HO 1:87 Scale
Year of manufacture: 1973-80
When WIKING celebrated the introduction of the rescue basket
The then new NG driver’s cab by Mercedes-Benz swayed WIKING’s decision early on – the long-standing focus on Magirus turntable ladders was to be abandoned – at least temporarily. Aside from making Mercedes-Benz the new favourite, the innovation introduced with the Metz turntable ladder DLK 23/12 allowed the model makers to showcase a much higher level of detail in the turntable ladder – and highlight the removable rescue basket as well. After the predecessors of the real-life round and square hoods, and even the first cab-over-engine generation, still hailed from Ulm, WIKING decided this time to miniaturise a turntable ladder generation that substituted a crew cab for six fire fighters with a crew cab that housed only three, thus reflecting the strategic shift in fire fighting that was taking place across all fire brigades in Germany at the time. Back then, fire brigades became convinced that crew cabs with enough seating for two crew members plus one machine operator are sufficient. What is more, the turntable ladder experts from Karlsruhe, who today operate under the roof of the Rosenbauer corporation, already relied on an upright basket back then – unlike their Ulm competitor Magirus. WIKING has now made this basket fully operational in their 1:87 scale miniature – to the delight of model enthusiasts. The basket in that generation of vehicles was designed to rest below the turntable and had to be set upright first before it could be used – this design has long been relegated to the dustbin of history as it lost the responders valuable seconds in an emergency. Even so, the Metz turntable ladder with basket, DLK 23-12 for short, is the perfect counterpart to the latest generation produced by tradition-rich Karlsruher Feuerwehrgerätefabriken, which is now part of International Rosenbauer AG.
Note – Model item, not a toy! Not suitable for children under 14 years.
