Caterpillar D7 U. S. Seabees

1
June 29, 2025
I got this kit for a bargain and actually wanted it for another project but with our Corsair group build I had the idea to combine both into a little vignette. The kit has fine details and quite a well designed parts layout - save for the tracks.
2
June 29, 2025
tracks, drive wheel and idler wheel are cast together which is fine at first glance.
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June 29, 2025
on closer inspection you realise that the casting seam runs through the midst of the tracks with just that bit of an offset that requires you to sand all of the track. Quite a time consuming task and pretty annoying. I did a deep cut between all (visible) links to improve looks a bit further and deepend the groove between the links as I considered them to be rather shallow. The prominent bolts on each of the caterpillar track links are not depicted in the model - and would have been lost to sanding anyway.
4
June 29, 2025
After more than three hours on the tracks alone I was finally done and could proceed to the painting stage.
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June 29, 2025
Base coat for the tracks was Alclad II Gunmetal
6
June 29, 2025
As I had cleaned up most of the parts already shortly after receiving the kit, not so much work was needed before the first coat of color could be applied. I went for Mr. Hobby Colors Olive Drap H78 for the lower parts and H52 as main color, which I lighted further with H85 for highlights.
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June 29, 2025
Subassemblies
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June 29, 2025
The drivers compartment was further detailed with photoetch from the kit
9
June 29, 2025
Where I found the photoetch parts too flat I replaced them with 0.3mm brass tube. Hand grips at the photoetch parts were beefed up with Elmer glue (wood glue). My secret weapon (ups, not secret anymore) for the knobs at control sticks in scale 1:72 are lead granules which I bought by the kilogram (bought for tight spots in planes nose sections to prevent tailsitting). They are stuck to the sticks with Elmer glue too.
10
June 29, 2025
The chunks at the side of the tank were supposed to be grab handles. I removed them and put grab handles instead.
11
June 29, 2025
Lights were drilled open and will receive a glass cover.
12
June 29, 2025
silicone pipes were added to the actuators as hydraulic hoses.
13
June 29, 2025
The engine received some further detailing. The instructions of the extremly detailed Miniart 1:35 D7 were very helpful in doing that.
14
June 29, 2025
Diesel injection lines, oil hoses, dipstick and coolant lines were added at the right side.
15
June 29, 2025
A myriade of stuff to bring it to life.
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June 29, 2025
and this is the final result
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June 29, 2025
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June 29, 2025
not too shabby for a scale 1:72 engine I dare say. 😉
19
June 29, 2025
Change of plan - change of color (see below).
After the color conversion of the converted conversion I landed at H-61 IJN Grey. Well, to put a japanese color on an american vehicle felt slightly inappropriate and looking at the rather neutral grey it looked inappropriate too. So I added a drop of blue to americanise it until I was happy with it. For the lower parts I darkened it with H301 and for the lights I significantly lightened it with white.
20
June 29, 2025
The engine compartment was masked and left olive drab under the idea that the vehicle was repainted.
21
June 29, 2025
Engine fixed in place.
22
June 29, 2025
Now taking a deep breath before tackling the last big construction step with fashioning of the last tubes and replacing the broken ones.
23
June 30, 2025
Pipe No 1 was tricky to fashion and even more so to wind it into place. As I don't get it out anymore, I'm afraid I will have to color it on the spot.
24
June 30, 2025
Done. All missing hoses build. The challenges of the ones at the front of the drivers areas right side were overcome with the help of Albion Alloys slide-to-fit brass tubes. 0.3mm pins were inserted into predrilled holes and the 0.5mm tube could be slid onto it. Like this I achieved the required stability.
25
June 30, 2025
Going for paint after a coat of Mr. Metal Primer (in the tweezers you see the support struts between engine block and cooler casing)
26
June 30, 2025
Main chores done. The tracks were washed wet-on-wet with four shades of rust color and the protruding parts then drybrushed steel. Base color of the seat applied too - together with the expected collateral damage.
27
June 30, 2025
Uups. I forgot to airbrush the bozer blade. But not too late for that yet.
28
July 1, 2025
Construction is almost completed.
29
July 1, 2025
Three hoses from the actuators are yet to be attached. But I had no patience for that anymore.
30
July 1, 2025
Some motivational shots.
31
July 1, 2025
The seat was pimped with some oils.
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July 1, 2025
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July 1, 2025
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July 1, 2025
35
July 1, 2025
Next steps: washings and weathering
36
July 1, 2025
I used 0.4mm silicon pipes for the short streches of hoses between the actuators and the straight lines in front of the drivers area, but they gave me a hard time to fix them in place as they didn't accept the superglue as fast as I wanted. Three out of four I finally managed to force into submission. The most stubborn one was cut off at the end and replaced by lead wire.
37
July 2, 2025
The "cockpit" consists of three instruments- half hidden behind the horizontal pipes. I have the ol decal set of individual instruments and punched out three with a diameter of 1.0mm
38
July 2, 2025
The other decals I put for plain artistic purposes as they do not represent an actual vehicle, didn't perform to my liking and left me with prominent carrier film and silvering. I hope to ameliorate that with a coat of varnish.
39
July 2, 2025
Next: pin wash. With an abundance of pins and nooks and crannies this took some time. I like to custom mix black, dark grey and dark brown in approximately even parts to do the job.
40
July 2, 2025
This step already brought this little bugger to life. Fantasy decals from a fantastic generic placard set add some more charm to the engine - me thinks 🙂
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July 2, 2025
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July 2, 2025
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July 2, 2025
Now I am exited to add wear and dirt to it. So far I am quite happy with it and I really celebrate my decision to go for the Navy Blue color.
44
September 12, 2025
That's the figure that should go with it
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September 12, 2025
46
September 24, 2025
I added some scratches,...
47
September 24, 2025
...oil stains,...
48
September 24, 2025
...did some oil paint rendering...
49
September 24, 2025
...and think that I am done now...
50
September 24, 2025
...save the pigments.
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September 24, 2025
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September 24, 2025
53
September 24, 2025

