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| Caterpillar
branded tin. |
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| Short tail
swing. |
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| Nice metal
tracks. |
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|
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| Detailed blade. |
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| Nice bucket. |
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| At work. |
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| Getting
onboard. |
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| Loaded and on
the road. |
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The Caterpillar 335F L Hydraulic Excavator is a reduced
tail swing machine weighing 37 tonnes. It is used for earthmoving
operations.
Packaging
The model comes in the usual exemplary Diecast Masters packaging. There is
an outer shipping carton which contains a tin which is
protected by a nylon bag. The tin is high quality
and includes pictures and details about the real
machine.
The review model had no missing parts or defects.
There is no information for the model, but a mini
catalogue of the Diecast Masters range is included.
Detail
The underside has a plastic base plate. The metal tracks are nicely detailed with
bolt heads. The track frames have the rollers modelled
within the casting and they are non-functional.
There is a blade at one end and the detailing is very
good including hydraulic hoses, wear plates on the
blade, and protection to the hydraulic rams.
The cab detail includes mirrors, lights and grab rail
but no wipers.
Inside the cab there is an operator in high visibility
clothing.
The body is nicely formed and detailed. Individual
panels are delineated, and there are some tiny sharp
graphics. The engine cover on top seems to be
plastic but with an excellent colour match so it does
not show. Hand railing is metal and nice and thin.
The hydraulics on the model are very good with thin
hoses running to all of the rams. The connection
rivets on the boom and stick are painted.
The bucket is a very nice part with fine detailing and
teeth.
Features
The tracks roll very easily in the hand and are
spring-loaded.
The blade has a good range of up and down movement and
holds any pose set.
It rotates very smoothly.
The rams on the boom, stick and bucket are very stiff so
holding a pose is no problem. The range of
movement is not full however, with the boom unable to
lower fully, and the stick cannot fold in completely.
Quality
It is a very good quality model with a high metal content.
The paint is very good as are the graphics.
Price
It is a competitively priced excavator model.
Overall
This model shows again the incremental improvement by
Diecast Masters. It looks really good with restricted
movement of the boom and stick being an area for
improvement.
Footnotes
The model first appeared in 2016.
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| Blade up. |
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| Operator in the
cab. |
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Hydraulics are very good. |
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|
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| Boom and stick
detailing is very good.
|
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| Profile view. |
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| Depth of dig is
restricted. |
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| Loading a
tipper. |
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