This is an interesting thread. But the slipping effect doesn't depend on the size of the model.
SketchUp "zooms" in and out by moving the camera, so as you zoom in items close the the camera are lost because both the camera and the view clipping plane are move into the model and the items are now behind the camera.
You can zoom manually, my changing the field of view. What is needed here is a "Zoom to rectangle" tool which recalculates the field of view, rather than moving the camera, and, perhaps, also uses 2D perspective to move the center of the screen without moving the target point (rotation the camera). Then the new zoomed view would match the original view exactly - but everything would be larger.
Consider these three view of a model.
Zooomed out on the model - 35 degree field of view
zoom1.jpg
Zoomed in using the "Zoom Window" feature. field of view is still 35 degrees, but the camera was moved forward so the brick wall is no longer visible. (This may be the desired effect - but we are not really seeing the same scene, since all of the stone wall in the back is now visible - even the part that was previously blocked by the brick wall.)
zoom2-35.jpg
Zoomed in by using the field of view instead. The field of view is now 4 degrees and the brick wall is still visible. (We see the same scene and perspective as the first image - only larger.) This would be the effect of an optional "Zoom Window" tool which changed the field of view, rather than moving the camera.
zoom-3-4.jpg