 | | Palfinger branded box. |  |  | | Profile view. |  | | Chocks and beacon light at the back. |  | | The Palfinger neatly folded up. |  | | Excellent details on the crane. |  | | Outriggers spread. |  | | The crane opened out. |  | | The fixed hook and winch hook can be placed in three positions. |
| 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. |  | | Good detail underneath. |  | | Removable bed allows a trailer to be fixed to the fifth wheel. |  | | Tilting cab. |  | | Outriggers are simple. |  | | Lifting a load. |  | | Unloading on the truck. |  | | The Palfinger is impressive when fully extended. |
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