 |
| Caterpillar branded
box. |
 |
 |
| Solid rear
grille. Nice warning graphics. |
 |
| Steps with
metal handrails. |
 |
| Access ladder
is plastic as are the wheels. Tyres are good. |
 |
| Easy access. |
 |
| Lights on the
boom seem to shine the wrong way. |
 |
| Big machine. |
 |
| The magnet
is.....a magnet. |
 |
| On a low loader. |
 |
| Cab could be
moved forward and lowered further if required. |
|
 Comment on this model.
The Caterpillar MH3049 is a large material handler and
it has an operating weight of around
50 tonnes.
Packaging
The model comes in a large Caterpillar-branded box style
with windows. Inside the box the model is held in
a large plastic former secured with poppers.
The review model had no missing
parts or defects.
The box
includes a small collector card which has some
information about the real machine and a nice photo.
Two additional work tools are included and there is a
bag of spare pins.
Detail
The underside has no detail and consists of a plastic
plate. There are no axles or drive shafts modelled
as the real machine has independent wheel drives so does
use them. The underside of the stabiliser beams is
also 'hollow'. However the tyres are good and they
are mounted on plastic wheels.
At each end the stabiliser beams and pads are metal with
a thick-set plastic access ladder. There is also a
useable towing eye and some obscure tiny graphics.
The body is metal and heavy with the curved shape nicely
represented. The graphics are very sharp. At
the rear the counterweight has a nicely textured solid grille
with the video camera just about visible. The steps to the top of the body have
'Watch Your Step' graphics which are good and the
handrails are nice thin metal. The internal access
ladder to the body top is soft plastic and it feels a
little flimsy.
The
metal cab is detailed inside with nice controls and the
Cat logo on the seat back. On the outside the
protection grilles are plastic. The cab elevation
mechanism has black connection rivets which are discrete
although there are no hydraulic hoses or cables.
The boom rams have hydraulic hoses detailed. The
hydraulics on the boom and stick are plastic, with those
at the pivot coloured black. There are no
hydraulics to the stick cylinders. Both the boom
and stick are all metal. There are lights at the
top of the stick but, on the review model at least, they
appear to be oriented in the wrong direction.
Three tools are supplied. A clear hard plastic
clip is supplied to keep the attaching pin in place,
which is fine for shipping the model, but looks ugly on
display so most collectors will remove it. The
4-tine and 5-tine orange peel grapples are metal with
nice tines. The magnet has a chain which hangs
loose on the stick pin. Underneath there is a
plastic plate protecting the magnet. All tools
have a connection point for hoses/cables from the stick.
Features
The wheels are free rolling with one axle fixed rather
than oscillating, and there is shallow steering on the
other axle.
The stabilisers have pivoting pads, and they can be
raised and lowered with the stiff cylinders allowing the
machine to be posed wheels-free.
Rotation of the body is reasonably smooth with a little
stickiness in places.
The cab elevator goes to a reasonable height and also
allows the cab to be posed for ground level access,
which is a feature of the real machine.
The boom and stick hydraulics are stiff enough in parts
with some areas of looseness so not all poses can be
held. It is possible to lower the boom to
replicate a transport mode without quite reaching the
horizontal position of the real machine.
Tools can be interchanged. Each tine on the
grapples is independent rather than interlocked and they
rely on friction at the connection points which varies,
so gripping a load can be a problem.
The magnet
includes a real magnet which is a nice touch.
Quality
This is a reasonable model with a high metal content.
A couple of the plastic elements use a lower grade
plastic.
The paint finish is very good and the graphics
are sharp.
Price
It is good value given the size of the model.
Overall
This is a large model produced for an affordable price.
The detailing and functionality are average and overall
it is a recommended model.
Footnotes
The model was available from September 2014.
|
|
|
|
 |
| Contents of the
box. |
 |
| Stabilisers
down. |
 |
| Plastic base
plate
underneath. |
 |
| Interior detail
is good.
|
|
|
 |
| Profile view. |
 |
| Four tine
orange peel grapple. |
 |
| Magnet. |
 |
| Loading up. |
 |
| Headroom is
reasonable, but not quite as low as the real machine. |
|
