Introduction

When the United States in 1965 decided to jump with both feet into Vietnam's civil war, it sent in not only ground troops and aircraft, but also an enormous "tail" to support that "tooth." The Army created a massive infrastructure of bases, airfields, roads and other projects that required moving vast quantities of earth. Something special had to build all that infrastructure.

Enter the Clark 290M dozer and scraper.

The Clark Equipment Company had been making pulling-things for the government since just after World War I, including aircraft tugs, forklifts, and heavy earth-moving equipment like the 290M. Intended as a stand-alone dozer, but often pulling along a large scraper, these behemoths were used in a variety of locations, but especially Vietnam.

I have already reviewed the Hobby Link Clark 290M wheeled dozer for Armorama here. This kit is the scraper that was normally pulled behind the 290M.

Contents

Inside Hobby Link's usual nondescript brown cardboard box and 10 Ziploc baggies with 3D-printed resin parts, plastic tubing for pneumatic hoses, and decals. 

The Review

This is the companion to the Clark 290M wheeled dozer I reviewed earlier. That kit had some challenges, including warping of some of the flat surfaces, but when I combine it with this kit in a later build review, you will see it's worth the effort.

Simply put, the little boy in many of us who loved earth-moving equipment growing up will be delighted these monsters have been rendered in kit form. There are some things first-time 3D resin modelers should pay attention to, but generally these kits go together like 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 grooves that will show up after painting.

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

The scraper without the dozer kit will seem a lonely item unless placed in the right diorama, but together with the 290M, it builds into an impressive kit. Hats off to Hobby Link again from recreating the Vietnam War's motor pool, mostly for the United States. The kit is not overly-challenging to any modeler with an intermediate or above skill set. Having built a number of their kits now, I enthusiastically recommend this one.

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

Notice the "pimples" from the 3D printing process

More rough parts that will need sanding when building the kit.