Conrad Model Reviews

Displayed here without the luffing jib attachment and ballast carrier, the model still represents an imposing piece of model engineering.

The box is the usual Liebherr picture box style - just it's huge.

Top layer of the box holds weights and other pieces.

Middle section has the crane body.

Bottom contains the tracks and large boom and jib pieces.

This is a 1:50 model of the giant Liebherr 1750 Crawler Crane. It is Conrad's second effort of a large crawler crane of this size and follows the Terex Demag CC8800 (see model 2735). It is also a sister machine to the Liebherr LG1750 Truck Mounted Crane as many of the crane components are shared.

The model box is very large and extremely heavy, and care is advised in handling it. It consists of a picture sleeve which wraps the three expanded polystyrene trays which contain the model, complete with a lid for the top tray. As expected the box protects the model very well and there was no damage to the review model. There was a problem with one piece of the model however. The smaller 300t hook was missing the centre section pulleys but this was corrected by Conrad without fuss by the provision of a replacement hook.

A 26 page manual is included with model. This is printed in black and white and has the feel of being a slightly hastily produced document rather than a proper final release. It has photos of the box trays with parts annotated so they can be identified during the assembly process. Strangely the 300t is missing from the photograph and not every piece is actually identified. The assembly instructions themselves are a series of staged photographs with the components at each stage identified. There are no written instructions at all which is presumably to avoid the need to provide translations. Although the pictorial stages are fine, the instructions fall short in the area of reeving the model. There is a lack of a clear description of which winch drums should control which function and where for example the hoist ropes should run through the backmast. There are reeving diagrams for the three sets of luffing gear which are barely clear enough in black and white, but nothing at all for reeving the hooks. It is a little disappointing that the model falls a bit short in this area as, with relatively little effort, a very good manual could have resulted.

With that said the assembly of the model is actually a joy. Conrad's engineering is top notch and the model parts fit together very well indeed and without the need to adjust anything. As usual the reeving can try the patience and this model is no exception. Stringing up the hooks can lead to frustration as the string has a tendency to bounce off the pulleys so the best bet is to keep the string under tension at all times.