Italeri 1/24 Tecnokar Trailer with 20' Tank
By Jacob Russell
The Trailer
Italeri is well known for their popular line of 1/24th scale truck and trailer kits. The Tecnokar trailer is for transporting 20 foot (6.096 meter) ISO (International Standards Organization) containers. These containers are secured to skeletal trailer frames by twist locks at all four corners and are designed to be easily moved between ships, trains and trucks. The container is designed for the transportation of flammable liquids.
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The Kit
The Tecnokar kit comes in a stout box with a nice overhead shot of the trailer in a yard "somewhere in Europe". It's a bit unclear how the trailer was backed into its parking place when the trailer front is facing the head of the stall's concrete barrier...
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The kit consists of 187 parts. 173 of these are plastic on 6 sprues molded in white, black and silver. Plus 6 rubber tires, 6 photo-etch pieces on a single fret, a decal sheet and a length of hose.
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My impressions of the kit are positive. The parts breakdown is logical: the container is molded in white, the trailer in black and the wheels silver. The pieces are well molded with minimal flash. The sprue attachment points are well located so the parts will be easily removed.
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This is a kit of sub assemblies: the container fits inside a frame that mounts on the trailer.
1/24th scale trucks are large so it's no surprise that a scaled-down 20 ft liquid container is enormous. It comprises 9 pieces molded in white plastic. The hatch at the top can be positioned open or closed.
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The container fits within a frame. The photo-etch pieces comprise the catwalk on top of this frame and they are well executed.
The trailer has a lot of parts! The detail on specific components such as the air suspension is a bit simplified and rivets and bolts are rather generic in appearance. The individual fenders look great. The wheels are highly detailed and they will look great painted and with a wash of thinned oil paints. The rubber tires have good tread and legible sidewall lettering.
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Zanchetti Buccinasco printed the decals. The decal sheet is for Norwegian operator Stolt Tank Containers. The quality of this sheet is superb. The colors are bright, the carrier film is thin, the lettering is crisp and legible and everything is in-register. It includes license plates for 18 different countries, safety reflective striping and all the tank warning markings.
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Italeri's instructions are also top notch. They are well illustrated and have a logical, easy to follow build sequence. The instructions include a parts map, decal application guide and color call outs for Italeri acrylic paints with FS (Federal Standards) numbers for each color. This is very helpful as I have never seen Italeri paints in a hobby shop!
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Conclusion
This is a great kit. It is well detailed and it will look great attached to one of Italeri's 1/24th scale European tractors. It can serve as an outstanding showcase for your painting and weathering efforts. I recommend the Tecnokar trailer kit and I would like to thank Model Rectifier Corporation for the review sample.
References
Tecnokar website:
https://www.tecnokar.it/project/trasporto_container_fisso/
Stolt Tank Containers:
https://www.stolttankcontainers.com/Services/Food-Grade-Tank-Containers
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