 |
| Caterpillar branded
box. |
 |
 |
| Front bucket
carry angle seems a little shallow. |
 |
| Good looking
model. |
 |
| Hoses crossing
the pivot point. |
 |
| Good hydraulics
and Z-bar linkage. |
 |
| Metal handrails
are very good, and the cab interior is too. |
 |
| Rear grille has
a video camera at the top and movement detector at the
bottom. |
 |
| Carrying rocks. |
 |
| Great looking
load on a
Nooteboom 3+5 Euro-PX. |
|
 Comment on this model.
The Caterpillar 988K
is the seventh generation of the machine and its
introduction in 2013 celebrated a 50 year history.
It has an operating weight of around 50 tonnes and bucket capacities of
6.4 - 7.7m³.
This model is the first produced by Tonkin Replicas
under their license for Caterpillar scale models.
Packaging
The model comes in a
typical Caterpillar-branded box style with windows, and
is enclosed within a one-piece plastic holder that pops
open to release the model.
The review model had no missing
parts or defects other than some of the metal handrails
were bent slightly out of line.
The box
includes a small collector card which has some
information about the real machine and a nice photo.
Detail
The underside has some detailing with the transmission
modelled in metal. Nice quality rubber tyres with
a good tread pattern are mounted on wheels with detailed
plastic exterior faces and simple interiors.
At the rear the engine cover is nicely cast and painted
to highlight the grilles. Small lights and
graphics at the back enhance the detail and it is good
to see the video camera and object detector modelled.
The walkways have a clear anti-slip pattern and the
metal handrails are thin and modelled well. The
ladder up to the cab is modelled in soft plastic with an
excellent colour match.
The cab is detailed with wipers front and back, and the mirror
and light assemblies are plastic as is the beacon light
holder on the roof. The interior detail is very
good with finely detailed controls and the CAT logo on
the seat back.
Detailing at the pivot point is good with hydraulic
hoses crossing over but the front axle drive shaft is
not modelled. The front axle differential also
looks strangely incomplete and the axle shaft is visible
although this view is not seen with the bucket down.
The loader arm with the Z-bar linkages is modelled well
with hoses running to the ram jacket and nice casting
detail in the metal parts. The rivets at the
centre of the loader arm are large, but they are painted
at least.
The bucket looks very good with plenty of detail
including wear plates.
Features
The wheels roll well with each pair of tyres fixed to a
common axle. The rear axle is able to oscillate
significantly on its loose mounting. However the
front axle is also able to oscillate somewhat rather
than being fixed.
The model steers across the pivot point and the overall
steering angle is very good.
The loader arm lifts the bucket to a realistic height
and is stiff enough to hold a pose. The tipping
angle is quite good although the carrying angle when the
bucket is low seems a little shallow.
Quality
This is a well made model with a high metal content.
The paint finish is very good and the graphics are sharp
and are applied well.
Price
It is reasonable value for the quality offered.
Overall
As a first construction model release from Tonkin the
988K is a creditable effort. Most of the detailing
is very good and the functionality is good too although
a fixed font axle would be an easy improvement. It
is highly recommended and hopefully Tonkin will be able
to improve their future models further with the
experience gained.
Footnotes
The model was available from October 2013.
|
|
|
|
 |
| Model and
collector card. |
 |
| Tyres and
wheels are convincing. |
 |
| Detail
underneath. |
 |
| Good bucket
detail.
|
 |
| Profile view. |
 |
| Strange hole in
the top of the front differential. |
 |
| Impressive lift
height. |
 |
| Shallow
carrying angle. |
 |
| It is a big
wheel loader. |
|
