Miniatur Wunderland Weekly Report

23.04.07 at 10:59 hrs

Weekly Report No 338, CW 16

There’s not a lot going on in the new Alps section but ...

...but you can see very well how far the foothills of the Bietschhorn spread out into the valley.

Further details have been installed: for example tunnel portals.

A very time-intensive task for Bobby is the installation of the vines.

Every single one has to be crafted and installed by hand

We also continued working on the motorway construction. We built a forward feed frame which is used in modern bridge building. Inside there is a shuttering formwork into which in reality concrete is filled.

. When the concrete legated the frame is pushed further on slide bearings by hydraulic jacks so that the next section can be made.

Here’s an odd place for a staging yard. It’s located directly under the passage to the underground part of the Matterhorn on the third floor. As we had nowhere else to put it we fixed it under the ceiling. From here the trains will be integrated via the train lift.

A new construction area. Here, where our construction supervisors had their offices, we are thoroughly cleaning up. That is the place where the future “Fantasy” section will be built.

Here the model makers can fool around and build everything they want. This also applies to the trains and all other moving objects.

Here’s the reason why we had some problems showing you new things this week. Since last week more and more colleagues have fallen ill with the spring flu and that’s why work came to complete halt in some areas. We hope our colleagues get well soon and are looking forward to seeing them back here next week so that we can show you new things again!

As the steering of the ships is still a hot topic here with us we would like to show you our new test hull which is made ready to start. At the moment we’re using the normal models that are already swimming on the ocean. With those we have the problem that it is not possible to add measuring devices as we would destroy sections of the ships. This hull designs are going to change that and will ease our work.

Speaking of ships: Last Friday the AIDA Diva was baptized here in Hamburg Harbour with a huge light and firework show. More than 250,000 people came to witness this spectacular event so we wanted to show you a few pictures. Thanks to Martin for providing the photos. :-)