1:50th Scale Liebherr PR764 Bulldozer
Presented here is the limited edition 1:50th scale Liebherr PR764 bulldozer in the company decoration of Kibag from NZG. The Kibag company formed in 1926 with the merger of two gravel and excavating companies and today, they employ over 1400 people across three main business areas of building materials, gravel & concrete, construction and recycling & disposal. For further details of the company, check out their website.
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The PR764 is the flagship dozer from Liebherr and the world's largest hydrostatic drive dozer so far produced, specially designed for the quarrying and mining sectors with rigid box-section main frame and large driveline components providing an excellent level of reliability and productivity with a driveline producing exceptional thrust and tearout forces across the entire speed range. The Liebherr D9508 A7 8-cylinder turbocharged and direct fuel injection diesel engine provides 422hp to power the infinitely variable hydrostatic travel drives fitted to each frame with a bogie suspension system keeping more track on the ground even in the most demanding terrain. |
The bonnet has an intricate grill pattern printed on the engine panels with caution markings and painted engine panel handles. A number of metal grab rails have been added on both sides of the model leading up to the cab doors, just like the full sized machine.
The front semi-U blade is a very good, crisp casting with structure bar detailing along the back surfaces along with a detailed cutting bar and open grill style top edge. The tilt hydraulics allow for a good degree of movement allowing the blade to be tilted forward to vertical. The hydraulic cylinders are smooth in operation and lift the blade to a very decent height. flexible hydraulic piping has been added for that extra touch of realism with work lights integrated into the ends of the cylinders.
The cab features an accurately modeled interior with angled seat, joystick controls and central console all visible. Small etched metal windscreen wipers have been added to the front, rear and door windows which is a nice addition and the cab frame has integrated front and rear facing work lights, complete with painted silver lenses along with an air conditioning unit integrated into the rear cab roof.
Hydraulic hosing has been added to all the ripper cylinders for a more realistic appearance and the range of movement of the ripper tooth is a little limited by the design of the casting. The rear of the model houses a single shank ripper with removable pin allowing the ripper shank to be extended or retracted within the frame. If required, the ripper shank can be removed completely
One of the really nice features found on the model is the accurate reproduction of the bogie running wheels which all pivot both within the arms as well as the arms actually pivoting. This is a very nice touch to fully demonstrate the suspension system fitted to the machine. The individually linked tracks have a single grouser on each pad along with visible bolt head detailing and the tracks are tensioned to keep them taut while allowing them to rotate smoothly.
NZG have done a great job in capturing the functional aspects of the flagship PR764 and the Kibag decoration is outstanding, with crisp printing of the logos and an excellent paint finish with the blue and light grey constrasting well. The PR764 is the first of several Kibag decorated models which are expected to be released over the next 6 months.