(Sorry, I was wanting to put this on Armorama Only. If an admin can move it, please do.)

Hi, Guys.

I have Trumpeter's M983A2 and I was thinking about putting a D9R dozer on there. Is that too big, or is that what it is made for?
I was talking to a vendor at the Nats, and he said I will have a hard time finding Meng's D9R kit in a store, as Caterpillar sued Meng for some licensing issue. (I had not really been interested in the dozer all that much, but now that it's forbidden fruit...)
Anyway, if the dozer is too big, would a MaxxPro 4x4 be more appropriate?
Thanks for any ideas you may have!

Gary

The M983 LET (Light Equipment Transporter) with the M870A1 trailer is used by combat engineer units to haul engineering equipment up to 40 tons (weight rating of trailer). The armored D9R as in the Meng kit weighs in at 62 tons, so no it is too heavy for it. The MaxxPro MRAP weighs in about 23 tons, so it would be under weight, but is not a common vehicle for combat engineer units. A good load would be the M9 ACE by Takom or the HMEE-1 by Panda.

Moved / Robin


Availability for the Meng D9R:
https://www.modellbau-koenig.de/Article?Page=1&Items=24&Filter={%22producer%22:[40]}&s=D9R&sort=6&view=list
Both of them, armored and armored + slats, in stock

/ Robin

Some other options...

MMK has a resin 1/35 Cat D6K.


There are also a bunch of 1/35 die-cast pieces of engineering/construction equipment. I can't vouch for the quality of any of them, but some should be good enough to repaint and use as military equipment.

Die-Cast Engineering Equipment

I guess just about anything that fits can be put on the trailer though.

US Army engineers over here transport Deere 230LC excavators, D6 dozer and sheepfoot compactors. I am toying with the idea of backdating the D9 into a D7.

From what I can tell, it looks as though the Caterpillar or Deere partner/importer/copy in China is SEM, XE, and LiuGong. They have dozers and excavators that look just like Deere and Cat products, with slightly different paint jobs. On the Die-Cast Engineering Equipment link I posted above, there are quite a few die-cast 1/35 dozers and excavators that could work. They are a bit pricy though.

Here is a comparison of a Deere 230LC excavator to a couple Chinese ones.

Deere


XCGM XE215C


LiuGong 950E

Thanks, Gino! I wondered if the D9R was a little on the heavy side. As it turns out, I already have the M9 Ace kit, so that will work out well. (The M9 is an odd-looking vehicle to me. The tracks seem undersized for the size of the vehicle. But what do I know?) The HMEE-1 looks pretty sweet, though. I like the oddball kits. I am just starting on Panda's Husky MK III VMMD, so the jury is still out on that company. But if I see it, I may grab it. Is it even out yet? Scalemates says it was released in 2018. Not in the U.S., I don't think. Looks like FineScale Modeler is covering it in their video reviews this week. Thanks again for the great suggestions!

Thanks for the resin and diecast suggestions also. A resin kit scares me, I have to say. I am just not at that level yet. But that dozer looks cool.

Thanks for moving my post, Robin. I rarely START a post, and for some reason I have a problem getting it to go where I want it to. Thanks too for the link. I should have been more clear. When I said "in stores" I meant stores in the U.S. As you pointed out, there are D9R kits to be had, they are just a little farther away.

A route clearance package in a typical engineering BN includes two 2nd Gen RG-31's (not available in kit form - yet) a Husky, and a Buffalo. So you'd be good with the Husky.





Note Buffalo in the Background on right:

Thanks for posting this, I was wondering the same thing myself. My next question is how is the M9 tied down on the trailer?, any pics or diagrams would be helpful.

Take a look here (several pages) :

http://combatengineervehicle.tpub.com/TM-55-2350-262-14/css/TM-55-2350-262-14_27.htm



H.P.

Thanks. I've never tied my payloads down, but I need to start. Chain, turnbuckles, come-alongs -- more things to worry about. :-)

Gary