Gakken Strandbeest (no scale)

In 2008, I attended an open house by Dutch artist Theo Jansen, who builds 'Strandbeesten' (beach beasts) that roam the beaches on wind power. In 2012 I found a model of one, and of course bought and built it.

Gakken model

In 2012 I learned about this Gakken model, and I found the model for little money online, and bought two, one for a friend. Total cost including shipping was 22 euros.

I made no photos during construction, so here's the finished model. I remember putting extra work in the crankshaft, that was pretty rough with sharp mould lines, and may have prevented smooth operation. No paint was used since the plastic color was close that of the PVC piping used for the real Strandbeesten.

The fan blades were originally attached with narrow strips of double-sided tape. That held for a few years, but eventually all blades fell off. I reattached them with CA glue. That holds well despite the slippery plastic used for the blades.

It walks perfectly and easily when you blow the fan. Good engineering by Gakken!

Open house, March 2008

This was the largest Strandbeest present, guessing 8-10 meters long and 3 meters tall. It looks a lot like the model on the kit box, that is a bit misleading.

Theo Janssen later demonstrated this Strandbeest. It used the plastic bottles to store energy to operate, lacking the usual winds at the beach. I think there a compressed-air line in the sand. There was plenty of time for chatting with Theo Janssen. I remember that, when asked what was his most fun project, he told about a UFO that he once flew over Delft at night. If I remember correctly, he explained that it consisted of two large hoops of PVC tubing, that clamped two sheets of plastic together. The space between the sheets was filled with helium or hydrogen, creating a sort of flying disc. It was fitted with blinking lights, and he flew it on a cable over the city.

Also present was a simple, small Strandbeest, for playing with. I tried it, and was amazed how little force it took to make it walk. Impressive engineering!

Workshop & playground

In this February 2008 Google Earth Pro photo, you can see his workshop and testing ground, on a noise barrier east of the A13 highway near Delft, my home town. Coordinates are 52°2'13.80"N 4°21'14.93"E. He left old and broken Strandbeesten scattered around, to 'die' there, as if they were dinosaurs. Judging from Google Earth Pro, the site was evacuated in 2012.

Here's a photo I made just a month later, showing the shed and a large Strandbeest.

Here's one of the decaying Strandbeesten, photographed during the open house.

I'm pretty sure that Janssen moved to a better workshop soon after. But to my surprise, I noted that by 2018, the Standbeesten had returned to the site, now listed as 'Strandbeest Playground' on Google Earth. This April 2025 Google Earth Pro photo shows a large number of them laying around.