Merlo E-worker Telehandler

This Telehandler was a commission project celebrating the 40th year anniversary of Merlo England.

Merlo is an Italian company that produces Telehandlers. End 2021 an acquaintance had received a request from Merlo to create a brick built Telehandler for which he contacted me. At the time it was unclear which type of telehandler and which scale the model should be. After several discussions Merlo finally settled on a medium to large size scale of their new electric model, the E-worker. Initially we agreed that the model would be produced in a limited quantity as a gift for Merlo’s clients in the UK, but during the development time the founder of the Merlo company sadly passed away, and it became unclear if the sets would still be produced and if I would receive a copy as well. Despite this, I had developed the model with reproduction in mind.

This was one of the rare occasions that I decided to design the model virtual, considering the limited availability of lime coloured pieces, which is easier to check digitally. Furthermore, I do not have all parts available at home and I had to deliver a digital file of the model anyway, so it made much more sense to design the model on a computer. What I, however, underestimated was the functions. It was requested that the model would be as authentic as possible with the functions as well, and a telehandler is a highly technical product with many functions in a very compact space. It made me spent way more time on this model than I anticipated and in the end there are still minor issues which I could probably have identified in a physical build. So lesson learned: never put your trust in a design that you only created digitally, in particular when it comes to bigger, more complex models.

Despite the minor issues it seems that Merlo was very pleased with the result, and I even managed to get my own copy in the end more than 2 years later.