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| The box.
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| Chunky tyres
with detailed plastic wheel hubs. |
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| Simple
underneath. |
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| Radiator at the
rear is plastic. |
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| Very nice hoses
across the pivot point. |
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| Insides of the
wheel hubs are flat.
|
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 Comment on this model.
The original Clark Equipment Company of Illinois was
founded in 1916, and in 1954 it entered the wheel loader
market under the Michigan name. It continued to
sell wheel loaders under the Clark name until its full
acquisition by Volvo in 1995.
The 475B machine was manufactured during the 1970s and
it had a bucket capacity of 10 to 22 cubic yards (7.7 -
16.8m³). It had a weight in the 70 tonne class.
Packaging
The packaging is simple with an outer
cardboard box containing a pair of expanded polystyrene
trays. The review model had a detached work light
which was found in the box and re-attached.
The box cover includes a dimensioned graphic of the real
475B which is a nice touch. The only assembly
required is to fit two access ladders at the rear.
They are very loose fitting however and easily
dislodged.
Detail
The detail underneath is relatively simple with plain
plastic base plates and there is no transmission detail
other than basic differentials. The rubber tyres
are soft with a tread pattern and the wheels are
plastic. The outside hubs are finely detailed but
the inside are plain discs which does not look right but
they will be rarely seen.
The engine compartment has the Clark name nicely
rendered in relief and painted, and the panel doors are
indicated within the casting. The exhaust pipes
are plastic and lack holes so they are not high quality.
The handrails are soft plastic with a reasonable colour
match and there are two clip-on ladders. The
radiator grille at the back is plastic and not the best,
but the Michigan name is nicely cast in relief above it.
Most of the operator's cab is plastic with only the part
below the windscreen in metal. The plastic does
allow some finer detailing of the cab structure.
Detail inside is reasonable. There are plastic
work lights but they are solid black plastic with no
detail, and there is no windscreen wiper. Around the cab the handrails and ladders
are plastic, and the anti-slip walkways are denoted by
black graphics.
Under the cab there are thin hydraulic hoses which cross
the pivot point and they add welcome detail as does the
universal joint for the drive shaft to the front axle.
At the front the double plate boom design is modelled
well and the hydraulic rams look good even though there
are no hydraulic hoses. The connection rivets are
painted and discrete, so the model looks good.
The bucket is a good metal casting with reasonable teeth
and a bar along the top adds to the appearance.
Features
The wheels roll freely and they are fixed to their
common axles.
The rear axle has a good range of oscillatory movement.
Steering across the pivot point is very good with
adequate stiffness and a good range.
The loader mechanism works very well. The bucket
lifts to a very good height and has a realistic tipping
angle, with the hydraulics stiff enough to hold any
pose.
Quality
This is a reasonable quality model with a fairly high
plastic content.
The paint is satisfactory with some of the black
highlighting paint roughly applied on the rear radiator
but it was easy to carefully scrape off. The few graphics are very good.
Price
It is on the expensive side given the number of plastic
parts.
Overall
Although it has been a long time coming it is good to
see the 475B finally appear and it is a good looking
representation of the historic machine. It is not top
quality but is a worthwhile addition to a mining model
collection.
Footnotes
This model was released in March 2013 after first
appearing at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in 2010.
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| Profile view. |
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| Large bucket. |
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| Drop down
ladders at the rear have to be fitted. |
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| Bucket lift
height is very good.
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| Cab is mainly
plastic . |
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| Overall visual
effect is good. |
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| Rocking along. |
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