In this "Making-of Caterpillar M105 DEUCE" we will show how this custom model will be achieved.
Ad shares his building skills through the photos with little notes guiding us in the construction process. Gradually it shows the making of a unique model by using the resin kit from Cypmodels in 1:50th scale to create his one of kind Caterpillar M105 DEUCE.
Enjoy reading & watching!
Ad and Wouter
The Caterpillar M105 DEUCE
The Caterpillar M105 DEployable Universal Combat Earthmover (DEUCE) was developed by Caterpillar as a private venture. Originally it was known as the Caterpillar 30/30 Engineer Support Tractor. It is a high-speed, high-mobility earthmoving system intended for use in the forward areas.
First examples of the new earthmover were delivered to the US Army in 1997. The Caterpillar M105 DEUCE replaced the Caterpillar D5 Dozer. It is mainly in service with light infantry and airborne engineer units. The Caterpillar M105 DEUCE performs excavation in support of mobility, counter-mobility and survivability missions. Typical missions of this high speed dozer are digging of pits and positions for armoured vehicles, troops or artillery systems, preparing airstrips. It also performs other typical engineering tasks.
This combat earthmover is fitted with a hydraulically operated dozer blade at the front. The DEUCE is as powerful as the Caterpillar D5 Dozer. The DEUCE is powered by a 7.2-liter Caterpillar 3126 turbocharged diesel engine and can be airlifted by the C-130 Hercules with a short preparation in 10 minutes. Furthermore the DEUCE can be air dropped. Two mechanics prepare this combat earthmover for air drops in less than 20 minutes. After an air drop it is re-assembled and ready for action in less than 30 minutes. So "POWER ON REQUEST" could be its knickname.
What preceded
The scale model of the Caterpillar M105 DEUCE in 1:50 was already released in 2013 by CypModels. The Caterpillar M105 DEUCE is handmade from resin and using various accessories such as photo etched material and offset printing decals. Ad managed to get his hands on a kit years later and was ready for a new challenge. All in all a simple choice: New Project!
The Kickoff
After inspecting and sorting all the parts, Ad starts removing all attachment points and remnants of the mold.
Gluing the wheels directly to the frame didn't seem like such a good idea to Ad, so he made axles himself that go through and through the chassis to make sure the wheels are nice and straight on the frame. Even though it is ultimately a static model, it has to look tight!
The bag of tricks had to be opened again: A single resin part was very bent, so I immersed it in warm water for about 10 minutes and then carefully (attempted to) bend it bit by bit into the right shape.
Later, while building the upper body, it turned out that the left fender was still crooked, so it was heated again and allowed to cool with some extra support and weight to achieve a straight or horizontal end result. With simple tools and a lot of patience you can go a long way!
Again the same problem with the tracks: warped! The caterpillars are made in a number of pieces per side as pre-cast parts and in order to ensure that the caterpillars fit properly as a whole, they are also heated and secured under tension using a number of clamps and allowed to cool.
Ad used the upper part of the tracks to mount the lower rollers in the right place. So when building you actually have the advantage of the fact that this is a static scale model -)
Unfortunately, the resin material of this kit is so hard that the smallest parts will break off quickly at the slightest bending, which is why Ad made the mounting points himself from brass material. Speaking of challenges!
Because Ad always sets the bar high and wants to rebuild the scale model as faithfully as possible, he naturally chose to make the required cylinders completely himself from metal and brass.
The original parts from 2013 include a flattened aluminum pipe to attach the cylinder. (Fortunately, CypModels kits have improved a lot in quality of material and workmanship since then!).
