A mini PC 490 with Giorgetti colors

David Odendahl paid a nice tribute to Felix Giorgetti by reproducing a 1/14th scale Komatsu PC 490 hydraulic excavator in our company's colors. A model of 20 kilos all the same... 

David Odendahl, almost 40 years old, from Luxembourg, has been passionate about model making since he was very young. Since I was 11 years old," he says. I've made cars, trucks... and now excavators." For this industrial operator's other passion is construction equipment, hydraulic excavators in particular. "It would have been my dream to be able to work for a company like Felix Giorgetti!"

The enthusiast then combined his two passions by building replica excavator models. A friend who runs the "Construction Equipment Luxembourg" page on Facebook posted a photo of a PC 490 in the colors of Félix Giorgetti. I thought to myself, 'That's original! It's a model that is not very well represented in model making". So the challenge was there. At the Bauma in Munich in 2019, the world's largest construction trade fair, he ordered a Komatsu 499-11 model and fitted it with a demolition arm. Then he went to one of our construction sites to take inspiration from the real model and photograph it from every angle. Two years of meticulous assembly followed in his spare time.

 

"The base of the machine is made of steel and weighs 15 kg on its own to ensure stability during maneuvers. The cylinders are made of brass, the track - custom-made in Germany - is made of stainless steel, as are the valves. Some parts are made of plastic and others were 3D printed. For the paint, I found the reference of Giorgetti yellow and blue, and I asked Paul and Marc Giorgetti for their permission to use the logo," he says.

In addition, there are four electric motors, two for the tracks, one for the block rotation and one for the hydraulic pump. "The cylinders have been tested to 40 bar. The excavator works like a real one except it doesn't make any noise!"

Felix Giorgetti has two real PC 490s, one of which is being used on the Raemerich bypass in the south of the country. With its almost 50 tons, 3.6m height, 11m length and 367 horsepower, it combines power, precision and efficiency. With a single shovelful, the machine can carry up to 3.5 tons of soil.

An ideal ally for large-scale earthworks. In Raemerich, for example, 400,000m³ of material will be excavated to build the new 1.7km section connecting Esch-sur-Alzette to Audun-le-Tiche. This is also where the two models met...