The Twin Cities’ #avgeek community was abuzz in 2019 with photos posted to the local spotters’ page on Facebook of a massive model airport under construction that was faithful to the layout and proportions of MSP’s main terminal. We connected with the model builders to learn how the effort concluded and were rewarded with a treasure trove of photographs as well as a long email interview thread, which we’ve replicated here. Excerpts of this post are also printed in the June 2020 issue of REFLECTIONS.
REFLECTIONS: First, let’s hear where each of you came into aviation in general, what excited you about it and where did it take you?
Ben: Growing up I’ve always had a love for airplanes. Airplanes and I clicked right away. For some of my pre-10 year old birthday parties my parents would take a group of 5 or so of us kids to the airport to watch airplanes and walk around the terminals. We would also visit the observation deck located on the D concourse. Cyrus was at these birthday parties with me. He can attest that it was a much more relaxed time, when we could get into the airport without being a ticketed passenger. Our children if interested in airplanes, certainly will not be afforded the same high-quality airport Birthday parties as we were! Cyrus and I have known each other since we were quite young; since we were in our local cub scouts troop together. Maybe around 7 or 8 years old?? We grew up in the same neighborhood and always got together to play flight simulator and talk about airplanes. As we aged, we continued to share our love for aviation by spending countless hours at MSP taking photographs and listening to ATC on our handheld scanners. College separated us – Cyrus attended Embry Riddle in Arizona and I attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. We stayed close and got together as much as we could over the summers. We even visited each other’s college campus over long weekends a few times. Aviation has led me to becoming an air traffic controller. I work at the Flying Cloud Airport tower in Eden Prairie, MN. (Editor’s note: a paper airplane’s toss from the NWAHC Archive location!) I have a private pilot license that I got back at UND. I haven’t exercised that since probably 2007-08. I initially wanted to be an airline pilot, but decided to switch majors shortly into my tenure at UND. Regardless, Cyrus and I continued to stay close while both our careers progressed. It was on New Year’s Eve Dec 31, 2016 that we conceived the idea of making the MSP airport model. We knew we always wanted to make a model of MSP, but a mixture of good food and alcohol brought us to finally pull the trigger on the project. At first, we had no idea exactly what we were getting into but have absolutely no regrets about how amazing the experience was working on it over the 2.5 years it took.
Cyrus: Ever since I was a kid, I have lived and breathed aviation. My grandfather is a retired 747 pilot with Air India, and I had to opportunity to grow up listening to his stories about flying during the golden days of aviation. Becoming a pilot was something I had always known I wanted to do and was something I stuck with. When I was growing up, I volunteered at Polar Aviation museum in Anoka, before they closed. I also had the great opportunity of volunteering at Golden Wings museum right next door to the old Polar museum. I basically lived every aviation kids dream by becoming an airport bum at ANE. I also volunteered at many “Discover Aviation Days” air shows, which gave me some incredible opportunities of flying in many old warbirds. I also had the privilege of not only attending the Minneapolis Aviation Career Exploration Camp (ACE) but also becoming a counselor and camp director with Ben as well. I then left Minnesota and attended Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ. During my time at Embry Riddle, I volunteered on a board of directors for the Prescott Airshow, in which we put on 4 years of airshows, bringing in thousands of people to watch the shows. Ben and I were also very big into aviation photography and we took several spotting trips in college together. In 2007, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Science and more importantly my commercial pilot’s license. I got very lucky and a few months after graduating I was hired at Great Lakes Airlines flying Beech 1900s out of Denver and Minneapolis. I currently fly for Allegiant Air as an Airbus A320 Captain, and previously was a Captain on the MD-80 prior to their retirement in 2018.
REF: What is your connection to the Twin Cities and Northwest Airlines?
