Hello fellow model and diorama builders - as you can see from the pics above, I've started a new dio.

Unfortunately, I'm writing during my lunch break at work, so don't have too much time today to fill you in with great detail about the proposal - so, here's the overview:

During my last project, I learned of the common circumstances where the D9 was used - predominantly in Iraq, with documented activity around 2004. I also discovered that it appears that while iconic, it's possible that there might have only been about 20 or so of these in use by the Army and Marines in Iraq, at the time.

While finding this out, I discovered that two key areas of their prominent use were Baghdad and Fallujah. For my dio, I'll be exploring the Baghdad metro region, circa spring, 2004, by the US Army.

In addition to the D9, I'll include a couple of up armored M1114s and a Bradley M6 Linebacker. A street/building debris clearing scene. This family of equipment was noted in various accounts of events in 2004, in and around Baghdad. I like the idea of the M6 - it has a Stinger 4 pack - to be scratch built, instead of the TOW. (Thanks Gino for some good ref ideas!)

Below are a couple of prototype photos. The point of note here is that while these generally look similar, there are of course variances in colors etc. While many of the dozer's show wear, and an undercoat of CAT yellow, some don't - some appear to have direct from the factory CAT yellow replacement parts, and, some don't. I decided - no CAT yellow for mine.

Next, the field fabricated RPG cage. These were installed on at least 12 Marines CATs for Fallujah - I don't know if the Army used them in Baghdad - I made the decision, that yes, mine would have the cage -

OK - back to the CAT:







I did a light touch on the cab interior - while it' pretty nice, it will be very tough to see through the tinted windows - which, btw, are pretty nice! and my RPG mesh.















The D9, even with my various modifications went together pretty smoothly -I bumbled around a bit with the tracks, but, I'm not that experienced with them, so, I'll bet those of you with more experience would have no trouble at all -

Now, on to the layout. This will be an intersection of two streets - one, the wide multilane road with a median, the other narrow, local dirt street. The buildings will have ground floor shops, and apartments above. Some portion of one and maybe two will have experienced damage from the fight - and there will be plenty of debris in the street -





and some more work with textures etc:






And there you have it - thanks for checking it out - I've got to get back to work!


cheers
Nick

Man, that looks like quite the project ahead! I'll be watching your progress, good luck!

Hi Alan -

Yep, this has a long way to go! But, as always, I'm looking forward to the build! To keep from getting bored, or driving myself nuts, I'll try to skip back and forth between the dio and the models - thanks for your comments -

Cheers
Nick.

Holy cow man,
How did you get all that done already? I was just wondering yesterday I wonder what Nick is cooking up over there on the left coast and then BAMM!!! The new one is not only decided upon,but well underway.
I have seen that bulldozer kit built by quite a few guys already and have never seen a bad looking one yet. Must be a really really nice kit. Nice to see you back at it bubba.
J

Hi Jerry

I was working on this over the holidays - the forum was pretty quiet, so I just kept building. The idea for this build came together as I was coming to the conclusion that using the D9 in Afghanistan for the last project was probably not all that credible. Who knows? But, I couldn't be clear on it. I did though collect several articles etc regarding the actual use, so the idea for this build came together a while ago.

To your point, the kit goes together pretty smoothly. I used some AM PE too. It's not hard to build, and downright easy compared to my favorite, the MATV - which is downright not easy to build! Seems to me if you get the painting, assembling, and weathering sequence down, you can do what you want with the kit - super weather, or stock.

Even though I've been thinking about this for a while, I'm not sure if I want to get into the buildings next or keep going on kits? Probably kits - I like "staging" them as the buildings etc are being put together -

Cheers
Nick

Hi Nick ,

i'm sitting at the front seat and i'm ready to watch your show man !
I must say without kidding that the preview is very promising ! The bulldozer well....a great build for sure , in combination with a nice lay out that's going to be a very interesting build to follow.

One question though , where in heavens name can i buy the sunlight that is always shining upon your dioramas ?????

Kurt

I'm with Kurt.....that sun is unfair!!!!!!!

And then there is this last photo of the D9 (from above) that is just sooooo bl... realistic, you cannot possibly say whether it is real or Memor.x!!!

Well done Sir!!! You truly are a champ!! ...and darn quick at the draw!!


Cheers

Romain

Real? ... model? ... real? ... model? ... I'm so confused! ... Damn, you are good at this stuff!!!

And you know I just hit that "SUBSCRIBE" button!

From the sunny and snow covered mountains of Colorado.

—mike

Kurt - the mad scientist!
Romain "eagle eye"!
Mike - model-building-machine!

ouch - between you guys, I feel the pressure is on!!

thanks for checking in. Well, this one is early, so, there's a long way to go. Last night after work, I scraped up about 45 minutes to lay down some base coats on the "base" - I'm planning on adding washes and pigment - but, not for a while -

As for the sun when its out, I'll take the builds out too - off to my neighborhood park - there are several big concrete benches which are good for this. As for today - no such luck, just some on the way-out-the-door photos - But, you'll see what's going on and exactly where this stands right now. Take a look:







and now...back to the real job -

cheers

NIck

Looking forward to more progress on this one!!! I'm stuck in model ADD mode at the moment......

Nice work once again and glad to see you back. I stopped posting as there didn't seem to be any interest. Maybe you can get the ball rolling here.
J

Hi Jerry,

yeah, post holidays will let me get more time here on the forum.

And, time to build things. I'm moving along. Rather than starting a vehicle, I decided to get going on what will eventually be a two story building, with shops on the ground floor and apartments above.

