 | | Caterpillar branded box. |  |  | | Detailed rear end. |  | | Underneath. |  | | Poses well carrying. |  | | Painted rivets. |  | | Tipping angle at the max. |
|  Comment on this model.
The Caterpillar 966K wheel loader has an operating weight of around 24 tonnes and bucket capacities of 2.5 - 9.2m³. It has a maximum travel speed of around 37 kilometres per hour.
Tonkin Replicas have modelled the 966K in two scales. This 1:87 version and a 1:50 version.
Packaging
The model comes in a small Caterpillar-branded box style with windows. It is enclosed within a one-piece plastic holder that pops open to release the model.
The review model had no missing parts or defects.
There is no information about the real machine.
Detail
The underside has some detailing with the rear axle modelled but the front axle transmission is missing. Nice quality rubber tyres with a good tread pattern are mounted on decent looking wheels.
The engine cover has grilles in the sides and top formed of indentations rather than holes. As a compromise the arrays are completely painted rather than just the holes. The rear grille has silvered lights and the CAT logo.
The walkways around the cab have a non-slip texture and the plastic handrails are thin. The cab is detailed with wipers at the front, and the mirror and light assemblies are plastic as is the aerial on the roof. The interior has the controls modelled and surprisingly given the scale there is a CAT logo on the seat back.
The pivot point is simply modelled with the pistons provided.
The loader arm with the Z-bar linkages is modelled well and the rivets used are small and they are touched up with paint which improves the look.
The material handling bucket has good detailing on the outside.
Features
The wheels roll well with each pair of tyres fixed to a common axle. The rear axle is able to oscillate slightly.
The model steers across the pivot point with a moderate angle. The mechanism is loose however.
The loader arm lifts the bucket to a moderate height and can hold a pose. Both the tipping angle and the carrying angle is slightly shallow.
Quality
This is a well made model in a small scale.
The paint finish is good and the graphics are sharp.
Price
It is a reasonable price.
Overall
Even though this is a 1:87 scale model it is still detailed and looks good. The functionality is quite reasonable too.
Footnotes
The model was announced in 2013 and was available from February 2014.
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|  | | Bucket cut angle is good. |  | | Reasonable maximum steering angle. |  | | Bucket height is reasonable too. |  | | Parked up. |  | | Profile view. |
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