Ben: Other than having grown up in this area my whole life and being fortunate enough to have been able to settle down here after college and getting married, I don’t have a personal connection to MSP or NWA other than my “personal connection.” Since I was young I’ve kept up on everything happening with MSP airport and the airlines like most people keep up with the daily news. I was always interested in changes coming, new airlines starting up, construction projects to the terminals, and whatever else. If big changes were coming to MSP I would know about it and join in on the gossip, whether in online forums or discussing with Cyrus and other aviation buddies. I feel that having grown up here (and at the airport) I know it like the back of my hand. When I find downtime, I still find myself driving to the airport and sitting at the new viewing area over by the cargo ramps and watching airplanes.
Cyrus: Growing up in the Twin Cities and spending a good chunk of my time at the airport, I saw more red tails then I can count. I had close connections in the aviation community growing up here. Not only did I do a lot of work with the ACE camp, I also pioneered a summer internship program with the FAA at the Minneapolis Air traffic control tower. A program that Ben himself would later attend as well. I also remember growing up we had a good family friend that worked for Northwest. On a few occasions he was able to get me into the NATCO building and into a few simulators to practice my flying skills. A dream come true for me at that age.
REF: Had you been collecting models individually? What were some of your favorites? Always 1:400 or have you picked up other scales, too?
Ben: I can speak for both Cyrus and I on this one. WE ARE HUGE MODEL COLLECTORS! Cyrus and I both collect models, individually, but share the passion together. We have both been collecting models since we were kids, since the Wooster and Schabak model era. Personally, I collect all sizes: 1/400, 1/200, 1/100, and I also collect TONS of aviation memorabilia. I have so much NWA stuff, my wife just shrugs every time something new arrives in a box on the front porch. I would estimate I own somewhere around 300 model airplanes and growing (that aren’t part of the MSP airport model). I try to collect models that are rarer. Just recently I added the first release United 777-200 Gemini Jets (1/200) in the Battleship Gray to my collection. A rare and hard to find model these days. I don’t even want to think about how much money I’ve spent, but I like to use the term “invest” on all the stuff I have. Cyrus and I even travelled by car to Chicago last summer before the MSP model party to purchase a large NWA gate sign and other NWA memorabilia from a guy who had a garage full of stuff. I have beverage carts, airport signs, posters, glassware, baggage tags, clothing, even NWA golf balls and towels – pretty much if you can think of it I might have it!
Cyrus: You might be able to see a theme here by now. I have been collecting models since I was a kid as well, something even my parents embraced. When they would travel, or for birthdays they would routinely get models for me. I wish I could tell you how many I have, but if I had to guess, I would say I have 500+ models. Sizes range from small 1/500 scale, to some of my largest ones in 1/50 scale models. I too enjoy looking for rare models as well as models of planes I have either personally flown on or have flown myself. One of my holy grail models I found recently was a 1/200 scale model of an Allegiant MD-80 in our old colors on a tail number I had flown several times. My wife also sweetly gifted me a custom made 1/100 scale MD-80 in memory of my last flight on the MD-80, a flight she was able to fly with me as well.
REF: How did the idea to model the entire Lindbergh Terminal come about? Did this evolve from doing just one concourse or was it conceived as a full-blown enterprise? Why the 2000s-era setting?
Ben: After the idea to make the model launched, we started ironing out specifics. The very first decision we made was that we knew we wanted to recreate the 2003-2004 timeline when NWA was the primary carrier still serving MSP. We wanted that timeframe specifically because it was the time we were just getting out of high school and into college and a time we have our fondest memories of doing airport photography, spotting, and just spending time hanging out at MSP together. Also, NWA was a big part of our life growing up as kids and into our teens, so we wanted to keep that timeframe alive as to how we remember MSP. The sounds of the DC-9s, 727s, DC-10s, roaring around wearing that hot bowling shoe livery resurrected a lot of memories for us. After we decided the timeframe we really wanted to try and incorporate as much of the airport as we could without taking over my entire basement to construct it. We spent a lot of time using satellite images to basically figure everything to a 1/400 scale. It was way more complicated than I will take time to explain in a short answer, but, we basically figured out that roughly 200’ on a satellite map (the runway width of 30L)… would work out to about 6” on a 1/400 scale model, so sizing that, we were able to make an 8’ wide by 13’ long box to construct what consists of the Lindbergh terminal and the parallel runways. The runway was our starting point to scale the rest of the model against. We then were able to use aerial photos that we had taken while flying over MSP in a Cessna. It then took a lot, I mean a lot of photoshopping (6 months total) to create the tarmac and runways on the model. I refer to them as foils, which are basically 8×10 matte photos all glued together. All together it was about 200 prints glued down. I know that sounds complex, and it took a lot of time, probably the hardest part of the whole project, but it worked out really well and looks so much better than using a generic Gemini Jets airport mat.
