 | | The box. |  |  | | Ripper up. |  | | Dozer blade lowered. |  | | Complex front axle is capable of a little wheel lean. |  | | Perforated grille on the engine cover. |  | | Plastic engine is a solid block. |  | | Profile view. |  | | It is a good looking load. |
|  Comment on this model.
The New Holland F156.7A Grader weighs 16.2 tonnes. It is used for spreading and levelling material, and can do so accurately on roadworks formations prior to overlaying with asphalt.
Packaging
The model comes in a Motorart-branded box with some simple New Holland logos added. Inside the model is held between two press fit clear plastic formers.
There were no missing parts or defects on the review model.
There is no information about the real machine or model included.
Detail
Looking underneath the rear transmission is modelled within the casting of the base plate. Rubber tyres are mounted on metal wheels which are detailed, but would have looked better with grey painted centre hubs. The rear wheel arches are plastic.
At the rear the ripper assembly is metal, as is the engine cover which has large see-through perforations and some nice warning sign graphics. Under the hood is a plastic engine which is very simplistically modelled.
The plastic cab has very thin metal grab rails although strangely there is only a mirror assembly on one side and you have to wonder if this is because the plastic former packaging was not designed with enough space to allow for it. The interior cab detail is reasonable and includes an overhead mirror.
The front assembly is metal with the wheel arches and lights being plastic, but with a very good colour match to the metal parts. The moldboard and dozing blade at the front are both simple metal parts. 'No 1 in Europe' is printed on the dozer blade which does not enhance a realistic look.
Features
It rolls well and the rear wheels oscillate, but only to a moderate degree. At the front things are better with the axle oscillating and the wheels able to obtain a good steering angle. An amount of wheel lean is also possible.
Articulation of the grader frame only achieves a small angle.
The moldboard rotates and it also tilts and a little longitudinal movement is possible. It raises, lowers and tilts on hydraulic rams.
The ripper assembly raises and lowers.
The dozing blade raises and lowers.
The cab door on each side opens to a good angle although the fit in the frame is very tight so it can be a difficult to get them to open.
Quality
This is a reasonable quality model although it is not particularly robust so it has to be handled with care. It has a number of plastic elements.
The paint quality is mainly good, and the graphics are very good.
Price
It is moderate value for money.
Overall
Graders are complex machines which provide a modelling challenge. This is a reasonably nice looking model and most of the functionality is good. However there is a fair bit of plastic and parts of the model do not feel particularly robust.
Footnotes
The model appeared at dealers in September 2014.
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|  | | Printing on the dozer blade. |  | | Sharp graphics around the engine hood. |  | | Detail underneath. | |
|  | | Simple moldboard. |  | | Opening door. |  | | Looks good overall. |  | | Ready to go to the worksite. |
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