"We worked from actual CAD drawings of the plant components," explained Paul Shelton, Astec's Director of Advertising. "We hand-selected a small group of craftsmen from our shop, and they constructed the models piece by piece, just like full-size plants."

Construction on the plants, or the "Possum Project" as Mr. Shelton dubbed it, began in 2003 at Astec's Chattanooga, Tennessee facility. "It's not just the novelty of the project that inspired us," Mr. Shelton continued. "This is the first time we've been able to take entire plants complete with tank farms to a tradeshow. Every detail that customers will find on a full-size plant can be found here -- down to the knobs on the control house doors."