REF: And when did you get started? How many hours have you put in on the project?
Ben: The span of the project was just over 2.5 years. Some weeks more work got done on the model than others. Summers slowed progress as there were summer vacations and cabin time to make sure got fit into life! It was fairly soon after we came up with the idea, we went with it. We made a firm promise to each other we would get going right away so that it wasn’t another idea we had floating around that never came to fruition. It was early to mid-January 2017 that we got started. Initially things started out very slow. “How the hell do we do this, how the heck would we make that?” Lots and lots of planning. It was kind of an “OK, what the hell did we just get ourselves into” kind of juncture! Nonetheless, it didn’t seem to slow our ambition down even though I was busy with work, family, etc, and most importantly trying to determine how I was going to casually inform, not ask my wife that a scale model of MSP airport was going to take up 1/3 of her unfinished basement. Cyrus was busy flying MD-80s for Allegiant all over the country, but somehow, we found time to have long phone calls, nights texting away ideas, and when we could find time, because of Cyrus’s ability as a pilot to nonrev, he’d fly home and we got together in person for a few days at a time. It started as a 13’ long by 8’ wide 2×4 frame box with a plywood top. So, from there we had a starting point, but still a million unanswered questions on how to do things.
Cyrus: To add to this, I was all over the country in a newly created virtual base with Allegiant. Which meant I was in a new city every month, living out of hotels. When I couldn’t physically be working on the model, my main job would be scouring the internet looking for models to go with our project. We had a goal of creating it as realistic as possible, which meant lots of models to give it a busy feel. I think we have over 150 1/400 scale models for our airport, including some rare and very hard to find models. Funny enough, some of the toughest ones to find were the Mesaba Saab 340s and Northwest airlink CRJs. They are tiny but packed a big price tag in the used market.
REF: Outside of the jet bridges, pretty much everything is scratch-built: no Gemini prefab terminal sections to be found. What kind of effort goes into designing and constructing a set of gates? How much ground equipment do you have on the set?
Ben: Man, how do I explain 2.5 years of yes, “scratch work” without writing a small book? The only things we used that was pre-made and purchased were all the jet bridges, the ground service equipment (GSE), and obviously all the model airplanes. Everything else was constructed by me and Cyrus and a master modeler named Dave Southam, who actually lives outside London. Long, long, long story short on that –
Cyrus met Dave through a friend and they started talking. Cyrus learned that Dave was a model builder himself, who also enjoyed building scale airports. It didn’t take long before Dave expressed interest to jump into the project with us and take on assisting with the construction of the buildings and terminals. Dave had never undertaken a project of this size and scope before, but jumped at the challenge. After countless texts, emails, phone conversations, pictures of initial design ideas, you name it, providing Dave with instructions, dimensions, color palettes, etc…..Dave constructed everything perfectly at his home in the U.K., and shipped all final products over to us. It was a MASSIVE UNDERTAKING AND MASSIVE FEAT. We would never have been able to accomplish this without Dave, just no way. What’s funny is that to this day neither Cyrus or myself has met Dave in person.
