Creating a Schuco model

For some it is an emotional journey back into childhood. For others it is a matter of aesthetics and perfection. Some would give the shirt off their backs for it: Schuco model vehicles. Yet how are these life-like toys created?

There is a place in Germany where Christmas is celebrated several times a year: at Fürth-based toy and model maker Schuco. That´s because it´s always "Christmas morning" at the tradition-rich firm when many months of painstaking work climax in the delivery of the first production models of a new series. "For unusual vehicles like the 1:18 fire engine with the turntable ladder, based on the 1968 original, there´s a rush toward my office. Everybody wants to see and touch the new addition," Michael Baumgärtner says. The 39-year-old directs product development at Schuco. He accompanies the miniatures from the decision that "this series is going to be developed" to the moment when the finished vehicle is ceremoniously unpacked for the first time 

Some 40 new models see the light of the toy world here every year. Cars and utility vehicles based on historical or current prototypes vary in size from matchbook or cigarette pack dimensions (1:87 to 1:43 scale) to stately 1:18 models like the fire engine. "The 1:18 and 1:12 scales are considered the royal classes of model construction art because there´s so much life-like detail," Baumgärtner says. The initial production run includes around 3,000 units, with later limited editions variants running only 1,000 to 1,500 units. the more attractive for the collector. For current miniatures, fabricated at the behest of almost all important automobile makers, the production runs can even reach five-digit unit counts. The most recent example is the Audi R8. Schuco fans will have to be very patient on that model, though: "From idea to store shelf takes at least nine months, sometimes as many as twelve," Michael Baumgärtner explains.

Maximum Secrecy
Companies like Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, or VW aren´t interested in waiting. They want their model cars already in the glass display cases in the showrooms when a new model is premiered. This means that Baumgärtner is guardian of a secret treasure: the highly secret CAD (Computer Aided Design) data and photos for the freshly developed 2008 and 2009 models.