Tuesday, January 11

Preview: Down on the farm - MiniArt's releases their 1/35th scale European agricultural tractor w/ cart...

MiniArt has taken a different trailer to add to their 1930's agricultural tractor, combined it with a farmer & wife & some farm tools to come up with this, their new "European Agricultural Tractor With Cart" kit. These carts & tractors were in use for most of the last century in europe, so they are a smart choice for diorama builders with a love for the farm. See what's in the kit in our preview...
Preview: Down on the farm - MiniArt's releases their 1/35th scale European agricultural tractor w/ cart...

European Agricultural Tractor With Cart
From MiniArt
Kit No #38055 
1/35th scale
The kit contains a  cargo trailer
The kit has four marking choices
The Subject: European Agricultural Tractor With Cart
The Lanz D85000 1938 "Bulldog" is the subject of another of MiniArt's boxings, this time with an older agricultural cart that could range way back to the 30's and forward till the 50's in most agricultural scenes.
Lanz D85000 1938 "Bulldog"  in real life
The Lanz Bulldog was a tractor manufactured by Heinrich Lanz AG in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Production started in 1921 and various versions of the Bulldog were produced up to 1960. The Lanz Bulldog was one of the most popular German tractors, with over 220,000 of them produced in its long production life. The name "Bulldog" is widely used in Germany as a synonym for tractors even today, especially in Bavaria.

It is very hard to find pictures of this tractor with the right tyres/ wheels to match the time period - as most of the remaining tractors have rubber tyres
The Bulldog was a simple and easily maintained vehicle due primarily to its simple, single-cylinder, horizontal, two-stroke, hot bulb engine. Initially, the engine was a 6.3 litre, 12 horsepower unit, but as the Bulldog evolved the engine was increased to 10.3 litres and 55 horsepower. 
While hot-bulb engines were crude, they were easy to maintain and could burn a wide variety of low-grade fuels – even waste oils. The engine was designed by Fritz Huber. Bulldogs were also produced in Spain by Lanz Iberica S.A. at Getafe near Madrid. A total of 17,100 tractors were built from 1956 to 1963.
The Bulldog design was copied in other countries by several different manufacturers. While some of these copies were legitimately produced under license from Bulldog, most of them were built with each respective builder's own frame and body design, being powered by unlicensed copies of the patented Bulldog hot-bulb engine. 
This tractors were made all around the world and preserved to this day by collectors...

France
"Le Percheron" was a licensed copy of the 25 HP hot-bulb Bulldog, built by Société Nationale de Construction Aeronautique du Centre (SNCAC) at Colombe in France from about 1939. It is believed that nearly 3,700 were built before production ceased in 1956.
Australia
The KL Bulldog was produced by Kelly & Lewis of Springvale, Victoria, Australia from 1948 to December 1952. Just over 860 were built, based on the 35 HP Model N Bulldog.
Poland
Ursus produced a copy of the 45 HP Bulldog at the ZM Ursus factory (Zakłady Mechanicze Ursus) in Poland in Ursus near Warsaw from 1947, called the C-45. It was replaced by the C-451 in 1957, and from 1960 the production was moved to Zakłady Mechaniczne in Gorzów Wielkopolski. About 55,000 Ursus C-45/C-451 were built from 1947 until 1965.

Argentina
In 1951 a copy of the 55 HP Bulldog was produced by Industrias Aeronáuticas y Mecánicas del Estado in Argentina
Preserved or left to die tractors of this type could be a very good modelling subject...

This new boxing from MiniArt includes:
Combining the parts of MiniArt's very popular Lanz Bulldog tractor from 1930's vintage, some agricultural tools on a sprue two figures of a farmer and perhaps his wife (or cousin?). These and the older, 1900 vintage older cart to haul them all around make this a different set for those who want to really show their scene on the farm at most any time up until the 50's in the last century.

The kit parts - sprues: Parts for the tractor first
Farm tools are included in this set for the farm tractor of course...
The trailer parts now...
Two figures are included in the kit
Photo-etched parts & decal sheet included
The colours, being an agricultural tractor, can be whatever you want!
See more about all of MiniArt's kits on their website...