Showcase MoW Crane: A Quick Review: Lots of Photos

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I purchased two Showcase MoW crane kits the same day they became available. The package arrived today, along with a distressed Loadstar and some cast truck wheels I had also purchased.

On first inspection, Showcase has done a very good job of improving their castings over the initial Loadstar release. The first run of Loadstars had a pronounced orange peel effect on the cab, and this is evident on the newest kit I purchased. Its not a deal breaker; I ordered the junker and it will be weathered heavily. There are also several methods to reduce or remove the orange peel effect while keeping surface detail such as selective filing, using a round stylus to smooth over material or shaving the "peels" off with a straight edge blade. If is a few extra steps. And I hate extra steps.

Anyway, the new kits (wheels and the MoW crane) are cast near perfect. Not only are the parts straight, true and super smooth, but you get none of the separation line and register issues as you do with GHQ kits. The accessories are really nice (they should offer these separately), as is the crane components. There is almost no flash and the parts just slide together.

The cab does appear to be the International 8100. Showcase's Loadstar cab looks like it would be a direct fit, though you would need to modify the front and rear bumpers. This would mean that the model covers 1990-present as built or 1960's through 1980's with the Loadstar cab. The 8100 cab look close to the prototype except the nose is just a hair too square. The reason for this is more of an artistic interpretation of the data rather than incorrect data. You see differences between the Atlas CinC and GHQ Ford LNT 9000 in the same way: none are 100% correct, but all look just like the prototype.

The main body features a treaded floor, and three additional cargo boxes that can be positioned and added as desired. With the accessory pack and crane boom options, no two built models will look the same. In fact, You should get two or more just to show off the great flexibility of the model! I plan on having one truck with the boom and stabilizers deployed and one in on-road configuration.

I should note that the trucks come with Budd style wheels. These are the steel wheels with two circle openings for the front and 5 wide spokes for the dualies. You see these most often on box or beverage trucks. Showcase also offers a cast wheel with six spokes, think Mack truck wheels and you get the idea. They also have cast alloy wheels which are often seen on Peterbilts and other premium brands. All three wheel sets are interchangeable with the MoW truck and most of CinC's line which uses the same hub design.




Basic kit parts.


International 8100 cab.


Basic cab and body.






"Distressed" Loadstar mounted to the basic body. It fits well, but you will need to find a new solution for the front bumper as the grill sits too low to use the part supplied in the kit.


8100 MoW kit on the left, Loadstar flatbed centr and "distressed" loadstar cab on the right. The cab on the flatbed came out just as rough as the distressed cab and took a good hour or two to fix the surface detail. There are still some rough spots, but it is a lot better than before.


These are the cast wheels available separately. They look like they would be a good match for vocational trucks such as dump trucks, refuse and fire trucks.


Comparison of the MoW kit's Budd wheels and the cast wheels. These wheels should work with both newer Showcase vehicles and the CinC pewter vehicle line as well.

[Hyperion]

I was just about to write up something to the same effect, Daniel.  I got my two today as well and have been very impressed.  I was even thinking they might be a quick project for me to do this weekend.  I think at the very least I'll throw one together and primer it up for photos.

[Wlal13again]

Thanks Daniel for the critique. I will have some on the way this week and I noticed on their website that most of the kit is separate pieces , (like the front and rear hi fair gear, cab,) so painting it will be much easier.

[bc6]

Thanks for the breakdown of the kit as I also ordered a MoW kit. Im not sure if you got to the assembly of the kit yet but are you using CA to attach parts?

[Jmwilson]

sounds really good, I was on the fence about them but not anymore. thanks

[peteski]

Excellent writeup Daniel!
I see what you mean about one of the cabs having rough finish. I'm glad that it was an exception.  The parts quality looks to me to be about the same as GHQ - I even see the mold parting line in the cab door.    Not that there is anything wrong with that.

One comment on the photos: The are good and in focus, but the natural stone background is a bit like a camouflage(too busy IMO). Even a simple sheet of paper (smooth background) would have been much better.

Looks like I have to go to the Showcase's website and make a purchase. I've been meaning to buy several items but I've been procrastinating.  This time I'll do it!

[wazzou]

Daniel -
How did you address the windshield in the Loadstar?  I like whatever it is that you did.

[Hyperion]

The finish on my parts was nothing at all like what you've got there Daniel.  My cab was as smooth as better.  It needs some cleanup of some mold lines that really popped post-primer.

This is the entire kit with only as much clean-up as was necessary to get parts flush enough of their mounting tabs for assembly.

Only issue I really had was that the body needs about 0.5mm additional length between the rear axles and the rear bumper.  As it is, when you put the rear leveler in there, it shoves the rear bed forward enough to create an uneven gap between the tires and the body.  A little sanding on the rear leveler got enough space in there to solve that problem, though you can see it's still a bit tight in there.  But I didn't want to sand away any detail on the piece itself.

[ljudice]

Darn it, mine is still showing in the USPS, enroute at Edison NJ!!!!!

Curses!!!!

[wazzou]

It looks to be one of the finest detailed N Scale models I've seen.

[Dave Schneider]

Thanks for the photos Daniel and Hyperion. While it looks possible to back-date this vehicle with a new cab, does anyone know when this type of crane was first introduced?

Best wishes, Dave

[ljudice]

Thanks for the photos Daniel and Hyperion. While it looks possible to back-date this vehicle with a new cab, does anyone know when this type of crane was first introduced?

Best wishes, Dave

I think you could pretty safely use it from the mid 1980's to present, maybe earlier.  I would add that my recollection is this is a pretty big truck of the kind that has seemed to get more common in recent years.  I don't recall seeing a Conrail truck like this, but you see NS using things like this all the time.

On some RR's this stuff used to get bought regionally, so there were also a lot of differences between trucks on just one RR...

RRpicturearchives.net has a lot of MOW vehicle photos and from paint schemes it is easy to figure out some timeframes.

[Hyperion]

Speaking of paint schemes...

Who can make decals?

Oddball was the only company making tiny decals for use on trucks and other equipment.  And he's gone.

So we need a sheet with a bunch of the 'bigger'-name logos on it from different eras, a bunch of letters and numbers in a couple sizes (for vehicle ID number and DOT-required gross weight), and maybe even a few inches of a couple different widths of orange striping.

[ljudice]

Speaking of paint schemes...

Who can make decals?

Oddball was the only company making tiny decals for use on trucks and other equipment.  And he's gone.

So we need a sheet with a bunch of the 'bigger'-name logos on it from different eras, a bunch of letters and numbers in a couple sizes (for vehicle ID number and DOT-required gross weight), and maybe even a few inches of a couple different widths of orange striping.

Microscale could do one sheet with lettering for 4-5 roads on them each.

[mike in bc]

Darn it, mine is still showing in the USPS, enroute at Edison NJ!!!!!

Curses!!!!

Mine looks like its going in circles in montgomery al,, left sorting plant on 6th enter same plant on 7th