Delmag RH18/200 Drilling Rig

The RH18/200 weighs in at 62.5 ton and is powered by a Scania DC9 diesel engine which is EU Stage 4/ Tier 4F emission compliant as standard. The SR25 E carrier is built upon a S45/43CVT tracked undercarriage which is telescopically extendable. The leader mast is 19.9m in height with two main winches, one for crowd control and one for the Kelly bar with an auxiliary winch installed at the top of the leader. The Delmag RH18/200 drill rig has been produced by Conrad in 1:50th scale and is the first Delmag model that I am aware of, and once again, Conrad has produced a sturdy replica which is both heavy and functionally sound.

Out of the box, the rotary head, auger and Kelly bar are detached from the base model and this can make a good transport load, particularly as the machine can be transported with drill motor and kelly bar left connected.

The BT 200 rotary head consists of a frame with a pair or hydraulic motors mounted to the main circular drive which houses the Kelly bar. The auger is a metal cast part and connects with the metal Kelly bar using a small plastic pin.

The auger flights look a little chunky when compared to some of the other foundation models that have been produced but it does not really detract from what is a very welcome release.

The rotary head is a friction fit onto the sled and this, along with the ability to detach the auger from the Kelly bar does hint that future accessories may be produced to demonstrate a number of other uses for the equipment, not only the uncased Kelly drilling which is depicted in this release.

The undercarriage track frames have all the lower roller detailing integrated into the main tooling, with wide track links fitted which are tensioned and roll well. The extending frame of the undercarriage works flawlessly and there is no detectable droop at full extension.

The SR25 E carrier is a different design to the SR30 T of the Mobilram, sharing only the cabin and counterweight tooling with a different layout of the body, upper area access ladder and safety railings which is great to see, when ABI could have produced a Delmag model based on the SR30 T carrier which would have been a cost saving in tooling.

The leader mast has full control of the movement, powered by hydraulic cylinders which have a good stiffness to them, allowing any position to be demonstrated. The leader has an integrated cylinder allowing a support to extend from the bottom and this again has smooth movement.

There are two main winches located on the back of the leader, the uppermost controls the crowd, moving the sled up and down the leader and this works very well.

The lower winch controls the movement of the Kelly bar and two different lengths of winding keys are provided to adjust the winches which, whilst not appearing to have a breaking system, are fairly tight and so do not rotate freely on their own.

At the top of the mast, there is a simulated winch with a small piece of rope connected to a hook to offer a more realistic look.The paint finish is of a very high standard with crisp printing of the Delmag markings and logo.