Introduction

Plus Model the Czech manufacturer of resin goodness has sent Armorama some offerings for review. On this occasion one of the offering is a Stabile engine (Stable Engine in English) made entirely from resin and photo etch and supplied in 1/35th scale. This power source would have made an appearance around 1930’s and used just as the steam engines that were still around at the time. These machines were used to power farm machinery for some time and I am led to believe up to the 1960’s.

Review

This offering from Plus Model is supplied in a card box with a good quality print on it covering the product. Inside there is a bubble wrap pocket with a second sealed plastic bag inside containing the resin parts for the item. This approach is reasonable and has prevented damage in this case to the resin but the photo etch is distorted; Due to this I would urge Plus Model to consider going down the same route as the likes of ICM where packaging is concerned. Also loose inside the carton is a small piece of paper covering construction, an aspect I approve of regardless of the simplicity of the model.

This offering from Plus Model is again a nice rustic offering that has the possibility to add interest to a rural scene across Europe and North America. This offering consists mostly of resin elements, but also has photo etch, wire and decals used to complete the model. All of the castings are well done with so far as I can see only flash to contend with which is normal for resin products. Some twist damage has occurred to the photo etch which is a weakness in the packaging chosen by Plus Model in my opinion. Lastly I would like to thank Plus Model for taking the time to provide an instruction sheet in the package.

This is a horse drawn cart made of mostly cast iron. The engine is in the box at the end where the handle is and then a belt drives a cog at the other end which powers the flywheel that would have another belt to operate a piece of machinery. The small tank at the top is a gravity fed fuel tank for the engine. The chassis of this vehicle is basic and made of angle iron with all of the needed parts bolted to it. The tower with the flywheels is I believe a basic gear box, but information on this piece of kit is hard to find. I thought the engine was on top of the tower but then the box makes no sense.

The instructions do a good job of steering you through the construction of this model, and apart from cleaning up the earlier mentioned flash it only requires care when removing the casting plugs. I will say that 10 minutes spent cleaning up and sanding the parts will save you hours in construction. This really is a well tackled model as regards detail and I found the real one in the Czech Agricultural Museum, unfortunately no information was available that I could find. Leave off the decals and I see no reason for it not being used in many settings across Europe.

Conclusion

This offering from Plus Model is an unusual one when it comes to finding information on it, I will be surprised if many people looking at it will be able to tell you much beyond what it was obviously used for. If a Czech person takes a look that has been to the Museum in Prague they may be able to provide more details. The parts are in good order with the exception of the twist/bend in the photo etch and so should not cause much in the way of issues. I am not going to say this specific one was used across Europe but similar would have been and so this can be used in my opinion.