Masterpiece Models - Lima type 604 Construction Shovel
Feb 24, 2019 13:18:38 GMT -5
deafpanzer, DeafStuG, and 1 more like this
Post by 406 Silverado on Feb 24, 2019 13:18:38 GMT -5
Lima type 604 Construction Shovel
By Masterpiece Models
1/35 Scale full resin kit
By Masterpiece Models
1/35 Scale full resin kit
Masterpiece Models website
masterpiecemodels.com/lima-604-construction-shovel-kit/?fbclid=IwAR2GkCYSCMkoTK_AC6rOY9GVwFIEmJHhgkxLz4tWvu1txt3_zmj0rz4VQzE
As modelers we associate the types and genre of models by scale and the most common military vehicles and figures being in scale 1/35, with very few civilian vehicles or equipment in this scale. Most recently we finally find after market and kit manufacturers releasing some modern civilian figures and accessories, but little in the way of vehicles and especially construction equipment.
Masterpiece Models have recently broken the trend and released an all resin kit of the Lima 604 Shovel in 1/35. Models of construction equipment can be found in smaller scales in the form of resin,plastic and diecast models, and as far as I know this is the first in 1/35 scale. I was thrilled to hear of the release of this model as I have been wanting to build one for many years now, and now I get to finally build one thanks to Masterpiece Models sending me a review sample.
As with all my reviews of kits I tend to keep the out of the box review short, showing what you get in the box, and leave the accuracy and rivet counter to others. Knowing there is no perfect or one hundred percent accurate model kit, meaning the little details such as rivets/bolts etc, I focus more on how a model goes together and the end result. Afterall, you can have a close to perfect or accurate kit but if the assembly of the model or parts fit is bad then it drains ones motivation and often the model gets shelved for another time.
When it comes to resin kits I have only built resin conversions or some resin parts so this will be my first all resin kit and I can’t wait to start building it. I will do a build review to follow this out of the box review, but I will build and paint a bit different than the box art.
The kit comes in a decent sized stiff cardboard box with the box art sleeve on the outside showing the built model by my friend Rick Lawler. Upon opening the box we find everything nicely packed in plastic bags and bubble wrap with foam peanuts for for more padding.
The kit does not include printed instructions and instead a CD is provided. I went ahead and printed out the instructions and gave it a once over before digging into the kit parts.
The first thing that stood out was that all the cast parts are in a white resin and lots of flash. My personal preference for injection molded styrene and resin would be a gray or off white color since this shows any flaws,ejector marks, mold seams and of course the finer details, and makes clean up easier. Another drawback to pure white resin or plastic is that it makes it very difficult to photograph when doing reviews or magazine articles.
The casting blocks attached to the parts are not big and junkie which will make removal easy. After closer examination the flash on nearly all the parts are very thin and practically comes off in your hand, which means the mold seem on the parts are minimal and clean up will be a breeze.
There are large parts such as the main body and separate floor and shovel gantry and boom. The main body is hollow and not a heavy solid cast part. All door and window openings are closed off in thin material that will need to carefully be removed so as not to damage the window panes. Exterior detail consists of recessed panel lines and some nut/bolt detail that match up to reference photos of the actual Lima as far as I could tell.
Unwrapping the other two large resin parts of the main gantry/boom. Surprisingly these parts are nice and straight with no warping or other flaws that I could see, other than some light flash and mold seam.
I staged the larger four main parts to the Lima just to get an idea of the size of the model and to plan ahead for a possible base to display the model. With the main cabin body roughly five inches and the gantry around eight inches, the assembled model will slightly over a foot long. With the gantry and bucket elevated it will of course be shorter, depending on the final position.
The remainder of the parts came in two ziplock bags that contain the suspension center section and a ton of parts.
The chain drive come in various lengths with longer straight sections and some shorter curved sections for placement over the drive sprockets. There is quite a bit of very thin flash that will need to be removed and careful clean up of the fine mold seams.
The drive gears and sprockets and larger pulleys on the casting blocks, again lots of flash but this is so thin that it was coming off the parts as I was handling them for taking photos.
Some of the larger cabin parts as well as smaller parts for the interior driver operator area on their casting blocks. Looking at the flash on the larger parts and the door, the flash is thin but will require more time to clean, and being extra careful not to break the window pane.
The four main suspension rails at first glance look like they will need a lot of work, but after looking closer I should be able to use a hobby knife to scribe along the flat casting block and gates to remove the rails. With the extra resin blocks gone a quick sanding down on a flat surface and cleaning of the flash should be an easy job. The details on the rails look ok but I won’t know for sure until I have a darker color primer on the parts to make them stand out.
The bucket and some other decent sized parts, drivers seat, radiator and winch all have some flash on them as well as remnants of the casting blocks/gates. The bucket main body is hollow and not a thick resin casting. The inside of the bucket is a thin wall is to be removed, and is simply a product of the two part mold casting design. A hobby knife and sanding stick should be all that is needed to clean the bucket.
The steel rollers for the suspension are cast with the rail mounts and have some slight flash on them all have nice fine details that will look nice when painted.
The tracks come as 78 individual links and are thin and have solid guide horns. Again some thin flash that can easily be removed, and the attachment point to the casting block is thin and so removal with a hobby knife or fine razor saw should be easy.
The clean up of all the track links will be the most time consuming part of this build, just as it would be if building a tank with individual track links, but with fewer links.
To replicate all of the glass windows on the cabin and door a sheet of clear plastic is included with the kit. The instruction sheet does contain templates for cutting the clear plastic to size.
Black string and small length of chain in a small bag is included for the cable rigging. The provided cable (string/thick thread) looks the part and can be used , but I might replace this with something else I prefer using as cables.
Conclusion:
Overall this is a nice resin kit with lots of parts and will look great when built. Although there is a lot of flash, on nearly all of the parts, it is easily removed and mold seams are minimal. The cleaning and prep work needed will be the same as an injection molded kit. The one negative thing about the kit is that it is cast in white resin which makes it hard to see some details and mold seams that need removal. As I said before this is just my personal dislike when it comes to the color of resin or plastic parts, for others this may not be an issue at all.
As far as I can see my review sample, other than the flash, had no flaws on any of the parts such as air bubble holes, warped or broken parts. Super glue should work fine to assemble some parts but I may use two part epoxy glue on some of the larger heavier parts, especially to attach the cabin to the suspension. The track links and shovel bucket look great and for me the fun part will be the painting and weathering.
Stay tuned for the build review of the Lima.
