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The majority of the dozer was constructed of various thicknesses of 'plastic-card' the first section was obviously the main body, this was quite simple the fiddly bit was adding all the rivets, these were cut out using thin plastic
card and a punch-and-die set and then applied using a small drop of liquid-glue.
The winch and motor on the back was made of various sized discs of plastic
laminated together with picture hanging wire wrapped around them. The raised
writing on the end of the winch reel was made by painting the word
'CATERPILLAR' over and over again, each time over the top of the time before
to build up the thickness.
The side supports for the wheels were again made up of plasticard built up
and laminated together until the correct 'look' was achieved. The rear
toothed wheel was made of plastic discs laminated together with the centre
one made several millimetres larger and the teeth filed out using a round
file. The front wheel was from a section of plastic overflow pipe with the
centre filled with plastic card and drilled out to form the spokes and the
ribs added using more thin card.
The tracks were the most time consuming with each link being made of five
pieces of plastic-card with the rivets embossed from underneath and the
linking bolt being a cut down small pin for each one.
The arms of the blade were constructed of thick plastic-card laminated
horizontally to form the interlocking joints, the finished assembly being put
together without glue and then joined using metal pins so that it actually
articulated like the original, only then was it glued as I considered it
looked right.
The blade was basically a hollow box of thin plastic-card with the front
section bowed inwards to form the curve, the hydraulic rams were made from
aluminium tubing.
Apart from adding a crew member from 'Airfix Multipose british Infantry' ,
rolled up tissue paper tarpaulin and assorted tools and jerrycans hung off
the back, that about finishes the construction of the model.
The whole thing was then painted using Humbrol enamels, light grey for the
body and 'track colour' for the tracks. All was given a thin wash of matt black mixed with white spirit, dry brushed with lighted shades of grey, streaks of orange rust added and a thin dusting of sand colour added around the running gear, not too much as the vehicle would have just come out of the water.
That's the end I hope it hasn't gone on too long and proves to be of use to
you, it was actually one of my simpler models but one I very much enjoyed
making.
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