Meng 1/35 D9R Armoured Bulldozer

[alextheblue]

With the Bomber SiG and Cold War GB's finished, I fancied doing doing some armour. I've had my eye on this kit for a while now and finally got it for my birthday back in July. I am planning on entering something into the WW1 GB, but until I've decided what to do, this will make a nice distraction.

Very nice box art! I used to drive up the M4 into London for work and there's many a time that I wished I was in one of these. No more traffic jams for me!!



Typical Meng, the box is stuffed full of plastic. Good quality "hard" plastic as well, none of this soft rubbish.



I got a bit of a surprise when I saw the instructions. They look almost like a photocopy and not the nice quality that I usually associate with Meng. Normally the quality of paper is very good, quite thick and nice and glossy. Whilst they are never in full colour, the front illustration always is. But these are black and white and quite flimsy. Then it dawned on me. Meng do their own paints now and the instructions always used to show Mr Hobby and Vallejo colour call-outs (I think!). Obviously they have changed them to show their own - makes sense.



There's still a full colour sheet showing the colour schemes.



Decals and PE. Not much of either, but both of good quality.





And onto the build. Usual fantastic quality that you expect with Meng. No flash and EPM's are kept to sensible places. There are a few that have the "lugs" attached to the EPM, but I believe that this is because they are on the inside of the mould an not easy to remove. Not a problem though, as they are easy to cut off and as I mentioned, they are on the inside.

Everything went together like a dream and I swear, you could tip the contents of the box out onto the floor and it would put itself together! Well, not quite. But almost!

To start off with, it's the undercarriage and riper.









I jumped ahead a couple of steps so that I could include the cab floor.







Then onto the cab interior. Seats, panels, switchgear etc.





And then onto the armour plates and door.



Quick dry fit of everything to get an idea of the overall size.











And that's where I'm at.

What a fantastic kit. The ripper assembly has fully working hydraulic pistons and bearing in mind the sheer number of parts, it's testament to Mengs superb quality. You do have to be careful when gluing the pistons and go lightly with the Tamiya Extra Thin. It would be easy for the glue to get into the internals and onto the ram, gluing it into place.

Next up, I'll mask up the windows and I can get to painting up the interior. Ah, happiness is an airbrush with a paint-cup full of paint!!

Thanks for taking a look!

[digger303]

AWESOME bit of machinery

[Twokidsnosleep]

Ya, I love this dozer
Posssibly the only armour I would build
Good choice bud

[MarkVerploeg]

A very very very nice kit
One of my all time favorite kits (maybe that is why i made 1 and have 2 in the stash)
Have fun with the build

[Gary30]

Looks great so far, would love to have a go at one of these one day, added to my list.

[alextheblue]

Update One

Thanks for all the great comments and apologies for not responding sooner. Been a bit tied up with "other stuff", it catches up with us all right. I can't complain though, managed to get a ton of models completed in the first eight or nine months of the year, so it's only fair that I hit a lean patch now. It's the yin and yang of the universe!

I've actually got a load of work done on this, but I'll break it down into a couple of updates rather than blast it all in one go.

With the interior all built, it was time to start painting in the details.







The decals for the main instrument panel looked like they were going to be a pain, so I decided to cut them up. I then used some of the decals and painted in the rest of the detail. It kind of works.



With the outside of the windows masked up, it was time to fix the walls together. Do you even get walls in a bulldozer!!





I'll call it a day for this update, but not without a couple of comments on the kit itself. To start with, the kit went together like a dream, just what you would expect from Meng. As I got further into the build, I started to notice more and more EPM's. Not a huge problem as most were on the "inside" and therefore, wouldn't be seen. But on a lot of them, there was still a lug of styrene and these started to appear a lot! Again, not a huge problem, as they snap of easily, but still a pain in he posterior when you just want to press on with the build. I will confess, this is just a personal niggle as for me, the building part in general is a PITA - I just want to get on with the painting and weathering!! Still, overall, it's a fantastic kit and huge fun to put together.

Thanks for taking a look!

