CAT 12E Motor Grader Hard Top

Introduction

When the United States decided in 1965 to jump with both feet into Vietnam's civil war, the press there wanted to follow around and report on the troops, armor and aircraft that were promising to quickly defeat the "ragged" Viet Cong, and secure another shining American victory. To support that fearsome "tooth," a huge "tail" was required. bases, airfields, ports and especially roads needed to be constructed. Vietnam was a relatively-poor country with few good roadways and no infrastructure to support America's large and expanding presence. The US was therefore forced to carve out, almost overnight, those bases, airfields, and roads from the country's lush jungle, in the process relocating vast quantities of earth.

Not surprisingly, the Caterpillar Company had solutions for earth moving, including their iconic motor grader the 12E (in both open cab and hard top versions). Most Americans will instantly recognize Cat motor graders as having worked on every highway project across the country. These graders were first introduced in 1938, and in their first year alone had helped build:

Shasta Dam in Northern California
Los Angeles Aqueduct
Buzzard's Roost Dam in Georgia
Skyline Highway in Virginia and the Carolinas
New York Aqueduct
the Haifa-Bagdad Highway in the Middle East

So, of course, they went to Vietnam.

The Vietnamese model manufacturer Hobby Link has been steadily recreating the motor pool of the Vietnam War, putting out 3-D resin printed kits of vehicles missing or not otherwise well-represented in plastic. I have already reviewed their Clark 290M wheeled dozer for Armorama here, the accompanying Scraper here, and the D7E Dozer with Rome Plow here. This review deals with the hard top motor grader.

Contents

Inside Hobby Link's usual nondescript brown cardboard box are 9 Ziploc baggies with 3D-printed resin parts, the vehicle's chassis packed separately, instructions, and decals by De Can Quoc Dan.

The Review

Like many little boys, I have always had a love for construction equipment. If tanks are fun to model because they blow things up and create mayhem, graders, dozers and scrapers help to build the structures and roads humans need, both in war and peace.

And I am pleased to report the little boy in many of us who loved earth-moving equipment growing up will be delighted to have this staple of road building. This is not a simple kit, and there are some things first-time 3D resin modelers should pay attention to. However, overall Hobby Link kits go together like good-quality styrene ones:

Be sure the resin has "cured" properly. If the parts seem soft, leave them out in bright sunlight for a few hours and it will harden them;
Sand any flat parts to remove the "pimples" where the 3D printing support sprues have been detached;
Also watch for "grooves" in flat surfaces that are caused when the printing process lays down the resin in rows. Depending on the resolution and quality of the printer, this can produce noticeable valleys that will show up more starkly after painting.

You may also notice from the photos that the three radiator fans (there are multiples of many parts to help with breakage) are each missing a blade. Two of the three broken blades were in the baggie, but in any case, a little extra sheet styrene should do the trick.

The 3D printing is crisp and the detailing sharp. While the engine electrical harness isn't completely represented, it is present enough to provide a basis for scratch-building the rest, or just leaving it as is. Parts have minimal "nibs" from the printing process, and should require less clean-up than vehicles with more flat surfaces. The grader blade and control assemblages will require careful work, and I would venture this isn't the best candidate to jump into 3D kits with, but it should build up into an impressive piece.

Decals

The decals are well-made, though they must be cut individually from a master transfer film.

Painting is any shade of heavily-weathered olive drab you can muster.

Conclusion

Hobby Link kits are not for beginners, and as resin kits , means you will need to master Super Glue or some other CA adhesive. The fit of the parts is usually excellent, though some of them may warp over time. This is easy enough to fix by dipping the bend piece or section into boiling water for 10 seconds. The high number of small parts would also suggest this is for a mode-advanced modeler, though the challenges are not so great they can't be overcome with industry and patience.

Thanks to Hobby Link and Wanamaker Hobbies for this review sample. Be sure to mention you saw it reviewed on Armorama when ordering yours.