In a previous question above I talked about the foils, which were all the 8×10 matte prints that were glued down to make the runways and tarmac. The foils also gave us the scale we needed to get dimensions for the terminal buildings, roadways and whatever else we needed to construct. The foils are a major part of the model, but they served as a “template canvas” for everything. The rest of the decorative work on the model was completed similar to how master train modelers construct roadways, landscape, scenery, grass and ground effect, etc.
Cyrus: I can say without a doubt Dave made our model the way it is today. His craftmanship on our buildings is phenomenal and to think a lot of our buildings were done just based on measurements and Dave looking at pictures of the buildings. It wasn’t until later on in the project that we started sending templates for Dave to follow, which helped tremendously in creating the more complicated buildings. One other thing to consider is the time difference between the UK and us meant we had a small window of opportunity to discuss business and finalize ideas. It was a major undertaking to say the least.
As for our ground equipment, most of our ground service equipment (GSE) is a combination of custom made GSE equipment from Shapeways as well as Gemini Jets 1/400 GSE equipment. We then hand painted each and every piece to correlate with the associated airlines they would be representing at the gates on the model. As to how many we have, it must be over 500 pieces in total, and that’s a rough guess. That is in addition to our 117 Gemini Jet bridges, many of which were hand painted as well.
REF: How have you set up the wiring to power the lighting? Are there access hatches or some other means of working from the center of the structure? Is it designed to be disassembled in modules and reconnected off-site?
Ben: The lighting, oh the lighting. I cringe a little having to think about it! I’m sure Cyrus agrees 🙂 – Yes, there are two doors on the side of the model to access the underneath / inside. Lighting was a massive undertaking, and some parts got so complex I had to rely on assistance from my dad who was an electrical engineer for 35 years. In the end it makes all the difference. The model was going to require a TON of outlets. Being that my basement is unfinished I decided to dedicate an entire 20amp breaker to the model. This would allow me to run as much power as I wanted underneath. We installed a dozen or so outlets inside the frame for all the power we would end up needing.
All the runway and taxiway lights are fiber optic. These lights took a lot of time to install as each one had to be pre drilled with a tiny drill bit, shoved through the hole, glued in place, and cut to length. Each 4’ x4’ section of the model contains two fiber optic light motors, one for the taxiway blue, and one for the runway white. This way, since the model is made to be disassembled, in theory we shouldn’t have to break any lights.
All the terminal and roadway lighting took a lot more creativity. We tried multiple different types of lights and different ways to wire them before I was sold on an idea. It was tough. How does one power up hundreds of little 3V lights with wires the diameter of fishing line? After tons of experimenting it came down to installing buss bars and using specialty sized screws and nuts to attach the wires. These were installed by drilling a tiny hole and connecting them to buss bars glued underneath, and then powered in parallel to 3 adjustable DC voltage power supplies. This way we could control the brightness and the amount of voltage to the lights so that they wouldn’t burn out or short the circuit. The mini street lights took months and months to install. We could only do so many at a time because the working quarters were so tight, and it strained your neck pretty good after a few hours.
The terminal buildings and parking ramps are lit with led strip lighting. They are glued into the top of each structure and then the power supply goes underneath to be plugged in.
The lighting was a major part of the project but made having the effect a night and day difference, literally.
Cyrus: Oh the lights, they were a giant pain, but in the end, I feel it took our project to the next level. Dave from the UK was the one who gave us the idea to light up the model, and we took it to the next level with the fiber optics. I can say that Bens attention to detail is what allowed us to make the fiber optics work in a structured, organized way. The amount of wires and cables under the model is amazing in its own way. One nice thing about the fiber optics was that you could cut the cables down to length, which made the gluing process a lot easier and once it dried, you could clip them down to “taxi light length.”
REF: What kind of community exists to support fellow modelers? For instance, trustworthy 3-D modelers or GSE sources? Shops you’ve relied on? I think about how massive the model-train community is: they fill up the Education Building at the MN State Fair twice per year and the St. Paul Union Depot on Train Day – and this is just one city. Yet there are far more people involved in aviation nowadays than railroading.
