Bauma 2004

I have just returned from a trip to Munich for the Bauma 2004 trade fair. This was my second visit and I was still amazed at the size of the show. This year I chose to stay longer and attended the show Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. I decided to have a break from the show on Thursday to take in the sights of Munich, the highlight of which was a visit to the Deutsche Museum.

New model news

The First port of call was the Liebherr stand. There were 4 new models on display, the L510 wheeled loader, the HTM904 mixer, the L300 wheeled excavator and the long awaited R996 Backhoe.

The R996 is an excellent model but due to the weight and size, getting it back home was a little impracticable.

The LTC 1055 was not available to purchase from the stand and will be available in a couple of months time. They did however have some of the models to give away to the press and good customers. I was not lucky enough to get one of the models for myself but did get the opportunity to photograph one. All Liebherr models are now available to order from the new Liebherr Online Shop

 The next stop was the Komatsu stand where the PC3000 backhoe model was on display. Other new Komatsu models are the WA250-5 wheeled loader and the WA250PT tool carrier. The Old Cars backhoe loader was on display but is less detailed than the First Gear model so I decided not to get one.

One nice find at Bauma was the new Neuson and Kramer models in 1:50th scale. It is not clear which manufacturer has made them, but they do look like being Brami. Both models are very well detailed.

The find of the show has to be the new Bauer BG24H drilling rig from Brami. The model is very well detailed and although there is a lot of plastic on the model, the weight has been kept down so there is no problem with it falling over. The model is based on a Sennebogen carrier with linked metal tracks. The undercarriage is extendable and the cab detail is great. There is one working winch and full hydraulic hose detailing. There is also a fully detailed auger. Only 200 of these models have been made, as they are changing a couple of things on the model before more models are manufactured. I was also told that Bauer are looking to commission one model a year.

The Nagel stand had a couple of surprises. They have had two limited edition models made for Bauma. The first is the Liebherr A314 wheeled excavator in Nagel colours which is limited to 500 pieces. The second model is the Liebherr PR734 XL dozer in Nagel livery. I was told that less than 200 of these had been made. The most interesting thing on the dozer model is the tracks. They are different to the previous PR734 in Liebherr colours and look like the tracks from the Extec C12 Crusher model as they have triple grouser pads.