KIT: Keil Kraft 1/72 West Ham Corporation Type 'A' Tram
KIT #: K 307
PRICE: $
DECALS: One option
REVIEWER: Scott Van Aken
NOTES: Well, it is unusual!

HISTORY

There are times when one is pretty much at a loss for any explanation for a kit and this is one of those time. I can tell you that the company who did this also offers such things as a road roller, traction engine and steam wagon. Oh yes, it is British. That probably explains a lot in and of itself.

It is one of those kits that when you see it, you have to say "What?". Of course, I was immediately attracted to it as I have a penchant for the unusual and this does fit right into it. Judging from the contact atop the tram, I have to conclude that this was electrically powered. If it is like the trolley busses that I have ridden in my youth, then it had to have an aura of ozone around it and it probably produced a goodly number of sparks as it traveled across joins in the overhead wire. It also looks very much early 20th century to me as I cannot recall ever seeing any of these in the mid 1950s when I was living in England.

THE KIT

Molded in a near black plastic, the kit itself isn't that bad looking with fairly good detailing, the usual ejection pin marks on some parts and just a tad bit of flash on a few bits. Lots of sprue attachment points on some of the parts will mean a need to be cautious when removing the parts. Because of the symmetrical design of the tram itself, you basically get two identical sprues for the body and a third sprue for the top and some other fittings. There are no clear bits and I'm not sure these things actually had windows, though having to operate in the UK it would have needed them.

The instructions are basically one side of a sheet of paper and offer an exploded diagram that shows where the various bits are to be attached. Color information of the most generic variety is provided and for something like this, that is more than adequate. There is a nicely printed decal sheet, though it has started to yellow so I'd be cautious about using it without treating it with some sort of sealer ahead of time.

CONCLUSIONS

I should honestly tell you that I doubt that you'll be able to find this one on the shelves of your local hobby shop. With no date anywhere on the kit, I've got to assume it to be from the dim past of the hobby (like the 1970s). As I've not heard of the manufacturer before, I can only guess that they have since gone out of business, realizing sadly that there was little call for models of trams, steam wagons and traction engines. One thing for sure, you are unlikely to see an preview of this kit anywhere else but here on Modeling Madness!

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