Welcome on board: that was my start at Revell in October 1990. On the left Ulli Taubert, then head of the product development department and responsible for everything to do with car and die-cast models. Next to him Volker Vahle, who handled everything to do with packaging, ships and aircraft. At that time there were no military vehicles such as tanks and trucks in the Revell range. My job was to develop trucks, heavy trucks and fire engines, and that field was exactly my thing. Unfortunately my time at the company in Bünde ended as early as 1995. The parent company in the USA felt that the "bloated head office" in Germany was too big and cost too much money, so 37 employees were laid off, and I was one of them. I no longer worked at Revell, but I still worked for Revell, because I had turned my job as a product developer into a freelance business. And so the development of impressive models continued after 1995.
Scale models by Klaus Lassen
Revell
Klaus Lassen's time as a product developer at Revell from 1990, and his work as a freelancer for the Bünde company afterwards.
15 photosOn the Road for Revell
Photo trips for model development: Ferrari 250 GTO, Audi TT, Isetta, Mack trucks and US fire stations.
11 photosBMW 507
The BMW 507 by Count Goertz: my hand-built exhibit for the toy fair and a visit to its designer in Brunkensen.
11 photosBMW 850i
My prototype of the BMW 850i for the toy fair and the cover of the 1990 Revell catalogue.
13 photosVW Beetle
The VW Beetle in 1:16 was the last car model I built for Revell, a hand-built sample for the Nuremberg toy fair.
26 photosBüssing 8000
How I developed the Büssing 8000 in 1:24 scale for Revell, from tracking down original parts to the final approval of the model.
30 photosKrupp Titan SWL 80
Developing Revell's Krupp Titan SWL 80 vintage truck, from the chassis in Oberhausen to the tooling in Hong Kong.
8 photosMAN Racing Truck
Gerd Körber’s Phoenix-MAN: measuring on site, the hand-built sample for the toy fair and approval of the first shots at Heljan.
8 photosHanomag Trailer
How the Revell 1:24 Hanomag trailer for the Büssing 8000 came about, from measuring the original to the tooling in China.
5 photosBeall Tank Trailer
How I found a suitable Beall tank trailer for Revell's American tractors in California in March 2000.
4 photosBox Trailer
From the Revell Kenworth W900, the box trailer led to further rigs, from the Thurn und Taxis truck to the road train.
12 photosBill Signs Trucking
How I measured Bill Signs Trucking's Peterbilt 359 in California in March 2000 for Revell, and what came of it.
2 photosDump Trucks
Two conversions of the Kenworth W900 into dump trucks: Truckweld aluminium body and an Australian version with bull bar.
9 photosPeterbilt 379 Wrecker
How a calendar photo became a 1:25 Revell kit: developing the Peterbilt 379 wrecker from Stepp's Towing.
14 photosKenworth W900 Wrecker
Developing the Revell Kenworth W900 Wrecker from Fred Viohl’s truck: measuring in the USA, drawing, hand-built sample and instructions.
17 photosPeterbilt 359 Fire Truck
My scratch-built 1985 Peterbilt 359 fire truck, which Revell bought from me and released as a kit.
3 photosTLF 24-50
For Revell and Heljan I made the parts for the TLF 24/50 tanker fire engine, modelled on the Nottuln fire brigade's vehicle.
7 photosLF 16
My 1987 model build: an LF 16 on a Mercedes-Benz 1017 of the Hagen fire department in 1:24 scale.
9 photosGFLF Simba
Revell's 1:24 kit of the Frankfurt Airport fire giant Simba from 1988 and my build report in Modell Magazin.