The following is a bit of a step by step:









Continuing with my on-going effort to win the prize for ugliest work in process - I submit the pics above! The buildings are made from 1" rigid pink foam, sliced down to 1/2" thickness - no problem. The ornamental masonry blocks are from Juweela - same story, I notched little spaces in to the pink and was good to go -

painted it up thought good, on to the next step...

Or so I thought - A particular European model builder, who I will refer to as "Romain" let it be known to me that something wasn't looking right - thought the ceilings were too high - proportions were wrong etc - etc - I assured him...uhhh....I'd have a look - turns out the height is about fine - too get Mr Eagle Eye to leave me alone, I thought I'd do one last scale test - to prove....



uhhh...that he was right - the doors were too short! by about a foot! Crap!! so - time to remodel:



The masonry is some sore of ceramic - I cut the units in half with wire cutters - the rest, xacto - and, a fix:





And here you have it - still a long way to go. I'll add a second floor, then details, and weather. As you can see, the building doesn't look quite so tall with the CAT there. The building across the street will be three stories -

Ok - that's all for today's lunch time post! thanks for checking it out

Nick

Hah!! Brilliant! Nice start to the ground work. Isn't it irritating how often Romain is correct?
I still can't get over how good that bulldozer looks.
J

Yeah, that monster looks terrific....and so real, doesn't it!!

Nick, you are truly a champ!!

And the buildings will be matching the high standard, I'm sure!

Cheers

Romain

Hi Jerry - thanks, and yes! The good news this time it was pretty early in the build! Thanks Mr Eagle Eye!

Glad you and Romain both like the dozer - a bit cube-like in proportion - almost same length, width height. The blade is BIG. But as it is big and chunky, it justifies the taller buildings I'm proposing for this dio - and lots of debris!

Again to both of you, clearly this has some way to go. Jerry, the ground is getting built up both in terms of dirt/mass etc, and layers of paint. These pics don't show much of what's going on. Earlier I included some pics of the texture, and so far I've hit it with three or four dirt colors, dust through mud. I figure just like a real street with debris, I'll keep adding layers of stuff as I go. Eventually I'll add a wedge shaped chunk of the pink foam to serve as the base for the heavy debris.

Ok, have a good one guys, thanks for dropping by!

Cheers
Nick

Where's the little Bow down Emoticon guy????

Hey Matt - it's way early for that guy!, but thanks for checking it out -

Today, some quickly taken pics, posted during a quick lunch break:






Only a modest update today -- as usual, ugly WIP! the second floor of building one is coming along thought. Maybe spackle tonight?

Next, back to the ground floor - detailing and weathering. Still a long way to go - but, I want to finish the ground floor and glue it in before I wreck it by fooling around with it!

ok - thanks - have a good one!

Nick

Hi Nick,

I think you get more done during your lunch break than I do in a week! I love to doze off ... uh ... I mean, I love the dozer!

Coming along nicely!

—mike

We're not worthy, we're not worthy....

Garth, Wayne and I bow along with Mike over the work that is Big Punch, Big Push!

Loving the second floor so far, I just hope you measured twice before you cut this time....I'm not sure you could survive another of Romain's keen observations

Has the space time continuum been bumped, it's not the weekend, or Monday!!!!

Great work again Nick. Later.

You could always go with an old old model railroad trick. Make the ground floor in scale and the upper stories slightly smaller to save room?
Unless you plan to have the upper ones inhabited?
J

I have one question at the moment; how does the driver get in or out of the vehicle as I cannot see a door in the wire?

Darren, I may be mistaken, but I believe if you look at the front left side of the cage work you can see where there is a section that appears to be hinged as a doorway.

It's a bit more obvious in the photo that shows the cage before the wire mesh is installed....

Correct me if I'm wrong Nick?

Hi Mike - yes - posting during lunch is a much appreciated, albeit brief distraction from work!!! A great 20 minutes!!!

Hi Jerry - yep, these buildings will get full scale height up and down. The idea is to tame the giant size of that CAT....your scale compression idea though, is pretty interesting - I might use it on the next project....thanks

Ahh, Dave, our bro from the great white north! Can you believe it? That damn 1st floor door - it was just off! Not any more! At least it's done now - it could have been a real pain if I had to do it later!

Darren and Dave - yes, Dave is indeed correct. Take a look at the second picture from the top, and you'll see a separated screen section across from the cabin door. But, Darren, to your point, I'm aware of two discrete pictures of the RPG screen and it's attachment to the vehicle. One, possibly prepared in haste, appears to be a large, essentially seamless cage, which seems to have been placed over the cab by a crane, and suspended by a less complex structure.

The other, closer to the example in the photo also appears to be a field fabrication, but it does look to have a formal frame structure in some sense. I used this version. While I didn't find a picture of a "door", I wondered the same thing you did, and as such, framed the cage to accommodate a removable/openable section of the screen for the operator - tough crowd!

Cheers guys, thanks for your comments and having a look
Nick

I am getting older and the eyes are not what they were. Thank you for pointing that out.

Yes, Darren...the tired eyes! we all seem to "enjoy" that from time to time!

As for today, that's not the subject, but it should be - the studio of mine ran a bit late last night, with some good results - sorry about the truly mediocre pics!!

for the building I'm going for modern meets vernacular - maybe built mid- 70's early 80's - you all know the type! No fancy materials for this build so far, just bulk, off the shelf stuff....

please have a look:















And there you have it! and that's really it for me today! got to run!

Nick