Texaco Bug
US Refuelling Vehicle

Hauler, 1/120 (TT scale)

Reviewed by Graham Carter

Summary

FirstLook

This is a resin kit with a PE fret for the finer details and comes in a strong small ( 50x30x95mm) end-opening green box with a B&W photo of an original on the top in 1/120 scale - an unusual choice which may restrict sales as I am unaware of many aircraft kits in this railway scale although I believe there are a few airliners out there. As you can tell from the kit number, this is not the first 1/120 kit they have produced and a quick dive into their web-site will reveal a lovely collection of similarly scaled items. Most of these are military and mainly Axis or Soviet items but also a great range of civilian buses, trucks and farm machinery, mostly between-the-wars items such as horse-drawn mowers, traction engines and ploughing equipment. There are a few modern cars, probably to be used as airport accessories. Included is a gob-smacking fret of PE bicycles which look just amazing - worth a look-see at www.Hauler.cz!

That aside , this is a lovely little kit made up of 12 finely cast grey resin parts, two vac formed cabin window inserts ( in case the first one is messed up, which it never seems to be, that is reserved for when only one is provided!).

These comprise a body shell, chassis and rudimentary axles that fit onto cast springs and a set of six wheels with fair representation of ted and hub detail.  A bit of care and a sharp saw and then a blade will be needed to separate the main parts from their substantial blocks, and a wafer of flash will need to be carved out of the windows to accommodate the clear piece, which itself needs to be trimmed from its backing.

A simple cabin consists of two seats and an instrument panel. Small sections need to be cut out of the base of the springs to accommodate the axles but no measurements for these are given - trial and error methinks, especially to get all six wheels safely on the deck!

Fine details such as mirrors, steering wheel and column and wipers come on the PE fret and will require more dexterity than this reviewer possesses!!

No interior colours are identified.

Instructions are simple but clear and occupy both sides of a halved A5 sheet in B&W with the three decal choices on the rear, along with colour notes. All are Texaco Red with the white names and a couple of logos all provided on the small but well-printed decal sheet  which has a blue background so that the white markings are easily picked out. This, and the PE fret are contained in a separate clear sleeve.

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Thumbnail panels:

If you work in this scale then this will be a cute lil’ critter to have around an airfield scene or in your display cabinet. Recommended to such modellers or someone who wants something a bit different in their collection - an Aero coach would be a logical follow-up.

Thanks to Hauler for the sample.