Caterpillar CAT 12 grader Norscot

Brand - Reference

Norscot 55173

Type

Caterpillar CAT 12 grader

Comments

Metal model, with some plastic parts. The details are few and reproduced very roughly. No glazing. It looks like good old Matchbox. Display box unnecessarily huge.

The scale is quite well respected. However, the wheels are too small. Compare with the photo of the real machine.

Mass (to be taken into account if wagon loading): 40 g

Modifications

Engine block and radiator grille painted. Front tyres mounted the right way round.

History

In all likelihood ¹, this is the type 12E, which came out in 1959, with a six-cylinder diesel engine with 115 hp. Mass in running order: about 13 t. It was the last of the line (born in 1938) to be equipped with purely manual, non-assisted controls, nicknamed “wrist breakers”.

In the name D12, the 12 expresses the width of the blade, in feet.

1- Two clues:

• the Norscot collection is a line of scale models depicting pre-1960 equipment;
• the 12E was the first type equipped with an in-line six-cylinder engine, and this is visible on the exhaust manifold of the model engine.

Documents:

• Wikipedia article.
• Video on YouTube. Show the video.

  

• Photos on Wikimedia.
• Specification sheet on ccmodels.com (PDF).
• Article on the early days of CAT 12 on caterpillar.com.
• A history of CAT 12 on contractormag.co.nz.