Meng D9R - Front Edge of Weathering!!!

[TRM]

I am hoping so. The right-hand window opens as well!! Cross ventilation and all!!

[Leon]

Awesome work on the interior weathering T .Defo has that lived in look bro.

[wbill76]

Man those windows really do make this one stand out. Nice progress on the interior there T!

[Teabone]

Aug 30, 2013 14:42:10 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Superb work! Looks spot on... promise you if it was my D9R, it would be spotless and clean!!!

Andy

The advantage Mr.T, Leon and I have is our wives let us play in the dirt if we want to, we don't have to be neat and clean like you we can be messy and as dirty as we want.  Of course we don't have any prissy girl friends who are out trolling with WW2 souvenirs at the Starbucks shops either.

Bones

[Teabone]

Mr.T

I have to go with the other guys no question about it great job.

Bones.

[imatanker]

T, here's an idea.Does the roof section fit well enough so you could just place it on and not glue it? That way you could remove it from time to time to show off the interior. OR, you could scratch one up from clear styrene for that Fishbowl effect   

[TRM]

Chris - Thanks buddy!! I appreciate the encouragement!! I have a could things in mind for tossing in there before she is all closed up...some "thing" are on there way and yeah, others I will be making...LOL!

Leon - Thanks a bunch...again! Moved forward last night a bit so with any luck I might have something to show later today!!

Bill - Thanks!! These windows are Hot! Even with the lid in place temporarily they look just right!!! Good Job Meng on this one!!

Bones - LOL!!! I think you are correct...of course if we walk across the floor with that dirt the will be hell to pay!!! I do like the thought of the "girlfriends" and maybe some more relics for the collection...LOL!!! Thanks BTW glad to have you along for this one!!

Jeff - Thanks for the ideas...I was going to fix the roof in place when I was done so I had made provisions for one of the communication lines I added to run from the ceiling mounted unit to the console that wraps around...problematic if this is attached...LOL!! Maybe, I can fix this in place from the panel up and have it appear to go into the equipment....woth a try! The top fit snug when the side armor is installed correctly. Might be a small joint near the door that would go away when glued...but if the top were off for viewing it shouldn't matter.

BENCH DAY!!! WOO HOO!! Not working and there is a threat of rain!!! Putting on some Indian feathers and heading out to do a rain dance shortly!! Take it when you can get it!!!

[Teabone]

Mr. T

I qualified our permitted activity as "play in the dirt" not to be dirty.

Bones

[TRM]

Aug 31, 2013 10:24:19 GMT -5 Teabone said:

Mr. T

I qualified our permitted activity as "play in the dirt" not to be dirty.

Bones

LOL...all the same to me brotha'!!

[Teabone]

Aug 31, 2013 10:55:33 GMT -5 TRM said:

Aug 31, 2013 10:24:19 GMT -5 Teabone said:

Mr. T

I qualified our permitted activity as "play in the dirt" not to be dirty.

Bones

LOL...all the same to me brotha'!!

But not all the same to our sweethearts.

[TRM]

LOL...I will give you that Bones!! But it would depend on the sweetheart as well!!

[Teabone]

Aug 31, 2013 15:56:56 GMT -5 TRM said:

LOL...I will give you that Bones!! But it would depend on the sweetheart as well!!

That is SO true.

Bones

[AndyArgent.]

Awsome and looking very realistic bud.love it.

[TRM]

Almost missed you there Andy!! Thank you my friend!!

OK, time for another little update! Finally getting 90% of the operator's station worked out I buttoned up the walls and began adding some of the add-on armor! Step 14 though 17 show the bulk parts as being:









These are all pretty much straight forward. There is one application of PE on a grab handle to the left of the door, the rest being small handles and such but these larger pieces make up the bulk of the exterior of the cabin.









These parts really start to bulk out the look of this beast. They also bring up the weight a bit too...things are noticeably heavier which is not a bad thing!!

Here is a shot with the roof installed. There is a nice snug fit here so I may of may not be leaving this one as an option...time will tell!



Moving forward, it is all about the running gear now! I cleaned up the rollers and idlers along with the elevated sprocket and bogies.



All of the wheel sections go together like a dream! As for the bogies, not too bad. I have seen some horror shows as this is one area that a lot of people have a problem with or get frustrated over due to the fit. I can only tell you what I observed and worked on. Yes, the connecting mold edge is a little less than desirable. Is it workable..Yes!

For the purposes of this debate, I have one sanded and one not sanded.



The not sanded is the one on the top in the picture. All I needed to do was take a course sanding stick and lay the stick flat along the adjoining pieces and clean them...that was pretty much it. Before hand there were some gaps but these were dure to cast of from the mold and are removed really easy.



The joint was not too bad after gluing as in the one on top again. A needle file and some fine grade sandpaper, it was done in a few minutes.

Please Note: In regards to the rollers, the installation instructions ask that the wheels and the two halves of the running gear go together at once!...LOL I did manage to do one this way. I would submit that you try the second way I went at this. I placed the two idlers, which do not get glued and then glued the two halves together. Then fit the rollers, also not glued, after the glue dries on the two halves. Put one post in and then slightly and gently bend the two sides out until the part slides in and locks into the corresponding inset. This method took about 3 minutes whereas the first took 15 to 20. Just food for thought!!



