MODEL BUILDING

All the models, railway lines and decorations are manufactured by Madurodam itself. A lot of work goes into readying a model to be installed in the miniature town. For example, it took two years and four months to complete the Amsterdam airport Schiphol.

Madurodam staff calculate the scaled down dimensions on the basis of architectural drawings. Moreover, detailed photographs are taken of the real building. The plastic is cut to the right shape and dimensions using a moulding cutter. Then the decorators and technicians finish the building. Because the models have to spend an average of 30 years outside they receive regular maintenance.

To show the Dutch street image as realistic as possible, a great attention is given to the surroundings of the scale models. Plants are an important part of that. Madurodam primarily uses small-leafed trees and shrubs and frequent pruning is the only way we can keep these trees down to sixty centimetres when they normally grow to be fifteen metres high. Some trees have been here since the miniature city was opened.