 |
| Usual
Caterpillar branded
box. |
 |
 |
| Plenty of grab
rails |
 |
| Underside view. |
 |
| The cab is
pretty much plastic. |
 |
| Complex
mechanism on the front axle. |
 |
| Detailed
moldboard. |
 |
| Don't try this
showing off behaviour at home. |
 |
| It looks fine
on a big low loader. |
|
The Caterpillar 24M Motor Grader is
the largest in the Caterpillar range and it is listed as
a 'Mining Motor Grader'. The Gross Vehicle Weight
is over 62 tonnes and the moldboard width is 7.3m.
Packaging
As usual the model comes in a standard Caterpillar box
style and it is tightly secured to the packaging. The review
model had no defects or missing parts.
The box has no information about the real machine,
but some of the features of the model are described.
Detail
The underneath has some simple detailing of the main
components with the front axle being particularly
intricate. The wheel hubs are plastic and nicely
detailed and the tyres are made of hard shiny rubber.
The tread pattern is different to the tyres shown in
Caterpillar literature and would have looked much better with
a different pattern.
The engine compartment is reproduced well with door
panels and grilles. There are plenty of plastic
grab rails, but although they are perhaps a little fat for the
scale they look alright. The wheel arches are
plastic.
At the rear the ripper is made well with the painted
hydraulic hoses being a nice touch.
The cab is another area that is largely plastic, and it
has a reasonable detail level with the interior looking
a little basic in flat grey.
The front frame structure is well detailed with lights
and hydraulic hoses and the side panels are plastic.
Strangely the '24M' model designation is not applied
horizontally like on the real machine. The front
axle looks good with the complicated steering linkages
looking authentic.
Details around the circle are quite good with hoses to
the cylinders, and the moldboard has the bolt locations
indicated.
Features
The rear wheels pivot in joined pairs with a large range
of movement. The front axle has a good range of
steering movement and very large float up and down.
Although the mechanism to lean the tyres is modelled, it
barely allows any movement which is a pity.
Articulation of the body can be achieved and the maximum
angle is similar to the real machine.
The cab doors can be opened.
The ripper mechanism can be raised and lowered although
it is hard to fold right up as the hoses tend to resist.
The circle can be raised and lowered, and also tilted
although the mechanism was quite stiff on the review
model. The circle rotates, and the moldboard
position can be adjusted side to side and also tilted
fore and aft.
Quality
This model has a fair amount of plastic used on it but
it is generally executed well with no issues about
colour match with the metal parts. The paintwork
and graphics are good.
Price
The 24M is quite a large model measuring over 30cm long
and is good value for the price.
Overall
Norscot has produced a nice model with a good level of
detail and it is only a little unfortunate that the
tyres do not look a bit better. However the main
functions work and it makes for an impressive display
with other models, and it is recommended.
Footnotes
The model first appeared at the end of 2010.
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|
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| Tread pattern
on the tyres does not look great. |
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| The ripper
assembly. |
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| Wheel hubs are
detailed. |
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| The back
support to the moldboard is plastic.
|
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| It is a
reasonably large model. |
 |
| Plenty of
detail on the circle. |
 |
| Somehow the
Cranes Etc team loaded it on the
Drake
Trailer. |
|
