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| Palfinger
branded box.
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|
Profile view. |
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| Chocks and
beacon light at the back. |
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| The Palfinger
neatly folded up. |
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| Excellent
details on the crane.
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| Outriggers
spread. |
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| The crane
opened out.
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| The fixed hook
and winch hook can be placed in three positions. |
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Palfinger is an Austrian company
with a strong reputation in the field of knuckle-boom
loading cranes for vehicles. It was founded in
1932 and is now an international company with 30% of the
world market in this segment.
The Palfinger PK 53002 SH can lift a maximum load of 18 tonnes, and has a hydraulic outreach of 21m.
This version of the model was produced for sale by
Palfinger, and the loading crane is mounted on a
Mercedes Benz Actros chassis.
Packaging
The model comes in a simple Palfinger branded box with
the model protected by a foam rubber insert. The review
model had no defects and no missing parts.
There is no information about the real machine provided
and no instructions for the model either. Assembly of
the model is simple with the only door mirrors and
aerials to be fitted, although the roof aerials are
awkward to get in place. The two hooks have to be
fixed in position also.
Detail
Looking underneath the Actros 6x4 truck the detail is
good, with the main transmission and suspension parts
made of plastic. The steering is modelled in a
functional way, and a spare wheel is also attached on
the underside. All the wheel hubs are very smart
and wider tyres are fitted on the front axle. The
rear outriggers are metal with screw down pads and the
front ones are two stage plastic.
The cab is nicely detailed with colour coded door
mirrors and nice lights at the front. There is also
protection fitted to the bottom of the front of the cab
although the colour match of the plastic is slightly
off.
At the back the truck bed is a single casting but with
good detail and the drop side hinges are delineated.
Above the rear lights are wheel chocks and a beacon
light.
The Palfinger is modelled very well. The main
orange parts are metal with the rest black plastic but
it looks pretty good. On one side there is a box
and some controls, and there are various other boxes
around the boom foot. The telescopic part has
seven sections in all and there is a separate hydraulic
cylinder for each extending piece.
Two hooks are supplied, a plastic fixed one, and a small
metal one on the hoist rope although as it does not
weigh much, it cannot keep the hoist rope taut.
Features
The steering angle is excellent and the rear axles have
a degree of up and down float representing suspension.
The cab tilts forward to reveal the engine.
The truck bed can be removed to provide access to a
fifth wheel so an appropriate trailer could be
connected. The bed fits by means of four snap-fit
contact points and this is a nice feature.
The front outriggers twist down and both front and rear
can be extended and the pads screwed down.
A full range of movement is possible on the Palfinger
crane. It turns full circle and can be unfolded
and raised almost vertically. The telescopic
sections extend out and are stiff enough to hold any
pose. As they are plastic the model is stable at
any extension.
The two hooks can be fitted at any of three fixing
points along the boom and the winch hook can be lowered
and raised by turning the drum.
Quality
This is a high quality model with an appropriate use of
plastic. The paintwork is very good with some
excellent graphics.
Price
The model is good value.
Overall
It is good to see Conrad produce this Palfinger model
and more models from the Palfinger range will be good to
see. It has been executed very well, and no doubt
will appear on a number of liveried trucks in future.
It is highly recommended.
Footnotes
The model first appeared at the IAA Show in September
2010 and was in four versions, each with a different
truck carrier: Iveco, Volvo, MAN and Mercedes.
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| Smart Actros
cab. |
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| Good detail
underneath. |
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| Removable bed
allows a trailer to be fixed to the fifth wheel. |
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| Tilting cab. |
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| Outriggers are
simple. |
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| Lifting a load. |
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| Unloading on
the truck. |
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| The Palfinger
is impressive when fully extended.
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