Comments

75 29 June 2025, 05:52

gorby
Remarkable detail for 1/72. The engine looks fantastic!

1 29 June 2025, 08:29

Nicolas
Great Start, following.

1 29 June 2025, 09:27

Michael Kohl Author
@Gorby: to read this from a man who can twist and turn scrap into scarabs it is nice compliment. 🙂
Welcome too, Nicolas.

1 29 June 2025, 09:34

Michael Kohl Author
I just stumbled over some bit of information concerning the use of dozers by combat engineers in the Pacific theater. What caught my attention was the fact that some of those vehicles were not painted olive drab but in a light navy blue. I liked this idea immediately and decided to go for it. Having found only one color reference for MIG colors I had to use half a dozen color conversion charts to finally land at a range I happen to posess. With all the downstream variations of each conversion this is most likely as close to the original recommendation as a Beetle to a Benz. So to get as close as possible to the original color I expertedly applied my High Precision Thumb and mixed three shades of Grey with its aid. Advice: be easy on the Blue. It will save you a lot of Grey!

For those interested in a bit of history concerning the navy combat engineers, who literally paved the road (and airways) to victory - sometimes with the intermediate step of PSPs - here is a site to fill this void:

history.navy.mil/con..-of-seabees/ww2.html

1 29 June 2025, 10:04

bughunter
What a lovely engine 👍 That will be another fantastic project from this master of the little scale!
Impressive project set list 🙂

1 29 June 2025, 10:52

Michael Kohl Author
Hi Frank,
Thanks for the laurels. Let's hope they are not premature. 😉

30 June 2025, 15:34

Robert Podkoński
Awesome!

1 30 June 2025, 15:52

Thomas Haberl - (TH SCALE MODELS)
That´s cute Michael ... well done so far (business as usual 🤣 )

1 1 July 2025, 06:07

Alec K
Outstanding! Following along 👍

1 1 July 2025, 20:18

Rui S
Great model 👍

1 1 July 2025, 21:20

Michael Kohl Author
Thank you so much mates for your encouraging feedback. Meant to play only a side roll for my Corsair build, I enjoy this project more and more - particularly after I made my peace with the tracks. Really looking forward to complete this. Stay tuned.

1 2 July 2025, 10:41