[JoaquinGM]

I want to build this kit some day.

Follow this thread.

[alextheblue]

I want to build this kit some day.

Follow this thread.

I'd definitely recommend it. With your skills, it would look amazing when finished!

Your building this kit I mean, not my thread!!

[alextheblue]

Update Two

Everything is virtually painted now. Primer was Ultimate grey and the base colour was Vallejo Model Air, khaki hemp I think. I know there's a lot of discussion about IDF armour colours, but I would always say, go with what looks right to you. I wasn't too concerned about getting the colour totally right, as there's going to be a lot of weathering.

The ripper.





The running gear assemblies were fun, as there were huge gaps that needed muchos filler. I'm not used to using filler on armour models as they very rarely need any.



I've made a start with the blade. Again Ultimate grey primer covered with AK Extreme Metal aluminium, followed by two generous coats of chipping fluid. I used an old toothbrush and a cocktail stick to get the desired effect. There's still a way to go with the weathering, but I'm not going to muddy them up too much. I'm going for more of a dusty look.





The tracks were a huge pain. Nothing seemed to locate properly anywhere and everything was a bit "vague". They went together though and they are working tracks, which is a bonus.



The cab and main body.







I assembled the roof separately so it can be taken off to view the interior.









And that's me up to date. Still a ton of stuff to do, but I'm getting there.

Thanks for taking a look!

[JoaquinGM]

I want to build this kit some day.

Follow this thread.

I'd definitely recommend it. With your skills, it would look amazing when finished!

Your building this kit I mean, not my thread!!

Dude, you are doing a fantastic job.
This interior looks great!

Let's see the rest.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Spec-freakin-tacular
Love it mate

[DRUMS01]

This is a real nice thread of a quality build. Construction equipment always cry out for details and weathering; you are doing a masterful job at all of it. Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing it with us.

Ben

[alextheblue]

I want to build this kit some day.

Follow this thread.

I'd definitely recommend it. With your skills, it would look amazing when finished!

Your building this kit I mean, not my thread!!

Dude, you are doing a fantastic job.
This interior looks great!

Let's see the rest.

Thanks Joaquin, appreciate the kind words.

Spec-freakin-tacular
Love it mate

Thanks Scott!

This is a real nice thread of a quality build. Construction equipment always cry out for details and weathering; you are doing a masterful job at all of it. Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing it with us.

Ben

Thanks Ben, you're too kind!

When it comes to weathering, I'm happier than a pig in sh........... well, lets just say, up to its ears in weathering pastels and washes!!

[alextheblue]

Update Three

Have been working on the tracks mostly. Paint used is AK interactive - not a great fan of it as its a pig to spray, but these colours are quite nice, especially for well used tracks. More for WWII vehicles really, but I thought I'd give them a go here.





I'll probably leave dry-brushing and pigments until they are in place and that way I can blend them in with the rest of the weathering.

I've done a little bit more work on the blade and the ripper, but not too much, just a little bit of rust here and there. All weathering so far has been with an airbrush, but once it's all together, I can get in there with a hairy-stick and start with the finer details with oils and enamels.

Couldn't resist dry fitting it and it's quite a sizeable beast. You wouldn't want to get hit by one of these things staggering home from the pub!!







Thanks for taking a look!

[JoaquinGM]

You go fast!!

[alextheblue]

You go fast!!

Thanks Joaquin. A lot of the painting was done a couple of weeks ago, I've just been picking away at it since then. As I always say, what I lack in skill, I make up for in speed!

[alextheblue]

Update Four

On to the light clusters now and this is last of the construction. After these, it's just a matter of putting everything together, touching up the paint work and finishing the weathering.

I chose this option for the lights.



And decided to paint them as though they were replacements from a civilian dozer.



Way too clean like that, so using Mr Hobby Aqueous metal black, I chipped them up.





I'm at the final stages now, but it still seems like there's a ton to do.

Thanks for taking a look!

[JoaquinGM]

You are making a great work, keep going.

[schweinhund227]

[alextheblue]

You are making a great work, keep going.

