I've become truly fascinated by the war in Syria. There are some eerie similarities to the Spanish Civil War with the multitude of nations fighting by proxy. Of course, there are a lot of elements that are completely new, especially the proliferation of one of a kind weapons and vehicles. I've decided to take a crack at making one, or at least a close approximation.



The base kit is a cheap toy made in China with actually not horrible detail, though far from the quality of a 1/35th kit like Meng's D9. There are, in fact, D9s in Syria, but I'm basing my vehicle off of the Komatsu's in use. The toy I am starting with is Komatsu-ish, which is good enough for me.



This is my first build log and first attempt at anything this ambitious. I've several other projects in the works but am stalled on them so decided to give this a whirl.

Almost any thoughts are appreciated

Cheers!

Chris

That's a great idea and a very interesting project. You're to be commended, for taking the road less traveled. I'll be watching to see how this turns out.

Thanks, J (sorry, I don't think I know your name or handle). I suspect it will be more than a little frustrating, but I am planning to take a zen approach to it...as zen as I can get anyway. No two Syrian bulldozers are alike so in that spirit mine will be informed and inspired as opposed to an identical copy.

My first update!



Happily, the toy wasn't glued or sonic-welded together so taking it apart wasn't a nightmare. I did chop off the cab, but as I plan to shorten it anyway that was no problem. Everything else more or less came apart with some prying, a screwdriver and the minimal amount of cursing.

I am impressed with the tracks. They are actually quite decent. My thought right now is to drill out holes in the link holders or whatever they are called. Whether I add in a tiny bolt will depend on patience and how dirty the dozer will be.

The cab itself is probably the weakest part of the toy as far as detail, but as it will be largely hidden by add on armor that won't be so bad.

I will need to rework the blade and its hydraulics as well as the rear ripper, but that seems straight forward enough. I am cautiously optimistic about this.

This is a very ambitious project Chris. I'll be following your build log.

Hi, James: It's all very new to me so it could be like watching a train wreck in slow motion

Cheers!

Chris

Looks like fun, actually. I'll be checking in now and then myself.

Too unique and interesting not to follow...

Thanks, Russel and Mark. I think, for better or worse, this build will be entertaining. Whether it's also a descent into madness remains to be seen

Cheers!

Chris

Very interesting subject that I'll follow

Thanks, KoSprue. I hope this will be of some interest to folks.

Cheers!

Chris

Interesting project.. I'll be following for sure.

Here's another interesting looking variant if you fancy lots of bar armor and chains and stuff.. but you can't see the vehicle itself anymore



Hisham

Hi Hisham. That one is crazy. Like a box on tracks. I've seen a few views of that (I think there at least two done up like that) and I did, in fact, pick up a second dozer on the off chance I am brave enough to tackle it someday. That bar armor would be a nightmare though!

Cheers

Chris

Hi, J: Thanks for the link. I'm a big fan of Oryx and have been reading through the entire site. I've found a few others that while not as focused on weaponry are still interesting:

http://sana.sy/en/

http://www.syriadeeply.org/

Cheers!

Chris