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| Commemorative
sleeve.
|
 |
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| Very realistic. |
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| Detailed
chassis. |
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| Opening cab
door. |
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| Big boom on a
transporter. |
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| The main parts
of the crane. |
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| Excellent
outrigger control pad and parts. |
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| Unloading the
boom. |
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| Ready to reeve
the hook block. |
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| Nice detail
behind the cab.
|
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| Tilting cab. |
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| Counterweight
stacks secured with chains.
|
|
|
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| Nice hydraulic
hoses. |
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| Full extension. |
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Lifting a steel
fabrication.
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This model of the Liebherr LTM 1800 represents a
historic crane which was first manufactured in the 1980's. It is in the colours of the German crane hire company
Schmidbauer, and this limited edition model is
listed as a 30 year anniversary model of the Liebherr
LTM 1800.
Packaging
The model comes in a heavy outer cardboard sleeve which
has a photo of the real crane and denotes that the model
is a 30th anniversary edition.
The sleeve protects a high quality black box. Inside that
black foam rubber protects the model and the many parts are wrapped in soft
paper. A nice touch is that ribbon enables the
boom to be lifted our easily.
The model is very detailed and delicate and has to be handled with care
as any pressure on small parts whilst lifting it may
damage them.
There were no defects or missing parts on the review
model.
A high quality brochure is included which has a reprint
of the original machine specifications. The instructions
for the model are reasonable although they do not show
every part that has to be fitted.
Also included is a high quality collector card with
unique serial number.
Assembly is straightforward.
Detail
The underside of the carrier is very good with
transmission and suspension components detailed, and
only a silver screw and washer detracts from the look a
little.
The metal wheel hubs look very good, being of two types
as per the original, and mounted with excellent tyres bearing
the ‘Michelin’ logo on the outside.
The driving cab has been reworked from previous version
of this YCC Model in order to accurately reflect the
version being presented. It has very finely made
windscreen wipers and mirrors, and the towing hitch at
the front is of a realistic size. Steps to the cab have
a fine texture and there are excellent lights.
Detail behind
the cab continues at an excellent level. Mesh grilles are present
and fans are visible underneath. The
metal exhaust is formed to have holes in the exhaust
pipes. More mesh work leads to the slewing ring and
here hydraulic cabling runs to the outrigger beams.
Alongside the body on both sides are small orange lights
which sit at the end of thin stalks. At the rear the
hydraulic details for the outrigger beams are present as
for the front pair, and there is a spare wheel with lifting
gantry, the light bars have nice plastic
lenses, and there is a realistic number plate.
The outrigger beams are beautifully made. The inner
sections have excellent hydraulic line details within the
castings and the two stage beams are metal and feel very
solid. At the end the smooth pistons screw down to the transverse
pad beams.. The spreader beams and pads are first
class. They are all metal and very well detailed.
Better still, they contain magnets which allow the pads
to stick to the beams and the beams to stick to the
pistons which is an excellent design.
The high quality continues into the crane body. The
cab windows have fine seals and windscreen wipers.
Inside, the controls are clearly seen and there are
coloured graphics. Outside there
are excellent mesh walkways. Alongside
the body the panels have fine details within the casting
including hydraulic lines. Inside the body the winch
drums are well detailed, with some very fine diamond patterned
plate work.
The rope supplied with the model is good quality and is
grey to replicate the real crane when it was in new
condition.
The sheaves used are metal and are painted
to match the crane colour so look very good indeed.
The boom gantry is raised by excellent metal three stage
cylinders which have ingenious magnet connections to the
gantry. At the gantry head there is a hydraulic lift
cylinder and top quality metal pendant connections.
On each side of the body some access platforms can be fitted
when the crane is being used. These have very good
mesh floors, although the hand rails are plastic and because
they are thin, they are delicate. These parts are
a fairly loose press
fit into holes in the body which means they are easily knocked
off if handled.
The counterweight tray has lifting points cast in and the
counterweight slabs have excellent lifting points. Two
sets of chains and associated clips and pins are
provided to enable the counterweight slabs to be
secured, and these add to the detail. A pair of ladders is also provided
with the carrier which is a nice touch for posing the crane
in use.
The four stage telescopic boom is a heavy piece of
modelling reflecting the real crane. It has a great
profile with the
external locking pins of the real crane modelled, and
there are working roller bars throughout.
Metal handrails can be fitted for the erection phase,
and lifting chains for the boom assembly are modelled
too. At the boom head there are free-rolling metal
sheaves tie-off point.
Two sets of boom supports are provided for resting the
boom on a transporter or the ground.
Two different sizes of hook are supplied. These
are all metal and include excellent
graphics and working safety catches. The larger
double block hook is not modular and the cheek weights
were loose fitting on the review model.
Features
The steering on the carrier is reasonable with axles 1 to 4
linked proportionally although the mechanism is not
precise, and at the back axles
7 and 8 are linked. A reasonable lock
can be obtained although not as much as the real
crane can achieve.
The carrier cab has opening doors which are secured in
the closed position by tiny magnets.
Controls for operating the outriggers are revealed by
tiny opening covers on each side of the carrier.
The outrigger beams pull out sideways from the carrier
to form a star shape and can be telescoped out smoothly
to maximum extension or alternatively the model can be posed
with shortened outrigger beams like the original.
The pistons screw down smoothly to replicate a pinned bearing
connection on the transverse beams.
The crane cab is a swing away type which tucks in at the
front when in transport mode. It can also be tilted
to allow the operator comfort when the crane is lifting
at height. Separate windscreens allow the model to
be posed with an open or closed windscreen. The
cab door slides open but it was fiddly on the review
model.
A working hydraulic hook is provided on the moving mast
but it is not stiff enough to hold the heavy boom.
The crane rotates smoothly, even under load.
The crane body has four winch drums and the rear two are accessed
by using a removable magnetic side panel on the body
(the real crane did not have a panel over the front
hoist positions). This excellent design feature allows
the model to be operated without having unsightly access
holes in the side of the body. Each winch is stiff
enough to hold any reasonable load, and they are can be
operated by using a special tool which has a screwdriver
connection at the end so it can be driven by a powered
screwdriver which is useful for loading the drums with
the supplied thread.
The boom can be posed on a transporter with the
handrails removed. It telescopes smoothly and each
section can be locked at the 50%, 92% or 100% positions
using screw in bolts modelled in the bolt positions of
the real crane.
The counterweight can be built in any configuration.
The hook blocks have rotating hooks and working spring-loaded
safety latches.
Quality
This is a very high quality beautifully presented model
which is mainly in metal.
The paintwork and graphics are excellent.
Price
The price reflects the high quality and limited edition
nature of the model.
Overall
Once again YCC Models has produced an outstanding crane
model and it appropriately celebrates the 30th
anniversary of the Liebherr LTM 1800. Great
effort has been made to produce a model that is
authentic compared to the real crane.
Footnotes
This version was produced in a limited edition of 200
models, and it appeared in July 2017
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|
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| Manual and
collector card. |
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| Super
realistic. |
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| Ready for the
road. |
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| On the road. |
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| Tyres have
Michelin in the side walls.
|
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| Impressive
transport display. |
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| Schmidbauer
convoy. |
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| Setting up.
|
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| Walking the
boom. |
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| Ready to lift.
The chains are not included with the model. |
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| Outriggers can
support the crane wheels-free. |
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| Detailed boom. |
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| Excellent boom
profile. |
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