Hitachi Zaxis 135US Excavator - Hasegawa 1:35

[Svedberg]

This is a kind of experiment. I have not built a plastic kit in, I guess, 45 years! And I have always dreaded taking on air brushing. But now I have decided that it is time for some changes in both these departments. So I have started to build a Hitachi Zaxis 135US Excavator. A 1:35 scale kit by Hasegawa. No, I'm not into construction or civil engineering and thus do not know more than any ordinary citizen about excavators. So why an excavator? I assume I just found this modell to be cool.

 

 

 

As I already said, airbrushing has not been a favourite of mine. Throughout the years I have made some attempts but only ended up with clogging and every other possible mishap. This time however, I have decided to make a more serious attempt. So far I have at least learned to not be outright scared bye the airbrush 😀

 

Regarding the kit at hand, I have put together the major sub-assemblies and given them a coat of primer. Like this:

 

 

Yes I know, the primer is a little thin on the orange parts. But this will have to do. There will be other layers of paint on top.

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by Svedberg
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[phildagreek]

Looks good.

[Svedberg]

On 27/09/2018 at 23:13, phildagreek said:

Looks good.

Thanks @phildagreek I did not see yor response until now. Sorry.

[Svedberg]

Progress has been slow but at last the cabin is all done. Here are the parts, ready for assembly.

 

 

I tried to tint the glass for the windows and as can be seen above I think I got the color fairly right, but the it did not flow as it should. The result is glass that is sort of uneven as can be seen in the pictures below. I think the problem was that I diluted gloss medium with water, which contrary to my intenstions, raised the surface tension of the fluid, and prevented it from flowing evenly on the glass (plastic). I take it as an learning experience for next time.

 

Anyway, here is the assembled cabin. The windows actually look better in real life. As always the camera is unforgiving.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by Svedberg
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[Kallisti]

Nice to see someone else building one of these fabulous kits! How did you find the decals on the windows went down? I had a lot of trouble with mine - they just wouldn't settle well and actually curled up a  bit at the edges.

 

I like the worn seat look! Will be interested to see this develop...

[Svedberg]

Thanks @Kallisti

 

Yes, I also had a lot of trouble with those decals. Not as much curling but hard to get into the correct spot along the edges. Some refused to come up snug to the edge, leaving an uncovered strip. Others sort of slipped over the edge. Eventually I touched things up with some black paint to get the supposed framing more even.

 

[Andy Moore]

Very nice work. If you've had problems with airbrushing in the past, it certainly doesn't show here; the painting looks excellent to me. The issue with the tinting on the windows is fairly common, and is more than likely down to the reason you stated. If you try it in the future, have a go with Tamiya clear colours, thinned with either isopropyl or lacquer thinner. That should alleviate the rippled effect.

Oh, and as Kallisti said, the seat looks great.

 

Andy

[Svedberg]

7 hours ago, AndyRM101 said:

Very nice work. If you've had problems with airbrushing in the past, it certainly doesn't show here; the painting looks excellent to me.

Thanks a lot Andy! But I still need a lot more practising to get predictable results.

 

7 hours ago, AndyRM101 said:

The issue with the tinting on the windows is fairly common, and is more than likely down to the reason you stated. If you try it in the future, have a go with Tamiya clear colours, thinned with either isopropyl or lacquer thinner. That should alleviate the rippled effect.

Good advice. I'll keep that in mind.

[Svedberg]

Some more progress to share. The excavator "house", including counterweight, engine, fuel and hydraulic oil tanks, has been added. I wanted it to have a somewhat beaten up look but I might have overdone that part ☺️ Anyway, please enjoy.

Edited September 10, 2023 by Svedberg
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[Gorby]

I've just commented on a excellent, completed one of these on Scalemates and this looks like it's going to be just as good.

Looks an amazing kit and I'm quite tempted.

[JeroenS]

I don't think it's overdone at all. As far as I'm concerned you might even put some more dirt/dust on the black covers.

[Kallisti]

Yup that looks pretty authentic - its had a few scrapes and bangs particularly around the left side - perfectly possible in a building site environment!

[Snowman]

Different, but n a nice way!👍

 

Dig the weathering, spot on!👌

[Svedberg]

3 hours ago, Gorby said:

I've just commented on a excellent, completed one of these on Scalemates and this looks like it's going to be just as good.

Looks an amazing kit and I'm quite tempted.

Thanks. I had a look at Scalemates and one of the builds over there is also on Youtube and what happens to be what inspired me to do this. Small world!

 

3 hours ago, JeroenS said:

I don't think it's overdone at all. As far as I'm concerned you might even put some more dirt/dust on the black covers.

Thank you. Yes, once everyting is built and painted I will actually come back with some weathering powders or likewise and make everything dirtier and dustier.

 

2 hours ago, Kallisti said:

Yup that looks pretty authentic - its had a few scrapes and bangs particularly around the left side - perfectly possible in a building site environment!

Thanks! Glad you say so.

[Svedberg]

1 hour ago, Snowman said:

Different, but n a nice way!👍

 

Dig the weathering, spot on!👌

Thanks @Snowman! But I don't get the "different". I do not mind. Just curious.

 

[Snowman]

1 hour ago, Svedberg said:

But I don't get the "different". I do not mind. Just curious.

Sure, different for me as I have never built a digger before, but dead cool none the less.

 

I like what you have done.👍

[Svedberg]

6 hours ago, Snowman said:

Sure, different for me as I have never built a digger before...

Yes, perhaps not what is normally considered a 'vehicle' 😀

[Svedberg]

Boom and bucket. As for the house, I'll come back and add dust and grime. Especially the bucket needs some dirt. Also, the pistons (is that the proper English term?) have to get some more shine.

 

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by Svedberg
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[JeroenS]

Excellent... I've put this kit on my wishlist, it's brilliant. 

[phildagreek]

Looks very good, like it.

[Svedberg]

Thank you  everyone for your kind words and "likes"!

[Will Vale]

Lovely work!. I know it's a little thing but I really like the seat.

 

In case it's helpful, here are some pics of a smaller model - a local contractor (Downer) has acquired these recently so they're quite new and tidy. Despite that there's still some interesting wear and tear:

 

(click for bigger and an album of pics)

 

I'm a bit suspicious of the red on my phone camera, I've backed off the saturation a bit and it still looks overdone. FWIW the orange in your model pictures looks quite accurate - it's bright without being day-glo.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[Andy Moore]

Nice ref shot Will. I'll use that for my own build (when I get around to ordering the kit).

Regarding the orange, Zero paints now do a colour match for it.

 

Andy

[Will Vale]

Sadly it seems very hard to get Zero paints over here - Hiroboy don't ship to NZ and they don't seem to have an antipodean dealer/distributor.

I can see a few places that look like they might be up for shipping them without the correct dangerous goods handling, but they don't have the rarer colours anyway.

What did you use for the orange on your roller? That looked pretty good to my eye, as does Svedberg's Z-Axis.

Cheers,

Will

[Kallisti]

Just go JCB yellow, looks much better