Joaquin

Norm

It was your's and Mark's (MarkVerploeg) builds that inpsired me to get this kit. I still drool over the pictures of your D9R!

[schweinhund227]

You are making a great work, keep going.

Joaquin

Norm

It was your's and Mark's (MarkVerploeg) builds that inspired me to get this kit. I still drool over the pictures of your D9R!

You are most welcomed my man! I have entertained the idea of getting the Birdcage one... it was a cool build.
keep up the good work.

[bfrd]

I love the weathering that you are doing! That amount of chipping is perfect.

[Tiger131]

love your chipping work on this looks really used and beat up keep it coming

[alextheblue]

You are most welcomed my man! I have entertained the idea of getting the Birdcage one... it was a cool build.
keep up the good work.

Yeah, I did see one guy who scratch built his own birdcage armour. It looked really nice.

I love the weathering that you are doing! That amount of chipping is perfect.

Thanks Matthew, appreciate the kind words!

love your chipping work on this looks really used and beat up keep it coming

Thanks Tiger! You know me, love a few chips - specially with a nice bit of haddock!

[alextheblue]

Update Five

And the work goes on. Each stage is taking me about an hour and each time I'm only using about 10 drops of paint (mixed with 12 to 15 drops of SLT). Paints have been Tamiya buff and Mr Hobby Aqueous dark sand and light mud. All sprayed with an H&S Infinity turned down as low as it will go (about 10 psi). Any lower and the paint wouldn't come out at all!!

Trying to build the effects up to slowly to depict old sand/dust/dirt (the lighter stuff)with newer grime (the darker stuff). Not too much more to do now. There's the MG to fit to the roof along with some other bits and bobs. I'll add some pigments to make some of the dirt look more gritty and then some very light touches with a rust wash. Here's where I'm at so far. My bench lights are very bright and make the colours look quite stark, but it gives you an idea.







Had an old base that's got a Bradley M3A3 on it, so I thought I'd swap them over to get an idea. Always think models look better when you add a base - gives it some context. Might have to do a diorama.



Thanks for taking a look!

[JoaquinGM]

Great build and work!!
Congrats!!

[alextheblue]

Great build and work!!
Congrats!!

Cheers Joquain!

[alextheblue]

Update Six

I'm going to call this one done now. From the pics, it doesn't look as though much has been done, but it was all those fiddly little bits that you leave until the end. The hydraulic hoses have been fitted in place. Initially, I thought these would be a little tricky, but they were actually quite straightforward. The blade has been attached along with all the gubbings. The tracks have been lightly dry-brushed with Tamiya metallic silver; the MG's been finished and fitted and some engine oil stains have been put in strategic places.











I have seen from these pics that one of the hoses has tried to escape and I have forgotten to fit the lens covers on the rear lights. Looks like I haven't finished after all!

I'll try and get some better pictures taken over the weekend (once it's properly finished) and put them up in the relevant finished section.

It has been a great kit to build - you've got to love Meng. Everything about these kits screams quality and they are worth every penny. The detail is phenomenal and the engineering and fit is quite breathtaking. For anyone that enjoys the painting and weathering aspects of the hobby, but perhaps hasn't tried any armour yet - definitely consider this one. You won't be disappointed!

Thanks for taking a look!

[Twokidsnosleep]

THAT monster is solidly cool looking
Wow you did a great job making her look used and abused
Awesome

[digger303]

very nice work

[alextheblue]

THAT monster is solidly cool looking
Wow you did a great job making her loo used and abused
Awesome

Thanks Scott. I like 'em dirty!!

very nice work

Thanks digger!

[tiking]

Really nice work. I have had this kit for a long time and have not started on it due to not knowing what I want to do to it.
I am stickler for doing 'different'. Never did like to do what everyone is doing. I loose interest. But it is great to see how others do to a similar model.

Quick question. How easy was the tracks to put together?

[Kevthemodeller]

How did I miss this

Amazing work

[DRUMS01]

Very nice work, now you need a heavy equipment hauler (smile)...

Ben

[tiking]

Outstanding!!!