Fuerth, Germany - While the car industry is suffering a sharp decline, the model car industry appears unaffected by the downturn with collectors anxiously awaiting new products.

To keep up with developments, the model car manufacturers maintain close ties with car makers such as Mercedes and Opel.

Car makers themselves have a keen interest in seeing a model car of their new vehicle on the shelf and normally hand over secret construction plans under strict conditions.

"The model car makers in principle manufacture their products based on the same data that is used to assemble body panels and axles," says Daniel Stiegler, spokesman of the model car manufacturer Herpa.

The model car manufacturers are normally allowed to take a closer look at the prototypes early in the development process.

It is a little more difficult when it comes to building models of vintage and classic cars. "Research of the original documentation is difficult. Hundreds of photographs have to be taken and calculated down to the model size," says Udo Plichta, a developer at Schuco.

In order to simplify the production process, Schuco is now using a mobile laser scanner that compiles a 3D image of the vehicle.

Once all the data is ready it is scaled down to model size with the respective parts. A model car of say the VW Eos in a 1/87 scale consists of 20 parts. But the fire engine truck Schlingmann HLF 20/16 which Revell offers as a model kit with a 1/24 scale has exactly 257 parts.

It takes Revell about a year to measure and to develop the model kit. But at least the manufacturer does not need to worry about the assembly which is most of the fun.

Wiking & Co. has a much more complicated production process. According to Wiking manager, Andreas Kroeber, fluid plastic heated to a temperature of more than 200 degrees Celsius is pressed between two metal parts cut down exactly to one hundredth of a millimetre. The parts coming out of the machine are painted individually while the alloys and front grille are covered with metal foil. Racing car models bear the same sponsor stickers as the real thing.

In a painstaking procedure workers use a magnifying glass and tweezer to assemble the miniature models. Koerber explains that eight millimetre wheels are stuck to an axle as thick as a paper clip. Tiny seats are clipped into the interior along the miniscule headlights, windscreens, blinker lights and blue warning lights made from transparent plastic. At last, much like on a real production line in a car factory, the chassis and body are symbolically "married". (dpa)