Hello Folks,

Recently I received the new Meng D9R Armored Bulldozer for review here on Armorama. As part of the review I will be blogging the step by step construction of this kit here on this thread and together we can see how this kit fits together.

I am currently putting the finishing touches on the review and wanted to give a preemptive strike and open the build thread! I will amend this post with the link to the review as soon as it is posted.

I am sure with in minutes from me hitting the button sending the review off to one of the fine editors here on Armorama, I will be snipping and cleaning parts on this beast.

With that I will drop a couple of box-shots...The Kit:





Thanks for dropping by!!

I'm waiting on mine to get here. I ordered it from China and according to the tracking info, it is touring the US right now. Thursday it was in Forest Park IL, and now its in Atlanta GA. and I am in north Alabama. It will get here eventually...

Hi Vince,

You will like what you see once it arrives...when it arrives!! I gave up long ago trying to understand the post office and it processes!! Almost wish sometime the tracking was not there...this way you would assume is might have just been on the slow boat from China. Good luck with it once it arrives!!

Hi Todd,
received mine yesterday from my local dealer. Now I'm sitting in the 1st row with some popcorn and a coke waiting what you will do with this beast!


Michael

As Tom Petty said, the waiting is the hardest part. I guess I paid or second class shipping. On the other ha I ordered a flight suit off ebay and it arrived the next day.
But I guess thats the nature o the beast when you order rom ebay.

Michael, glad to have you along for the ride!! Nice looking pile of parts ey?!!

Vince, very true sir! Had something sent to me from RI before...I am in MA 45 min. away...took 4 days!! Had something shipped to me from Shanghai....took only 16 hours...go figure!!

16 hours from China?!?!?!? That had to set a worlds record. I order a T-38 trainer jet from there a day before I ordered my D9 and it got here on Monday. But the best things are worth waiting for

Looking forward to seeing your progress, Todd.

Do you have an idea which color to use on this beast?

Mario

Thanks Mario!! Glad to have you one board! A bit early on the exact color....but will be heading down that route soon for sure!! I will be brushing up on my IDF colors now!! LOL!!!

I managed to rip into the tracks...not the first thing called for in the instruction but I was never good for following the rules!!





The links intertwine with only one glue attachment on one side of the track pin.



The underside of the track shoe there is an ejection pin mark. this will be all but invisible after construction. I just wanted to show the quick fix if someone chose to do so. A little putty, a quick sand and done!!



So bad, this is not to bad of a process. Clean up seems to be the most tedious part and that is not bad at all. I will be plugging away at the tracks first and may start the under carriage at some point soon. I figured get the track installation underway early on!

Thanks for tuning in!!!

I'm going to start with the tracks when mine get here. I'm not looking forward to building them. But I figure I will get them out of the way, so I can enjoy the rest of the build instead of dreading having to do it

If you use CA and accelerator the job goes much more quickly.

Hi Vince, Not a bad deal to start with the links first sometimes...especially when they can bog down the mojo. I thought these would be like that but honestly not bad at all!

I managed to use some Thin with a fine tip brush by the time a couple inches are done, the track shoes went on...all working on a flat surface.

Robert has a great alternative to the Thin. CA with or with out accelerator would speed things up. Depends on which product you are more comfortable with!

Those tracks look Incredible!

Hey look...there you are again BJ!! LOL!! Glad to have you peak in on me!! The tracks are pretty cool if you ask me! Almost time to break from some links and hit a big piece or two!!

LOL........Yeah, work on links a little at a time through out the build, that keeps one from getting burnt out. Ask me how I know.LOL

Occupational hazard!

Nice work so far.

Is there any data cast into the idler wheels?

YAY! Mine got here this morning. I am very impressed with the size and weight of the box, I can't wait to start on this one.

Thanks Robert! BTW...nice call on the castings!! I went back and checked with the manufacture (CAT) and the Idlers have cast numbers on them. I can only assume that the rollers do as well, but they are all but obscured by the bogies and even less so under dirt and mud...nice detail to add though if you were going clean on one for sure!!!

Great news Vince!! Enjoy brotha'!! If I see anything that jumps out at me I will be sure to post it!! I don't think you will get done with a length of track tonight but I could certainly be wrong...Henk (Thanks Henk)shot me a link to a Japanese builder who had some issues with fitting the tracks. The instruction call for 43 links...there is no designation of the "end links", pats A5 & A6, as being part of that run so I would assume that 43 links includes them. Anyway, the Japanese builder did not use them!! This could be why he had an issue but then again maybe not...long story short...best if you make up each run with 42 links and dry fit the tracks...add what you think it needs with the proper sag and whatnot and you should be good! As soon as I get mine mounted I will have a number for you!!!

Back with an update a little later on!!

Alright, i minor correction on my part from the post prior...the site Henk helped me out with was actually a Korean site...my bad!! I wouldn't want to inadvertently change one's ethnicity.....

OK, time for another quick one. The tracks were being done out of order from the instructions so as I go, the second set will be done...I guess that means one is done then!!



As I explained above, the instructions called for 43 links in the tracks and there is a set of end links as part of the regular sprue trees and not the track trees. Since I do not have the bogies assembled yet, I chose to stop the pattern at 42 until I check the fit for myself. The individual on the other forum had not used the end links, not that this would cause the problem of too loose or too tight, but being safe rather than sorry right now!

Step one of the construction then. The Undercarriage.



A quick dry fit shows things will go together nicely.




I managed to get the parts cleaned up from step 2 and these will be fit to the undercarriage shortly I think!



Moving right along now! I will be cleaning more parts than installing tonight I think! Dragging my feet a little waiting for the Desert Eagle book on the D9 to arrive!!

As always, thanks for dropping in for a bit!!

Got your hands on a monster there, T. In another lifetime, I used to work on those things. Down the road, when you get it completed, you need to post a side by side picture of it next to a well known tank (maybe an M4) to give people an idea of it's size.

Hey Bob! I hear ya on the side by side...I will be taking some shots once the body is together with a figure at least to start...these things are huge!

Todd,
Glad to see this ended up in your capable hands, I'll be following along to see what you make of the beast.
I was stunned to see that with a box of parts of that size the price was only $45.00; if they sold it by the pound using a price index from Dragon or Tamiya it would cost double that at least

Cheers,
Rick

Thanks Rick, for the kind words...I hope to do this justice!! I thought the price seemed low...must have been on overall part count and not the amount of plastic! The box had some good weight to it!

Looking very nice so far, can't wait to see new updates!


Kind regards,Sven.