The elevated sprockets have a Poly-cap to be installed allowing full movement of this part when done....I really like the way these look!!



After these sections all came together I am still able to dry fit all of the larger components of this Dozer together and still be able to break it down for ease of painting later! So of course I needed to dry fit and I figured I would toss up a perspective shot. This is a figure I grabbed off the bench to show the collective size of this one!! This one keeps getting bigger and bigger!!



Off to fit some track I think and keep putting on some of the smaller peripheral items I neglected along the way...like handles, lights and what not!!

As always, thanks for dropping in!!

[imatanker]

Todd, this thing just gets better and better . I never thought a Dozer would be this cool. Guess I need to broaden my horizons a bit 

[Leon]

WOW that looks huge T .Looking really awesome all dry fit.Looking forward to see how it looks with shoes on.

[TRM]

Jeff - Thanks bro! Nothing wrong with thinking outside the box!!!

Leon - Thank you again my friend!! The tracks are on and everything seems to look OK....taking a break and working on something else at the moment but will be attacking this again shortly!!

[Teabone]

Mr.T

Looking better and better as it comes together, I take it from what you say the tracks are not going to be a problem which is good.  I have to say that your narrative has been excellent for those of us riding along with you.

Bones

[Teabone]

Mr. T

The below links give a lot of information on the use of D9's by IDF.  Caterpillar does not make the D9R in its armored variation they provide construction tractors to the Israelis among others and they are modified by the user.  On the last link there are a lot of pictures showing much more of the IDF armored construction equipment of various types.  Also in the links one will find that there are three D9 models that have been converted by the IDF to what has evolved as the D9R and two of those would make the basis for some scratch building of additional examples.

There are pictures of the interior of an armored excavator and it certainly shows your crew cab as being spot on fro weathering.

Bones



www.army-technology.com/projects/armoured-d9r-dozer

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDF_Caterpillar_D9

www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Caterpillar_D9/

sites.google.com/site/mathknight6/home/idf-d9

[TRM]

Hey Bones! Thanks again for following along and for the fine comments! I try to be descriptive sometimes...often comes out as too wordy..LOL!

Thanks for the links! Very informative! I knew of Caterpillar supplying the IDF with the base tractor and then having a company specializing in armor overhauls doll her up, from researching for my review on Armorama. The Desert Eagle book is very informative and shows a tremendous amount of pictures, which helps. These links are great as they show move actual use of the beast...the last one even more. There are links to some Israeli forums that have some great discussion as well as some really nice pics getting down and dirty!! I should be angry...LOL...Now I want to surf all the sites within the sites!!! There will be now time for building!! LOL!!!!

Thanks Again!!

[wbill76]

Nice progress on the monster! Those suspension elements look very nicely detailed, got to love that sprocket.

[Teabone]

Mr. T

Never enough words.

Bones

[wouter]

Nice work again on the interior T!!!

And darn, didn't realize that the dozer was THAT big

Cheers

[`Boots`]

Freakin` awesome work buddy ...............the interior is absolutely superb, musn`t visit here anymore..........coz i ferkin` want one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, brill work bro

P.S. only joking about visiting btw

[bullardino]

What can I say? I'm speechless... Outstanding job

[TRM]

Thank Bill! Pretty much the whole lower end is a looker!!

Bones, LOL...be careful what you wish for!!

Wouts, Thanks my friend!! LOL..it is deceiving! Like stacking two panthers on top of each other and using a PzIII as a plow blade!!!

Boots! LOL...all good brotha'!! Thank you btw!! In time my friend...in time!!

Luigi...almost.....almost missed you there...again today!! LOL!! Thank you Sir!!!




OK, I wasn't planning on an update so soon but I was asked a question on masking for the windows and thought I would toss up a picture that might shed some light...they do say a picture is worth a thousand words!



I took ordinary painter's tape and taped this to my mat with the sticky side up. I traced one of the small lower window frames onto a piece of styrene card stock. Once the piece was cut out, simply stick the template on the tape and trace the template with a sharp #11. This works well since the tape holds the template pretty much until cutting is complete and then aid in picking up the mask since it is stuck to the template....peel off with some tweezers and apply!! Insta-masks for the D9R!! Especially nice since all of the windows are the same size, just keep cutting!!



You can also see I had the chance to fit the tracks last night!! So its on to tiny pieces then onto the Blade!! Getting close now!!!



I am thinking the masks came out decent!! Thanks for stopping by!!!

[bullardino]

Nice idea for the masks, I was just asking myself ho yu'd get along with the windows

[imatanker]

Who was that Masked Man? Nice work T. I know I don't have to tell you to make sure your edges are stuck down

[Teabone]

Mr.T

Looks like you have a new product here like the guys who sell the circular tape cut outs for masking idler wheels for painting, I think maybe your fortune is made.

It is a great idea and thanks for sharing it.

Bones

[Deleted]

Some great work going into this 'Cat',Todd !!.....I think we're gonna see a few of these popping up within the next few shows....