Scania R730 Truck “The Griffin”

Published on
October 28, 2012
Review Author(s)
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$96.00
Product / Stock #
3879
Company: Italeri - Website: Visit Site
Provided by: MRC - Website: Visit Site
Box Art

The Kit

The kit comes in a well-constructed box with a glossy photograph of a built model and the decal sheet on the front. Along the sides are more pictures of the built model and a brief description of the one-to-one vehicle. Inside, you will find over 240 parts on eight sprues, seven soft rubber tires, a comprehensive and colorful decal sheet, and a chrome adhesive sheet. Everything, except rubber tires, is individually wrapped in plastic. Parts for the body are molded in a glossy black metallic finish. The other parts are molded in a semi black finish; there are clear parts for the glass and a small chrome tree. The instruction sheet is a sixteen-page booklet. It has well-illustrated and easy-to-follow directions. The last two pages are dedicated to decal and chrome adhesive placement.

The Build

The build-up of the kit starts with the frame. It consists of two main, beefy side rails and five cross members. Suspension pieces and air tanks attach from there. The frame has slots or holes where various pieces attach, making locating them a simple endeavor.

In step two, the illustration shows a cross member with air tank attaching to the very back of the frame rails. There are no part number call outs for this part. After some investigation, I identified the parts as part # A27, A28, and A29. However, you should ignore this step as part numbers 27 and 28, which are the two halves of the air tank, will go on in step eight and part number 29 is not used.

Next comes the engine, which is comprised of 26 parts. With a bit of detail painting, it builds into a very good-looking turbo charged V8 diesel.

The front suspension, wheels, and tires go on next. The wheels are chrome-plated and even have the valve stems molded in. The tires are soft rubber and fit the wheels perfectly. The front tires are poseable and all wheels roll.

The interior is very nicely detailed and goes without a hitch. It is comprised of the floor pan, dashboard, driver and passenger seat, the door panels, the sleeper compartment with double bunk beds, and the headliner with overhead storage. The interior lends itself well to detail painting; the character lines are deep and easy to mask for a two-tone interior. The instrument panel is represented by a decal. With a liberal application of Micro Sol, it lay down nicely and makes for a convincing instrument cluster. There are mounting pins/holes for all the pieces and, complete, it is a very good-looking interior.

The exterior consists of five separate panels that attach to the interior sub-assembly. The instructions call for putting in the glass and then attaching the exterior panels. If you plan to paint the model, it will be necessary to mask off the clear parts and the interior. I decided to fit the panels to the interior for proper alignment and glue them to each other but not to the interior tub. Once the glue dried, I was able to slide the interior out, paint the exterior of the cab, and then install the glass and slide the interior back in. With careful gluing and a bit of buffing you could get away with not painting.

The cab is meant to flip forward to display the engine. It is attached to the frame with two plastic pins, but getting these pins into position requires a bit dexterity. Once in position, the ends of the pins must be melted to hold them in place. Be very careful, as the space in this area is very tight and difficult to reach – you could easily melt other parts of the model. With the pins installed the cab will tilt forward, displaying the engine;however, the weight of the cab when tilted will cause the back wheels to lift off the ground.

Final Assembly

With the cab attached, final assembly can began. There are a number of smaller parts that must be attached after the body and chassis are joined. Locating pins/holes again facilitate the placement of these parts.

The decals are awesome. They are thin and opaque. The main decal is head of a Griffin. This is a large decal and covers almost the entire side of the truck. Due to its size, it will require a liberal amount of Micro Sol and patience to get it to lie down over the many different character lines and angles along the side of the truck. The other decals go on without any problems.

The chrome adhesive pieces are a bonus and really add to the final appearance of the model. Once in place they will not peel off, so be sure to have them in proper position before burnishing them down.

Final Thoughts

This kit is awesome. The kit resulted in a very nice representation of a European tractor/trailer rig. With its custom graphics and bright chrome trim, it makes a handsome addition to the display shelf and would make an impression on the contest table. I would not recommend this kit for a beginner, but if you have a few builds under your belt and you are looking for a challenging and interesting subject, this is it.

I would like to thank Model Rectifier Corporation for providing this sample and IPMS for allowing me to review such an enjoyable kit.

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