Ben: There are tons of aviation model builders. One of the fanciest ever ones that exists is in Germany: https://youtu.be/X9IlPDOar7E
All the airplanes taxi and takeoff. This model cost millions and millions to construct and is just overall insane. Although the MSP model is incredibly awesome, it’s nearly impossible to beat projects with millions of dollars involved.
A lot of amateur Modelers collect 1/400 and 1/200 models and make small versions of airports using pre-made Gemini Jets terminals and mats. I don’t think aviation modeling is nearly as large as the train model folks, but it’s definitely something that is on the rise. My dad was a big train model guy and did a lot with that when I was growing up. I gained a lot of experience helping him by doing model landscaping and such as a kid, and it played into skills I put toward the MSP model! I personally don’t know anybody else that has made a model airport, especially one the size and scope of our MSP model.
We used a lot of 3D printed GSE from Shapeways.com and Gemini Jets. Shapeways can print just about anything in 3D and scale it to any size desired. We spent tons of money at Shapeways, everything from baggage carts to rooftop AC units and pipes. We feel everything was worth it for the final outcome.
Cyrus: I think aviation modeling is actually growing a lot. There are several Facebook groups dedicated to airport model building and they seem to be very active with users posting pictures of their own creations. While few are the size of ours, its nice to see people create their own versions of airports. Some are modeled off their own hometown airport (like us) some are their own creation, and a few are even modeled off historical times, with Pan Am and TWA and such. The sky really is the limit when it comes to creating your own model airport.
Talking about shops, one person I would like to give a shout out to is Donald Gardner, with DGPilot. He provided us with a large shipment of Gemini GSE, as well as a number of models for our project.
REF: When do you think the project will be completed, and then what do you want to do with it?
Ben: Last summer on August 17, 2019 Cyrus and I hosted the MSP Model Party Open House. We set the date about a year in advance to ensure that we stayed on track and didn’t detour from the project and let it slip away from never being finished. Since we had the date for the party set, we were locked in to make sure it went on as scheduled. We hosted roughly 100 people. Family, friends, co-workers, people from MAC, air traffic controllers, and pilots, all joined in on celebrating what Cyrus and I called a “complete enough” model.
Friends flew in from the east and west coasts to come to see the model! We hosted two mini bars on beverage carts, food, NWA related games, trivia, MSP airport video, and much more. It was a 12-hour open house that left many (not to toot our own horn) leaving very impressed. Cyrus and I both took nearly two weeks off work prior to the open house. This was to wrap up any remaining work on the model itself, but also to coordinate putting together the massive open house. We spent a lot of money to host food and drinks for 100 people, but it was a fantastic party. It’s a good thing we did the party last summer, because we may have had to cancel this year due to COVID.
Of course, Cyrus and I both feel that the model may never feel done to us – we could always add more details or make something a little better. As for the future we don’t really know. The model was constructed to be disassembled, moved to be stored, or reassembled somewhere else. Reassembling it would require some touch up work and minor repairs but would be possible. Disassembly and reassembly would probably take upwards of 2-3 weeks to ensure it is slowly and carefully broken down, and then reassembled in a similar manner. I’m sure a few things would get broken or lost but would be able to be repaired. Some scenery touch up would be required at the “breaks” in the sections of plywood.
Cyrus: I think for Ben and I the model will always be 95% complete. Just the other day we joked about adding 17/35 and terminal 2 while we were sitting here during the covid crisis. As Ben mentioned, we know there is always small details to add and it just depends on how much more we want to do with it over the years. The fact that the model does break apart, means we can keep it safe for the long term and always come back to it years down the road. Both Ben and I recently had children, so I think it’s safe to say our time will be consumed with our families for the foreseeable future.
REF: Thanks, Ben and Cyrus! We hope someday to pay a visit to this magnificent creation in person, once the virus has subsided. In the meantime, readers, take a tour of the project as it stands today:
