Does anybody know if the MINI ART & MIRROR MODELS kits are the same?, it does seem odd that both companies are releasing the same vehicles at the same time!.

They are not exactly the same.
Mirror has a fixed dozer blade, Miniart has one that can be angled (manually repositioning) and they showed one in Nuremberg with another system for angle adjustment.

Mirror has a pure tractor with a winch attached at the rear end, Miniart also has a pure tractor but this one has a heavier winch.

So, it is 4 (soon to be 5) different versions. I don't know if they have shared moulds so that some parts are the same but at least it is not straight re-boxings ...
/ Robin

And it's not that odd that companies release kits of the same subject at the dance time. Many companies do it. I forgot what the most recent one was but I think it was Trumpeter and one other both had a kit of the same vehicle coming out.

Takom, Amusing Hobby and Panda each released a Object 279 tank kit in 1/35 at about the same time. They are all different kits.

Cheers,

Christophe

Mirror = LeTourneau XD7 Dozer
MiniArt = WCK7 Angledozer + LaPlant-Choate R71 Trailbuilder (as #35295 coming soon)


Michael

Mirror Models is Irish...MiniArt is not.

If my intepretation of Mirror's email is any indication of what they are working on, then a road grader might be on the way (the pic is just to tease us hopefulls...no idication this will be their model)!

I think it's something like a grader, but as a trailer, towed by the dozer!
We can find a picture here:
http://www.mirror-models.com
Maybe it's a LeTourneau scraper

Michael

A towed scraper would be really cool :-)
/ Robin

A towed scraper would be an excellent idea to work with their dozer/tractor!

(The towed roller in the background might be an easy accessory to produce or even to scratch build!)

Also Mirror does currently have a Diamond T dump truck version available.

Mike, PlusModels makes the sheepsfoot roller.

Was not aware of anyone making a sheep's foot compactor. Good to know.

Of course once again, we are talking about having to deal with a low volume, short run, resin model manufacture. They are expensive as all get out, often hard to deal with and by the time you read the announcement of a new model in the blogs the entire run has probably already been spoken for.

I would never order anything directly from these foreign resin manufactures as they have such a mixed reputation. I only purchase their items on eBay from someone who actually has the item in hand and has a good feedback rating!

http://www.plusmodel.cz/view_en.php?id=485

H.P.