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I had been in the midst of an F1 build kick, and needed some variety, so a few months back I started this CAT and the Peterbilt 348. While not being completely paired builds, they generally took the same amount of time to build and I switched back and forth between them. Now both are close to completion, and waiting for final photos - but, where I live in northern California the days have been both smoky and cloudy; not good for taking final photos. So, in the meantime, I thought I'd post some of the WIP images. You might have seen, AMT makes a 1/25 scale CAT D8, representing a 50 or so year older dozer, but what I decided to build is current. Nonetheless, purchased the kit, and was able to scavenge a few parts for modified use. As an intro, below you can see what the two look like at the same scale. The D7R, is on the right: Aside from the basic name, there isn't much in common with these dozers - at all. Sort of alike equating a Chevrolet Corvette to a Corvair - same manufacturer, both names start with the letter C and that's about it. The AMT 1/25 kit is a bit chunky, and details soft, but it's one of the few out there. A key similarity is that both are about the same width, have similar track shoe sizes, and the blade is fairly close. I chose the D7R instead of the D8R because it's a bit smaller, which would allow me to use the AMT (toylike) tracks, as there are just enough to work on the D7R. As you can see in this highly technical study (haha), I was able to fairly quickly figure out that if the track rails were built correctly, the track would work: You can also see how ridiculous the grousers look! too big and chunky. That said, the tracks went together very easily (unlike many armor 1/35 sets), they flex a lot, and don't fall apart. Ultimately, I carved each grouser down to at least look a bit more convincing. As you can see above, the idlers and final drive sprockets needed lots of work, including clean up post modifications. The kit idlers were simply too large in diameter, so they were cut down - over 1/4" from the original diameter, and bushings added. Same with the final drive - not only cut down, but rebuilt to include a planetary hub - and, had the "opportunity" to carve all new teeth into the sprocket - funny enough, I thought about some of the work I've seen here, specifically in making wire spoke wheels, and getting them evenly spaced. Went at it with some basic geometry, clippers, knife, and rat tail file. Also built the drive shafts, spacers, and hardware from the transmission. Only a small portion of the chassis was used - it needed to be cut off in the rear, and extended in the front, and the pivot, and equalizer bar moved: The final drive on the D7R is elevated, and you can see it's placement above. Similar steps took place throughout the build, so I'll move along quickly - and not cover it all. Above, you can see this taking shape - the rails are not finished - you can see aluminum tube bushings were added to the rollers. Later, the support for the front idlers and tensioner revised. The scale reference is in the background - so, feeling OK about how it was coming together. Skipping ahead: The cabin is modular - driver's area and the cab itself. The engine....well, the AMT engine is 50+ years old, so it was heavily modified to reflect what's in there today. The turbo and air intake reconfigured, top of the head revised and so on. And with the blade and hydraulics: Unlike the kit, I decided to attach the blade to a "C" frame - allows the operator to do a bit more fine grading that otherwise. Roll over protection added. Next up, the rippers, where some kit parts were uses (but cut up and modified) and more scratch work: These worked out pretty well - actually, most of the "hydraulics" moving parts did move and reasonably well. I eventually glued them in place just for convenience as once this is done - it's huge and doesn't need movable parts that a guy would eventually, no doubt break them off - haha - and for scale, next to a modified 1/25 Ford pickup build: Even without the blade, this is big! So big that a guy developed an unconventional paint booth - a wine bottle crate: I strung the build up with wires and went at it with the airbrush. CAT yellow is quite distinctive - I think this is fairly close - a blend of Vallejo Chrome Yellow, US Interior Yellow, and a bit of Ferrari Red. It worked out pretty well - of course, post primer and paint...I discovered a few free range blobs of CA that needed to be scraped off, but not bad a finish Finally, a shot of the blade with some, but not an abundance of use showing. The focus at the time was the blade, but since a bit more grime added near hydraulics, joints and crevices: Having gone through reference pics I realized that while these get heavy use, they are generally well maintained, and the wear and tear mostly shows in a few places, and not everywhere - in a way just like weathering a piece of armor, or a racecar engine. I've been going at weathering the whole build, and am about done. Once the weather clears up, I'll get some overall pics. Thanks for having a look - Cheers and stay well - Nick

It's ALIVE!! Finally this monster build, combining the 1/24 Revell Audi R8 with the 1/24 Revell VW Samba Bus to create a sleeper..... ala, R8 Samba "Sleepah", is over! I have tried new things, rust, seriously modding a car kit & scratch building seat belts. There are faults, but overall I am more than satisfied with my efforts at a mega car mod. side 2 by Gavin Snowdon, on Flickr side by Gavin Snowdon, on Flickr top by Gavin Snowdon, on Flickr front quart by Gavin Snowdon, on Flickr Rear quart by Gavin Snowdon, on Flickr Thanks for looking and sharing the experience with me. 🍻

Hi everyone, After 3 months here is my first F1 build finished. It's Tamiya's 1/20 McLaren MP4/8 as driven by Mika Hakkinen at the end of 1993. I added the carbon decal set from Studio 27 and it turned out to be an absolute pain. I wired and plumbed the engine. I scratch built the front bulkhead and brake master cylinder assembly as well. Tamiya TS-26 and TS-36 were shot through a Grex airbrush to finish the classic paint scheme. I decided not to go fro tobacco decals as this build had already gone well over budget and it didn't some with Shell Oil decals either. A loosely compiled WIP can be found here. As always, comments and critiques are welcome! Thanks for looking, Jake