Dozer D7 UK version

Resicast

Catalogue No. 35142
Scale 1-35
Cost 110.00 USD
Availability Unknown
Rating
Media 123 resin, 13 photo-etched, 1 vinyl hose
Reviewed by Michael Bedard
Review Type Construction
Date Aug 1, 2003

Here is a kit that has tracks but is a bit different. There isn't much out there as far as engineer equipment and this kit fills a nice void.

My father was an Army engineer in the Philippines during World War II and when I saw this I just had to have it.  The kit states that this is an UK version but it is really just a hydralic blade lift Caterpillar bulldozer.  I have photo evidence from my father's collection of pictures that the US did indeed use hydralic lift dozers.

What you get are mainly cleanly cast pieces, photo-etched and vinyl hose for the hydralic plumbing.  There are no decals or painting instructions. Photos of dozers that the 695th Heavy Equipment Engineers used shows markings from none to various types. Painting was an overal OD from what I could tell. Decals would have been very helpful for the instruments. Instructions are written out along with some photos of the kit in progress showing general placement of the parts.  Parts are numbered on the blocks and photo-etched tree

For the most part the pieces are cast quite good. Some of the pour blocks on the chassis pieces were a bit difficult to remove but using a jeweler's saw and razor saw you should be able to deal with most of the kit.  The only air-bubble I had troubles with was one in the exhaust spout of the muffler. There are no real problems assembling the kit except for the lack of detailed assembly drawings that would help with the hydralic lines.  Do follow the procedure for attaching the blade frame as I went out of sequence to be able to paint sub-assemblies and had difficulty attaching the frame at a later point. Two areas that were difficult to fit was the airhose part EO and placement of oil spout/breather ED. They didn't fit well and part EO was abandoned and replaced with solder that bent easier. I did have a little bit of a problem with the tracks but I'm not sure if was the kit or my building techniques. Lights are vaque and there are no clear parts for lenses. I drilled mine out to put MV lenses in at a later date.

Overall it is a decent kit.  I would have ranked it a bit higher if some of the fit problems weren't there and some decals for at least the instruments.  I'm not sure if the kit is still available so if you see one somewhere pick it up! Recommended.

Review by Michael Bedard, © Aug 1, 2003
Last updated Jun 17, 2003
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