Author Topic: 4079 ADAC recovery truck  (Read 9267 times)

Offline Gepetto

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Re: 4079 ADAC recovery truck
« Reply #10 on: May 04, 2009, 16:31:43 »
Thank you Gordon, I was just wondering if this was a commercial or government organization affiliated with Search and Rescue.



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Offline playmofire

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Re: 4079 ADAC recovery truck
« Reply #11 on: May 04, 2009, 19:23:10 »
Well, I'm not long back from a very pleasant 5 hours or so out walking on an English Heritage walk so now I'll get on with the rest of the review. It's partly in the form of a photostory to make it a bit more interesting.

Matthias loved his little Smart, but didn't always look after it properly and one day when out on a drive, it broke down.

He 'phoned the ADAC on his mobile and Ralf soon had his recovery truck there, reporting his arrival by mobile and then setting up a warning sign for other traffic.

“Today well-lived makes every yesterday a day of happiness to remember and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”

Offline playmofire

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Re: 4079 ADAC recovery truck
« Reply #12 on: May 04, 2009, 19:31:31 »
Ralf then set out traffic cones for protection and had a look at the problem with his tool kit.  It wasn't good.  This was a take away job rather than a repair by the roadside one, and so Ralf began to lower the rear of his truck prior to winching the broken down car aboard.

“Today well-lived makes every yesterday a day of happiness to remember and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”

Offline playmofire

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Re: 4079 ADAC recovery truck
« Reply #13 on: May 04, 2009, 19:50:00 »
Ralf then hooks the car to the winch and begins to winch it onto the truck.  It's quickly in place and Ralf is ready to go
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Offline playmofire

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Re: 4079 ADAC recovery truck
« Reply #14 on: May 04, 2009, 20:46:31 »
Some more detail on the truck and other accessories now.

On the left side of the chassis, looking from the rear, there is a moulded fuel tank and a storage area behind it.  With the truck come a couple of containers of the sort used for oil, one with a sticker indicating it is for use with motorcycles, the other with a sticker showing part of a car engine.  There is also a battery and jump leads and all these neatly fit into the storage space.

On the right side of the chassis is a longer storage space.
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Offline playmofire

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Re: 4079 ADAC recovery truck
« Reply #15 on: May 04, 2009, 20:53:58 »
To go in the right hand storage, there is a tool box, a set of seven mechanics' tools and two axle stands.  These fit quite snugly in the storage space, with the wheel brace for wheel changing behind the axle stands as it is too big to go in the tool box.  As the axle stands would be used when changing a wheel, it's quite sensible for these and the wheel brace to be stored together.

On the flat bed of the truck there is storage space, too, which can take the four traffic cones and the warning sign.  How these are stored depends on the size of the car being transported.  With the Smart, the four cones can be stacked at one side and the warning sign at the other.  With a large car, a pair of cones needs to be stored at each side with the warning sign in the middle.
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Offline playmofire

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Re: 4079 ADAC recovery truck
« Reply #16 on: May 04, 2009, 21:01:10 »
As I've said, both small cars such as the Smart and larger cars, in the photo the family car from set 3139 (http://www.collectobil.com/catalogue/catalogue.html).
There is a pronounced ridge into which the front wheels of a car fit to keep it securely in place.

As you can see, it's a bit of a squeeze getting a large car on. 

Lastly, a shot of the mechanism for tilting and extending the flat bed for loading and unloading cars.
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Offline playmofire

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Re: 4079 ADAC recovery truck
« Reply #17 on: May 04, 2009, 21:19:23 »
One final photo showing the winch, warning markings and spotlights on the flat bed bulkhead.

So how do I rate the set as whole?

The criticisms first.  The large silver box which comes with the set and which can be seen behind the car at the end of the little recovery story is really redundant.  There is nowhere to store it properly as it won't fit in any of the storage areas behind the flat bed bulkhead, and the only items spare to store in it are the four traffic cones and the warning sign, plus it will only take three cones and that's all.  Maybe if this item had been omitted a driver could have been provided for the Smart, the lack of which is a minor criticism.

A good point is the printing on the vehicle sides and warning roof light (which, of course, works) rather than using stickers. (Stickers are used for the number plates of the two vehicles, the lenses of the spotlights, the truck rear lights and the ADAC sign above the radiator grille nad the battery and the oil container details.)  The printing is neat and crisp, as are the reflective stripes printed on the sides of the storage areas on the chassis.  The new design winch is a neat and effective piece of work and the mechanism for tilting and extending the flat bed, although a bit stiff, works smoothly and well.  The ADAC uniform of the truck driver is nicely printed and well-detailed with reflective striping on the arms which cannot ne seen in the photos.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the set, especially at the price I paid for it which I estimate in effect gave me free postage to the UK (comparing what I paid with the price of the recycling truck which seems to be a comparable vehicle).  It will be a great help in dealing with breakdowns and the aftermath of road traffic collisions in the Copt Hewick area.

Thanks for your time and patience in reading this far.
“Today well-lived makes every yesterday a day of happiness to remember and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”

Offline Gepetto

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Re: 4079 ADAC recovery truck
« Reply #18 on: May 04, 2009, 22:12:44 »
Thank you Gordon for the excellent review and explanatory pictures! This set does appear to be a pretty good value. Is this the color of the real life ADAC vehicles?

Offline leefert

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Re: 4079 ADAC recovery truck
« Reply #19 on: May 04, 2009, 22:13:40 »
That looks like a neat truck! 
I'm glad that I'm not the only one :)