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| Smart Mammoet
box.
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| Most of the parts out of
the box. |
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| Plenty of
mirrors. |
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| The ballast
box fitted.
|
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| With the ballast
box removed the Actros can be used to tow other trailers. |
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| A three axle
module. The rear light clusters are shown clipped
on. |
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| The connection
of the axle steering to the drawbar uses a heavier bar
which is screwed as shown. The drawbar is pinned
to the steering with the silver headed pins shown.
The control console clips on. |
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| Tow bar is
supported by springs. The generator for the
trailer sits on the tractor. |
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| The Scheuerle
trailer looks great with a load. |
|
Scheuerle is a German company with a history of
making transport vehicles since 1937. The
Scheuerle InterCombi trailer units have a 36 tonne axle
load and a transportation speed of up to 80 km/h.
In addition to their use as trailers they can be fitted
with a Power Pack Unit to produce a self-propelled
platform vehicle.
This version of the model is in the colours of Dutch
heavy haulage and lifting specialist, Mammoet.
Packaging
The box is of an excellent standard with the model
packed very nicely within black foam rubber. There were
no defects or missing parts on the review model.
There are a large number of small parts supplied as this
is a precision model. No instructions were
provided with the model when originally sold, but some
were made available for download from the WSI website
later (see the Footnotes below). There is
no information on the real machine provided. A
nice touch is that a Mammoet collector card is included.
Detail
The tractor unit is an Actros 8x4 4165 SLT and it
is to WSI's high standard of detailing. Underneath,
the chassis is excellent with the major components
faithfully reproduced.
Appropriate tyres are mounted on the steering and non-steering
wheels, and the hubs are excellent. The front has
a towing hitch and cover, and there is a realistic number plate
which matches that on the photo on the box, but
strangely the fleet number on the side of the cab does not match.
Behind the cab the equipment tower is mainly plastic but
it is detailed and looks good. Diamond plating
extends to the rear and the wheels have realistic mud
guards. At the back there is a metal towing
bracket, and the rear lights have nice plastic lenses.
A simple but well decorated metal ballast box is
provided.
The trailer units consist of one 6 axle and two 3 axle
units. They impress because they are almost
entirely metal and are engineered really well.
Underneath the trailer just visible along the spine
beam is some intricate hydraulic lines joining the
tanks. The wheels are nice and the structure of
the trailers is modelled in an authentic way. The
steering linkages are metal and diamond plated metal
cover plates provide the protection. Decoration of
the units is excellent, with a fine yellow stripe and
each of the three trailer units has a unique fleet
number which is a great detail.
A plastic generator unit and a separate control console
are provided and they are both plastic and very
detailed. A drawbar can be fitted to the trailer
and it has two springs which support it in a horizontal
position when not attached to a tractor. A pair of
light arrays can be clipped to the rear of the trailer.
Features
The tractor unit has very limited steering ability on
the front axles. The cab tilts forward to reveal the
engine and the ballast box can be attached or removed.
The towing hitches at the front and back have pins.
The trailer units have excellent proportional steering
and the draw bar can be attached which steers with the
movement of the tractor. In addition the steering
is fully configurable in that each linkage can be
unscrewed and reattached in a different way, and plenty
of spare linkages are provided with the model.
Unfortunately the lack of instructions means that it is
trial and error to amend the configuration.
The trailer units have very good operating suspension on
all axle lines.
The trailer can be configured in different lengths by
joining the units. The connection method is
excellent and consists of a small metal bolt which
slides into place to lock the units and the great thing
is the bolt is retained in a holder rather than being an
easily lost separate pin. Also the overall design
is such that when the units are lifted they are rigidly
fixed in line rather than flopping about.
Quality
The tractor is a typical WSI high quality product whilst
the Scheuerle units are highly engineered metal models.
The paintwork and graphics are very good.
Price
Although the price is on the high side it reflects the
work that has gone into the Scheuerle trailer units.
Overall
This is a high quality offering and a great addition to
the Mammoet collection. It is disappointing that
no instructions have been provided with the model
because it really deserves some to enable all collectors
to enjoy it fully. Nonetheless it is easy to
highly recommend and no doubt other parts will become
available to fill out the InterCombi range.
Footnotes
The model appeared in November 2010. An
instruction sheet was made available for download
from the WSI website in February 2011.
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|
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| The trailer set
up for the road. |
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| Sharp Mammoet
decoration. |
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| Highly detailed
underside. |
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| Tilting cab. |
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| Metal steering
linkages. |
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| Proportional
steering is excellent. |
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| Small details
count. Each module has an individual fleet number. |
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| Loaded with a
Fermentation Tank. Perhaps not the heaviest
load in real life but the Cranes Etc version is filled
with beer. |
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| Light details
at the rear. |
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| Control console
is very detailed. |
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