a scale model as part of their job?” Ruben laughs.

All hands on deck

In the end, the challenge was not the building itself, but the planning. Ruben’s holiday had already been scheduled and because the project had expanded while he was still handling most of the work himself, the final weeks became a race against the clock. “When I said there was no way I could finish it on my own, three extra people suddenly joined within two days,” Ruben recalls.

Daan had already been asked earlier to help with the project, but due to other work he was only able to fully join during the final phase. Other colleagues who played an important role in building the model included Alex Schulein,  Marijn Vlaar and Richard Roelande. Alex was responsible for the lighting and several visual effects, bringing parts of the miniature world to life on the exhibition floor. There were even plans for a moving truck, but in the end the idea proved too fragile for transport and exhibition use.

While Ruben was away on holiday, Daan took the lead during the final phase of the project. In a short period of time, the last components were painted, finished and assembled to make sure everything was ready in time for Tube. “I’ve never asked so many people if they could paint,” Daan laughs.

A nerve-racking trip to Düsseldorf

Then came another challenge: transporting the entire construction safely to Germany. The model was packed inside a specially built wooden crate and completely surrounded by foam. “Imagine you see that trailer bouncing down the road and all you can think is: this is never going to end well,” Daan says.

In the end, the model arrived in Düsseldorf without any damage. Just to be safe, the exhibition team was sent off with a small goodie bag filled with glue and paint. “Luckily, they never had to use it,” Ruben says with a smile.

Bringing people together

The reactions at the exhibition made all the hard work worthwhile. “We heard that the model sparked many conversations,” Ruben says.

The scale model can now be admired at the Selmers office. And if you take a closer look, you’ll discover several hidden details and inside jokes that the makers deliberately added along the way. But what exactly are they? “You’ll have to find those yourself,” they laugh.