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| The impressive 4100W Tower Crane. |
TWH 052 - Manitowoc 4100W Tower Crane
Model Review December 2008
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| The impressive 4100W Tower Crane. |
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| The box is in the typical 4100W style. |
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The tray is packed. |
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| The parts out of the box. |
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| Two brochures. |
This is the fourth version of the Manitowoc 4100W model and it is the biggest. It is produced by TWH to further celebrate this historic crane from the Manitowoc Crane Company. This version is a tower crane, which has a vertical tower and a smaller dimensioned boom which allows the crane to lift up and over and is therefore particularly suited for use on building construction.
The crane could lift up to 30 US tons however its real strength was lifting at height and radius. The tower could be up to 183ft (approx 60m) high in self erect mode, and up to 253ft if assisted by another crane. The boom could be up to 170ft long.
It is modelled in 1:50 scale and is made in China.
Packaging
The model comes in a large stylised box with a photo of the crane on the lid. Within the box are two expanded polystyrene trays, and the bottom one is packed full whilst the top one acts as a lid put also has a mast section inside. The model is very well wrapped in polythene and it had no defects or missing parts.
A very good detailed
instruction booklet is provided with the model, and it includes an
inventory of parts and shows clear assembly steps. A
A couple of hours should be set aside to fully assemble and rig the model. The instructions are very good but there are a couple of issues. As a minor point the parts list shows the pendants (straps) being separate parts. In fact they are already attached to the various parts of the model which actually makes things easier. A more important point is that step 3 of the instructions shows a 40ft mast section fixed to the mast butt. In fact with the actual model in the box you need to attach the 10ft mast section at the bottom of the mast because this has the boom latch fixed to it, and this needs to be at the bottom of the mast (see photos on later pages). On the real crane the boom latch is actually fixed to a 40ft section as envisaged by the assembly instructions.
A reproduction of an
original 1976 marketing brochure is also included which adds to the collectability of the model.
Detail
The metal linked tracks are excellent and the track frames are very detailed. Particularly fine points are the spoked drive sprockets and the realistic working chain drives which move as the tracks are used. This version of the model does not include ballast boxes between the track frames.
