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D9R Armored Bulldozer

Painting

Not wanting to wasting any time on discussing the kit parts, which I covered in my review of the kit (Link at the beginning of this feature) and since the construction was mostly straightforward, let’s move right along into one of the more exciting parts of any build…at least for me, the painting. Per the instructions there were three options to go with in respects to the decals and part layout presented. Although I would not have minded building the US Marine version of the D9, I rather fancied the IDF version a bit more.

Always the best thing to start with is good priming! Not only does it seal the base model for the up and coming paint stages, it will show off any flaws you may have so they can be corrected. I found very little I was not happy with so I proceeded right to some Pre-shade. In retrospect the pre-shade part may have not been needed as I had a plan on adding several different layers to the painting, but it is always fun to keep the chops up. The pre-shade consists of a dark grey I had lying around as the darkening of certain areas is all I was looking to do.

One part of the painting project on my D9 was to utilize some of the chipping method to layer the paint on the lower end. Typically these vehicles get beat up in the field pretty well and often many different layers of paint will show through. I first needed to lay down a dark rusty layer to work with. On a side note, you will see me using several different products to work mainly because they work for me and also because I happen to have them in the stash to use. Two good reasons as far as I am concerned.

After the base rust has been done on the lower end, a clear coat was added and then a layer of base yellow. This yellow would be similar to the original yellow of the CAT D9 Dozer as these tractors are made here in the USA, painted and then sent abroad to customers for further customizations. I was fortunate enough to have the Desert Eagle Publishing Vol. No. 7: Doobi – D9 Variants which helped a lot for references of all facets of this project. DOOBI D9 Variants: D9 Bulldozers in IDF Service Review Live links There are plenty of great detail pictures throughout the book which helped me decide that I wanted to show the lower end of the D9 heavily weathered.

So before the Yellow was applied, a liberal coating of hair spray was added and allowed to dry. I added course and fine salt to various areas on this section paying particular attention to the edges where the wearing of the paint and steel would fade and transition into the IDF grey color I wanted to show on the topside. Next was the application of the yellow base color. Once the paint had dried, not cured, I used a stiff bristled brush to remove the salt from the surface and with some warm water I lightly chipped the color back. This allowed the rust base and yellow base to work with each other to show sufficient wearing. The blade received the same treatment and then promptly after some silvering to the front of the blade as this section would be worn shinny from use in the abrasive environment. It was time for a little dry fitting. This was done several times throughout the painting process as this gives me a good idea as to the direction I am heading in while I paint.