Sonday the 14th of November - 2004 I were invited to an interview by the hauler Gustav Larsen & Son A/S, together with the haulage contractor her self, Mariann. The result of the interview was a nice article in the local newspaper Holbæk Amts Venstreblad, on monday the 15th of november - 2004.
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If you have a hard time understanding the danish article, I have made an english translation below.
You will never bee to old to play with LEGO
Since the childhood, Anders Gaasedal from Asnæs has used a lot of time for LEGO, and created several models out of his stock of about 45.000 bricks. The latest model is a realistic copy of the Mercedes his father is driving for the hauler Mariann Friis Larsen in Sandby
Anders already started to play with LEGO as a child, now he is 24, and still uses a lot of time for LEGO.
45.000 LEGO bricks are registrated in his collection by his parents on Esterhøjvej 28 in Asnæs. And that has resulted in a lot
of different models through the time.
In the beginning the collection included finished set from LEGO of, fire- police- and gasstations. But after a wish for a mobile
crane in 1986 which were changed to a Technic set, a brand new world of technique were opened by the LEGO.
Now the fantasy had more room, he created cars, trucks, and a huge mobile crane which was capable of reaching 14 meters. Some
years ago he also created a model of the ferry "Mette Mols" from "Molslinien", and a model of a fast ferry too, which was exposed
in the terminal of the company in Odden.
In his summer holiday this year, he started on the project of building af scale 1:13 of the Mercedes Benz truck with trailer which is
driven by his father Niels Nielsen since the 1st of june when he was hired as driver by the hauler Mariann Friis Larsen, at the company Gustav
Larsen & Son A/S in Sandby by Svinninge. Niels Nielsen do have around 25 years of experience as a driver, most of the years as bus and coachdriver, the last
10 years by DITOBUS in Holbæk. Every morning at 5 o'clock he enters the cabin of the 20 meters long truck with a 400 HP V6 engine, to
pickup straw from the farmers and haul it to the powerplants on Sealand and Lolland-Falster, together with two other
collegues in similar trucks.
I had reciently created my website on the internet, which mostly regarded mobile cranes, when I found out that it could be
interesting to try to create the strawtransporter, Anders Gaasedal saids. Normally Anders studies at the Technical
University of Denmark, to become a Master of Science in Engineering, in Lyngby where he also lives. Through the job of his father it was
possible to get more information about the strawtransporter. Several days of precisely meassurement and hundreds of digital photoes gives the
necessary background to create the model.
I have tried to create the model as close as possible to the original. A lot of the bricks I have used, are outdated and I had
to search the internet to find the rest of the approximately 4000 necessary pieces. Among the special parts are the 14 wheels which were
outdated in the last 1980ies, but in the end I found them. The chassis are completed with propeller shaft, engine below the drivers cabin, toolboxes and
even a coffee cup in the cabin. Only the tarpaulin for securing the straw is homemade by Anders Gaasedal, the rest is original LEGO.
He does not use drawings for the models, but create the chassis of the model in the right scale, and then the rest has to be fitted in as
close as possible to the original trucks.
Some LEGO builders uses drawings and 3D programs for creating the model before the real LEGO model, but it takes up a lot of time, he explains.
He started with the truck in August and used the holiday by his parents to complete the model. And around 150 hours of work was needed to create the
impressive result, which today is lend to the hauler Mariann Friis Larsen, where the model can be viewed at the office.
I relax when I create models out of LEGO, the engineering student tells us, who also have created a Container Crane at the university.
Anders Gaasedal is a member of a club in Denmark with around 50 other members who exchange ideas and experience with each other on the
internet and meetings.
And he has no intention to stop the LEGO building. In boxes at his parents place he have several thousand of bricks, carefully
sortet in small boxes, and even though he do not have a complete list of the bricks he do know pretty well how many bricks he have in stock.
He had probably inherited the interest of technique from his father, and if I will have some kids one day, I hope I can have fun building LEGO with
them, as my father and I had.
The model of the Mercedes Truck is not going to be disasseblied right now, although it is quite normal to disassembly the model
quite fast after they are made, to be able to create new models.
I am very pround that it is one of our 16 trucks, which now is made as an exact copy, and I am very glad to have it in my office
now, Mariann Friis Larsen saids, the company had a 50th anniversary the 1st of May. The hauler is among other hauling removal of refuse in Svinninge
municipality, but also NVE and KFK as regular customer, besides the strawtransport and transport of different goods.
The real strawtransport is worth around 1 million danish kroners.
On his website, www.gaasedal.dk , Anders Gaasedal has made a long description including a lot of pictures of the model.
Approximately 4000 LEGO bricks and around 150 hours of work has been used for the real copy of that strawtransporter Mercedes Benz 1840 4x2 med trailer, which the hauler Gustav Larsen & Son in Sandby by Svinning bought last year. The LEGO model in scale 1:13 can here be seen in front of the real truck.
Alle details are carried out on the model as realistic as possible with LEGO bricks. Even the coffee cup - besides the stearing wheel - is included.
Anders Gaasedal with the model, and his father Niels Nielsen in drivers cabin in the real Mercedes Benz strawtransporter.