 |
| Caterpillar branded
box. |
 |
 |
| Rubber tracks
are moulded well. |
 |
| Metal rotor has
nice tools. |
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| Control console
has a folding lid. |
 |
| Decent
detailing. |
 |
| Support cables
look very good. |
 |
| Ready to work. |
 |
|
Discharging into a tipper, but the conveyor is too low so
it has to
rest on the truck. |
|
 Comment on this model.
The Caterpillar PM200 is a cold planer used for removing
old asphalt surfacing, and depending on configuration it
weighs around 30 tonnes. It is available in 2m and
2.2m cutting widths.
Packaging
The model comes in a
familiar style Caterpillar-branded
box with windows on three sides but unusually the model
is held inside between two clear plastic formers rather than
being tied to a base.
The review model had no
missing parts or defects.
The box has no information about the real machine,
but some of the features of the model are described.
There is no assembly to perform.
Detail
Under the model is a metal rotor which is fixed in
position and has the individual tools modelled. The
collecting conveyor is represented with a soft fabric
material rather than a rubber belt.
The small tracks are rubber and are mounted on plastic
sprockets attached to metal track frames. The
individual rubber pads and bolts are delineated within
the tracks which is nice detailing. The legs are
yellow when silver to represent hydraulic pistons would
have been much better.
The body is metal with plastic used to detail some of
the smaller elements. Most of these are good, but some of
the mirrors and lights have an unfinished look as for
some reason they are not silvered. The access
ladders to the operator's area are plastic.
Detailing within the metal casting is good but obscured
a little by the apparent thick paint coating. A
nice touch is two tiny graphics on the sides at the
rear.
The cab has a textured floor and there is a good central
control console with moulded controls. The canopy is
metal on fixed plastic, slightly flexible, supports.
The main conveyors are modelled well and look good with
bolt heads in the side frames. They have realistic fine
support cables, and the belt inside is fabric. The
painted beacon light at the tip is slightly cruder modelling.
Features
The crawler tracks can be made to rotate and they tilt, but the functionality is simplified
as they do not steer or raise and lower on the legs.
The rotor rotates freely.
It is fixed in position although the collecting conveyor
can be raised and lowered a little.
The belt on the main conveyor movable. The front part
folds over for transport. However it appears there is no
height adjustment possible on the main conveyor so it is
difficult to raise the conveyor to show the model
properly discharging into a tipper truck. The conveyor
assembly can be rotated from side-to-side.
The operator's control console has a folding lid.
Quality
This is a fairly typical Norscot model with a robust
construction.
The paint is good and the graphics are fine.
Price
It is moderate value for money.
Overall
Overall this is a typically robust Norscot model with
reasonable detailing and some functionality, and is an
interesting machine from the Caterpillar stable.
Footnotes
The model was shown at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in 2013
and was available from July 2013.
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|
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|
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| Conveyor height
is not readily adjustable. |
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| Tiny graphic
under the light at the rear. |
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| Underside of
the conveyor is quite good. |
 |
| No steering or
height adjustment on the legs.
|
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| Profile view. |
 |
| Painted beacon
light. |
 |
| Conveyor folds
for transport. |
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| A good
transport load. |
|
