 |
| Tekno branded box.
|
 |
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| Lots of parts.
|
 |
| Rear wheel lines.
|
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| Hooked up
to a Mercedes Benz Titan 4155 Tractor. |
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| Graphics on the
deck edges. |
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| The gooseneck has some
detailed graphics. |
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| Extended to carry
a long beam. |
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| Fully extended. |
 |
| Carrying a
Liebherr R954C. |
|
The Goldhofer XLE trailer is capable
of payloads up to 110 tonnes and the version modelled
here is the maximum 8-line combination.
This model is an exclusive by Heavy Transport Models (HTM)
and is made for them by Tekno. It is in the
colours of
H N
Krane, a German crane and heavy haulage company headquartered
near Rostock.
For this review the XLE is paired with Mercedes Benz
4155 and
4160 Actros Titan tractors
which are separately reviewed. The overall model is
large when fully extended measuring 70cm from the front
of the tractor to the rear.
Packaging
The model comes in a standard Tekno branded box with the
model enclosed within foam rubber.
There was no damage or missing parts on the review
model.
There are a large number of
small parts to fit and a single sheet of coloured instructions
are provided although it is unclear in places. A small
screwdriver is included for the one screwed connection required.
A collector card is included.
There is no information about the real trailer.
Detail
The gooseneck is mainly metal and it has some reasonable
detailing of equipment on the underside. Tiny graphics
denote the control console. A spare wheel and some other parts are
added as detailing but they are not all a tight fit in the
holes provided.
The front three line bogie is metal apart from the silver
deck plates. The wheels look pretty good and two plastic
width markers fit to the front edge and they have short
lengths of coiled cable. At the rear there are good
rubber mud flaps and a another length of cable to lead to
the rest of the trailer. A yellow reflective
stripe is painted along each edge.
The deck and rear five line bogie is a single piece.
The spine beam has fold-out brackets which can hold the
plastic deck panels although it takes effort to get a good
fit. The rear bogie is similar to the front bogie
in construction although it has a deep well for the booms
of plant being transported and silver plastic edge plates
which are flexible and care must be taken not to lift up
the model using these. The graphics along the
edges are very good.
At the rear a couple of width markers and orange beacon
lights can be fitted although the beacons easily drop off as they
do not fit the receiving holes tightly. The beacon
lights are painted and not as good as ones having plastic lenses.
Features
The gooseneck can be fitted to the three line bogie, or
directly to the spine beam. There is a small degree
of movement between the gooseneck deck and the connection downstand which is provided via modelled cylinders but it
was extremely stiff on the review model.
Each bogie has linked steering which works quite well and
is slightly proportional on the rear bogie, although the range of
movement at the rear is not huge. The suspension is
very good with each wheel set having an easy springing motion.
A variety of deck configurations are possible including
a short version with or without deck plates, and a long
version with the telescopic spine beam extended, again with
or without deck plates.
Width markers can be added or left off as desired.
Quality
The overall quality level of the model is a little
better than on the version previously reviewed in
Goldhofer colours.
The paintwork and graphics are of a good standard.
Price
The price is reasonable for a very limited edition
model.
Overall
This is a very good looking model in H N Krane colours
and it pairs well with Mercedes Actros Titan tractors in
H N Krane livery. This version is just good enough
to earn a highly recommended badge.
Footnotes
The model appeared in 2009 and has been made in different
liveries. A version in Goldhofer colours was reviewed
here.
This version in H N Krane colours appeared in April 2012
together with Mercedes Benz
4155 and
4160 tractors.
|
|
|
|
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| Foam rubber packaging. |
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| The model in standard
configuration with a
4160 Titan Tractor. |
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| Front bogie.
|
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| Underneath the
gooseneck. |
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| Deck panels fitted
to the spine beam.
It takes effort to get them all to lie flat. |
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| Detail at the rear.
|
 |
| Two matching tractors.
|
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| Short
configuration without the 3 line bogie. |
 |
| Just pushing the
excavator over a bit. |
|
