Tuesday, October 01, 2013

D9R Doobi Armored Bulldozer

I needed something to keep me from going crazy building the Hobby boss HET. Great kit, just way too many parts. 1500+ ! When I heard about the HET a year or two ago, I said to myself that if I was ever to build that kit; it would need something other than a typical Abrams to load on the back. Nothing wrong with the Abrams, just not weird enough for me. 

The Caterpillar D9R by MENG fits my search for something LARGE & unusual. 



This is one of those kits that everyone in the modeling community was and still is talking about. My first introduction to MENG's products was there Toyota Hilux truck in 1/35. Great kit, simple and very little, if not any flash on the plastic. I decided to make the most of how Meng decided to layout the model. The upper portion of the hull/bad can be assembled without having to have the lower hull/superstructure attached. That will aid in painting greatly.


Unlike the Hilux this kit suffers from one serious problem. Injection mold release points. They are EVERYWHERE on this kit. Most are located in the cab ad the lower superstructure and running gear is minimal. If you had wanted to make the platforms along the side of the cab lowered, you would have to deal with those marks to fill. I'm not sure if it's a production run issue or something, but the interior of the cab needs a lot of attention to fill those marks. Having said that I decided not to fill and push forward with the cab. 






The blade is just huge. Very nicely modeled and did i mention HUGE! There is no option to angel the blade other than the main pivot point on the running gear. Not a big deal being that this will sit on the back of the HET. The back of D9R has its huge ground penetrating arm with movable actuators.









More to build and follow...

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