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D9R Armored Bulldozer

Weathering

With all the colors in place it was time to start bringing some of the components all together. This is where this begins to look like something. There is some chipping that will be needed on the upper level next. Using a combination of the base color I used for the IDF grey, yellow and various chipping colors to apply chipping to the topside. Working the edges and particular spots where wear and tear would take place small chips is added. Along with chipping it was time to begin some of the weathering process to the lower end now. I light dusting of tan shades was thinned about 50/50 and lightly airbrushed onto the tracks, bogies and lower hull.

These vehicles have such a wide range of weathering to them depending on their service. But in all cases dirt does build up in standard locations; often seen on top of the bogies, the blade and blade control arms. One more interesting point is the vast differences in soil coloring within the borders of the operational IDF. Soil color ranges from the lighter sandy tones to orange and even reddish clay to rich brown tones, so basically the choice is up to the modeler to determine how they wish to depict their vehicle.

I chose a soil color range somewhere in the sandy to orange tones as seen in the arid desert conditions. The application of pigments is often a multi-stage process. First I took a small amount of plaster mixed with finely sifted sand and the lighter of two shades of pigments. The thought is the lighter tones would show the soil that has had the chance to dry a bit during use. This was built up in a specific manner giving a base to add further pigment applications after. With varying thicknesses of the mixture applied, I took some fresh pigment and added this directly to the wet mixture on the surface of the model. This allowed the texture and flow to remain while giving the appearance of caked on, dried soil. Using a similar mixture except this time with a slightly darker pigment I was fairly deliberate in the placement to show a random, damper looking soil over the lighter sections. Again I applied the dry pigment directly to the new mixture giving me a multi-tonal look to the soil effects.

After checking the reference shot in my book and online, in some cases the deposits of soil occur mainly on the blade and running gear; however the ripper will stay virtually void of such deposits. Only a light dusting can occur…this all depends on the use and location of the work being done and is another one of those “things” that are in the eye of the beholder.

Once all the pigments and heavy soil deposits were applied, the only thing left was to layer the washed and surface weathering on the D9. Through a constant barrage of switching from washes made from water and the pigment color, colored washes alone and with pigments I worked the area over and over to try create dusty patches to edges, corners and panel lines and accent the chipped areas. Once the pigments and washes dried and allowed me to see what was left, an oily wash was applied over the sections where there would be some seepage of oils and fluids from the bulldozer.

The final stowage was added to the roof and I convinced myself I was done. I thought of adding the machinegun to the roof, but decided against it as there is not always one present due to the operations at hand. Basically this D9 is not holding a forward operating position within the ranks…more or less; it worked for me not having it in place.

There is that point in a project you personally need to make the call that the job is done and for me that point had come. These beasts have such a wide range of weathering to them there is no real easy choice to make when determining on how you want the build to look when done. With the D9, I kind of just started building and see where it took me.

All in all I had a lot of fun playing around with the D9 Armored Bulldozer form Meng these past few months. This type of vehicle lends itself to the workhorse side of the military ledger for sure and with that gives the builder numerous options to depict the D9 as he or she seems fit.