Manufacturer: Model Die Casting, Inc., 3811 West Rosecrans Boulevard, Hawthorne, CA 90250. Price: G2110 "Big Hustler" powered and undecorated plastic and metal diesel kit, $59.98 each suggested list.

The kit has three basic subassemblies: The motor block (requiring no assembly), the two pilot beam/coupler modules, and the plastic superstructure. Depending on how fussy you are, construction time could range between thirty and ninety minutes. It is so simple, the instructions are almost superfluous: Clean the flash from the cast metal pilot beams, insert the hook/loop couplers, and secure them with the plastic "pin". Remove the plastic parts from their sprues and press-fit or cement them to the body. Press-fit (and/or cement) the pilot beams to the superstructure. Then screw the motor block into the superstructure. An eight year-old should be able to do it with no help from Mom.

The only tricky part was attaching the sideframes to the main body without a gap. The plastic sideframe castings had a slight bow. I applied Testor's Liquid Cement for Plastic to the inside of each sideframe, secured both to the body with rubber bands, and touched a small brush with more liquid cement to various parts of each sideframe where capillary action would draw the liquid against the body. Half an hour later, when the glue had dried, no gap remained and the sideframes were a perfect fit.

If you compare the photos of the model to those of actual engines, two things become apparent. First, the metal pilot beams are optional. Wooden beams and link-and-pin couplers might be more appropriate to one kind of locomotive, a sheet metal pilot and knuckle couplers to another. Second, the kit invites "bashing". You could rearrange some or all of the details or toss every one in the spare parts box and begin fresh. Plymouth, for example, manufactured many diesels similar in appearance to the Big Hustler and they often put a sand dome where MDC located the bell. The air tanks might look better on the running boards or the back of the cab than on the cab roof. And you might prefer different headlamps. Incidentally, MDC supplies shiny and glittering jewels as lenses; they fit the headlamps perfectly but are missing from our photos.

Overall, the locomotive is 7 3/16 actual inches long over its footboards, 3 1/2 inches wide, and 5 1/2 inches high. Scale dimensions would be pointless but, as the model comes, the cab dimensions appear to be closest to 1:32 scale. The door opening, for example, is 26 scale inches wide and 7 feet 3 inches high. In 1:24 scale, those dimensions shrink to about 20 inches and 5 1/2 feet-credible but pretty cramped. For that reason, the first thing many builders of larger scale models will probably do is build a new cab.

Now for performance, and that is the little gem's Achilles heel. On the positive side, the gearing is low so the model will creep along at one scale mile per hour or less and never reaches race car speeds. It will also pull many more cars than you might expect. On OR's level, indoor test track with 2 1/2 foot radius curves, our sample managed eight LGB boxcars with metal wheels before its drivers slipped! Please notice, the model does that without benefit of a traction tire. It offers better tractive effort than some models twice its size. On the less than perfect side, the mechanism on our sample tended to lurch, particularly at the lowest speeds, stall occasionally at slow speeds, and display some disappointing "rock 'n' roll". If you consider a very slight level of gear noise a fault, add that to your list. I found the noise level completely acceptable. After all, what do you expect for $59.95? The engine will negotiate 2 foot radius curves easily.

Altogether, MDC has put together one heck of a model. We would expect to see it almost everywhere someday and certainly look forward to the inevitable "bashes" many modelers will perform on them. Model Die Casting has waited a long time to present us with its first "real" large scale locomotive. This one should be a winner.-RR