Taylor - Not too sure yet. I can assume that the general layout might be the same but albeit the US and IDF are allies, There are differences in the communications equipment. I will certainly know better once the DEP Book shows up. There are a few interior shots in the book, which I am after, that should shed some light!

Vince - -Mine or yours? LOL!! I am comfortably finishing up a small section on track #2 in between this and 3 other projects!!

Joe - Thank you very much sir! Trying to show as much as I can without over doing it and still trying to keep thing interesting!! Its what its all about...having some fun and sharing with others! Glad to have you on board!!

Whats the issue?

LOL...no issue James!! I am thinking it was the standard "monotonous track assembly" Kind of a rhythm thing. If you stick with it and the parts are clean should go quick!

well It took me a bit to gt my rytheme going on the tracks and I got both runs together. When I went to put the tracks on the model, they kept falling apart on me. I manged to get them on the model, But I have a few track shoes to glue back on.

Looking good! Do you have any good reference on the interior except the Desert Eagle book? looks like you forgot the bolts on the hydraulic cylinders of the ripper. maybe you already added them, just saying.

Good luck with yours!

I hear ya Vince, I was a bit light on some shoes on the first run in respects to glue....a touch more and I was good!

Boris, Thanks a bunch!! Not too much out there showing the interior that I found yet. I am sure there are couple...just need to do some more work I guess! The bolts are there on the top cylinders; only the square side showing in my pics. I have yet to pop on the the bottom ones.

Please note: There is no mention of installation of the bolt heads onto the lower hydraulics. These would be the same smaller ones as the larger heads are for the blade lifting hydraulics. A quick search online or in a book will show the 8 bolt head pattern.

I got the tracks on to test fit then, Now I have to get them off some how for paint. Other then the tracks, this kit is a dream to build. I wish there was a better way to have molded the tracks, But on the other I can see why Meng did it the way they did.

Duly noted Vince! I have yet to fit them and only assumed I would have to take them off after a test. I will have a better understanding of the fit once I get the drive train together!! Thanks!!

I had really no problem with the track system. I think they went together great and look amazing.
They are just a few milimeters to long in total after 43 tracks and to short when you use 42, so thats an error by Meng....

Here is my mock up

And here it is broken down for painting.

Thank Boris, heard that a couple times so far. I am sure I will see the working of what is being said as I get them together on the bogies.

Looking great Vince!! I am excited for you as you approach the painting stage!! This is my favorite part second only to the weathering!!! I wish you good luck on spreading some color!!

Nice working following it closely.

Happy modeling

Thank you William!

I am OCONUS and can't help much from where I am right now, but I can tell you my walkaround for the D9R can be found on Photobucket. I paid particular attention to the hydraulics.
Account name is 18Bravo_photos

Thank you Robert!! Any and all pics for reference are most welcome...bookmarking!!

OK, another update. For not actually being a huge update there are a few pics just to show what is going on.

I alluded earlier to cleaning the office walls in preparation to installation. I was not to happy with the interior pin marks on the walls, but I also realize the EPM's need to go somewhere...might as well been inside. Here are the cleaned up parts as I work the walls.





In keeping the SBS with the instructions these are the parts for step 11.



Moving onto step 12...









While dry fitting everything I came across this little one. You can see the back of the communications equipment through the window here.



When complete this can be seen but if painted the same as the rest of the equipment, a dark color, it will be seen but look like it is just what it is suppose to be. You could take the time to cut a small piece of card stock and cover the back.

I am actually going to paint up the interior soon as I work my way through the build...this means I need to do it now as I cannot attach certain pieces until I attache the cabin walls... Heading to the booth some night this week!





I have to let you know...half of the EPM's are not even seen since they are obscured by the equipment there will be some that need attention. I used a combination of two methods...simple sanding and filling and sanding...both the same in my eyes...both tedious but need to get done.









There you have steps 11, 12 and 13. I have not glued the interior window parts as well as a couple of parts that need to stay off so the window can be installed after painting.



And finally...this was in the mailbox today!!! Straight from Dessert Eagle Publishing, the DOOBI D9 Variants: D9 Bulldozers in IDF Service book!!! I have begun reading through it, not only to gain more knowledge of what I am working on but I will have a full review of this book real soon as well.



As always, thanks for tuning in!!!

todd

Great work.

Jay

Hey Todd,
what can you say me about the DEP D9 book?!Is it good?!can you say me,more or less what I can see inside?!I would buy one but I don't want to waste money if it has only some "rare" shots and if it's not really necessary for the building.Can you share your thoughts about?!

Regards
Ciro Riccio

Jay, Thanks!

Ciro, From only having a short time to look it over, I can tell you that there is a great deal of detailed up-close walk around photos in the book. Front to back and in between..hydraulics, bogies/drive train, cabin inside/out even the engine to a degree which we know is not actually on the kit . Each of the nearly 200 photos in the book are captioned making the layout of the book more of a pictorial rather than a book itself. I should be working on the review this weekend and should have something ready to be published soon!!

This is exactly what I need to know.
I only have doubt about the type of book.Some of them that I've bought (Not Dep) have a historical/development layout,of course,this is really cool but not of much help in detailing a model.I'm glad that DEP books are more modeler-friendly.I can have access to the book for the same price of the d9 kit so I have had the dilemma.... 2kit or..1book and 1kit?
I'm a slow(very slow)modeler...and a bit rivet-counter so after your opinion I'll go for the book.

Cheers
And keep up the great work!take a look also at D9 group on idf modelling...there are other wips and maybe you can have some extra help there.

Ciro

Nothing wrong with being a slow and precise builder at all Ciro!I think the book will help in respect to hyper detailing. The kit itself is just about there on details but there are a few things that certainly can be added/changed depending on the variant you choose. Thanks for the heads up on the group...I will have to check it out!!

Is the glass already pre-tinted?

yes,there are two type of glasses in the kit.Check also the video review over armorama(unboxing d9r)you can see the pics of the kit and the video.
Cheers

Ciro

henk

Scott, Ciro is correct, you can also see them in my review here as well.. https://armorama.kitmaker.net/review/9326

Thanks Henk!! I knew it was only a matter of moments until they popped one out!! Just what I was thinking should be PE...those service walks are molded nicely but the PE would be a bit closer to scale!!!