 | | The box. |  |  | | View with the 'plug' taken out of the side for access to a winch. |  | | Underside view. |  | | Controls inside the cab. |
| The Schield Bantam C-35 was developed by Vern and Wilbur Schield in Ohio in the 1940s and it was popular, eventually selling over 15,000 machines. Its popularity was driven by its low cost and easy maintainability. It had a typical operating weight of 10 tons and was available in a variety of versions including a backhoe and face shovel.
The Schield company was taken over in 1961, and at this point the company name disappeared.
Packaging
The model comes in a windowed box with the model held between plastic formers. There was no damage or missing parts on the review model.
The box has some information about the Schield Bantam company on the box. An instruction sheet is provided which explains how to attach a magnet, and a scrap and logging grapple, but these are not included with the model, and probably relate to a larger 1:25 scale version of the model that Spec Cast produced.
Detail
The track frames and undercarriage are fairly simple, but the idler and drive sprocket are metal. The tracks are also metal and are made of finely detailed individual links.
The body is all metal, and within the casting features such as doors are formed. There are a three holes in the body where a key is used to drive internal winches and plastic plugs are provided which can be used to fill the holes and improve the look of the model when on display.
Detail inside the cab is good with individual operating levers being visible.
The boom is a single piece and the latticework is quite nice although it is only three sided with the underside of the boom missing and this method of forming a lattice section is somewhat old fashioned now. Tiny metal equalisers are present on the boom luffing gear.
The dragline bucket is a well formed piece with good teeth, and the sides of the bucket have a dimple pattern to represent the perforations present in the original.
Features
The tracks roll quite well, and they are mounted on spring-loaded frames so they can be easily removed.
There are three operating winches and they are stiff enough to hold the boom and dragline bucket in any pose. The boom cannot be completely lowered because of the casting detail at the pivot point, and so the lowest angle is about 25° which is a pity as it means the model cannot be properly posed being transported on a suitable haulage vehicle.
Quality
The overall quality level of the model is good, with very little plastic used. The paintwork and graphics are very good.
Price
The model is very good value given its competitive pricing.
Overall
This is an interesting model of a historic American machine, and it poses well and looks good on display. Some aspects of the boom manufacture could be improved to provide a better, more flexible model. However for the low price it has just enough going for it to be highly recommended.
Footnotes
The model first appeared in 2009.
|
| |
|  | | Body details are quite simple. |  | | Now the plug is back in. |  | | Dragline bucket is good. |  | | Linked tracks and graphics on the side of the cab. |  | | Set up to dig. |
|
