Modifications on the counterweight.


Reproduction of the modified turas wheel.


I took a resin copy from the cab of my 320d model.So when CAT will introduce the d-model of the 385 I will only have to change the decals.

Unfortunately this is the last cab I could reproduce because the mould got broken.


Putting on the first parts on the base plate.


And then build the next one.
I always build small parts,then connect them with others to modules and sections that make the model.
This is somehow like building a ship.


Let´s see if it fits together.And yes,it does.

Now,i´m adding part by part.

You can maybe see that I had some big problems with the tracks.It took long time and patience to fix them.

Then I had a lucky moment.I could purchase a boom from a Conrad Liebherr 984 model for cheap money.This was the perfect base for my ME-boom.

The only thing was that it came without the main hydraulic cylinders.I will come back to this soon.

You can see the first rough modifications to make it fit on my model.

The first cuts on the stick:


The boom was a little long.So I decided to cut off a bit from the front end.Sounds easy,but it is not.
I drilled out the new holes to hold the stick before I cut off the boom.You have to be very,very careful when you do this.One mistake and the part is dump.








more modifications on the boom.I made a deep cut in the top and glued in the new parts.There´s some huge forces from the stick cylinder on these parts.


modifications on the stick.I filled the gaps with resine.


Sometimes you have to be creative to make the parts

As I said the boom came without the main hydro cylinders.But the Liebherr boom had two stick cylinders.So I decided to take these as the main ones and make a new cylinder for the stick.
I had been thinking about this long before I started this project and yet I had done some attempts to make my own hydraulic cylinders.The other possibility would have been to ask Conrad to give me a spare cylinder.


The cylinder is made of a big nail that moves in alumium tubes.To make it move smoothly I used a rubber tubing that gets smaller when you heat it up with a hair dryer.Sorry,I don´t know the english word for this special kind of rubber tube.It is finally fixed by two small alumnium rings.

Let´s put this together and you have a complete cylinder:


Meanwhile I finished the boom and stick:


Already looks like a 385,doesn´t it?


I decided to make a custom made bucket for the model.The one from the 984 was a bit too large and I didn´t like the shape also.





I have great skills at making buckets for excavator models.
For those who don´t know: I sell about a thousand resin buckets and other attachments per year.

Remember I made silicone moulds from the details on the undercarriage?
Now is the time to put them on again.


And then paint the parts:


And put them together:


Time to fill the last gaps and build the last major parts.At This point I worked about 12-16 hours a day on the model to get it finished.


Put some grey primer on them.I use the grey primer for two reasons.First it´s much easier to detect mistakes on the surface of the parts when they all have the same colour.
Second is that the yellow colour will look exactly the same on all parts when you put on the primer before the real colour.



Adding the last details.This day was horror.The parts on the ladder didn´t want to stay together.But I had to paint them the same day to get finished.It was 10:30 pm when I got into the garage to paint them.Only about 4 hours behind the plan. =>:-<


Now,I was really in a hurry and sorry,I don´t have many more photos of the last stages.

Final paint job on the cab:


put on yellow colour:


then covered them with tape and painted the black parts:


Strip off the tape and you are done:


When I stripped off the tape from the counterweight I ripped off some of the colour,too.
This was only about the last of many,many misfits that happened.
And also,I would like to say that these were only the main steps on the way to make the model.It would be too much to show every single,little step I made.And what you can´t see at all is the think work behind the whole project.I mean I started with nothing and now the model is finally done.
I have to say I didn´t even dream it would come out that fine.There is not much left that I could say of,I could have done any better.
Thanks for watching and for the kind words to everyone!
And once again: I will post more pics of the finished model when I get the decals.

Jan

I said it yesterday, but, wow! I was so impressed with the time you have taken to show us how you did things, a great inspiration! That checkplate is fantastic and all you moulding work was phenomonal.

I was suprised however that only 3 extra lengths of track were needed?

Great work Jan!!!!

Janh,could you post a pic of the tools you used.Just so one might get more of an idea of what type of things to have in the future.Thanks.This model is CCM caliber in my book.

I don´t have any special tools.The most important one is probably a sharp hobby knife.And the second is a Dremel.I mainly use it with the cutting wheel.
And I have a lot of tools to polish things like different kinds of sandpaper (always take the water proof) and about a dozen of different files.

Then I have a second milling machine like the dremel.That´s a cheap one.I have it mainly in case of that the Dremel has a defect.This happened two times last year.
I should count how many times I switch it on and off a day.Must be several hundreds times probably.

You should also have a pincer for small parts and some tongs.And glue is important for me.I have a stock of at least 50 tubes of super glue.So I never run out of this stuff.I also have different special glues,like two component glue (glues very strongly) and a special one for plastics.
And I have some rulers to meassure things.I have to change the rulers every two or three months,because they are getting used from cutting.

My workshop always looks like a mess.
That´s why I don´t post any photos of it.I just can´t keep my stuff in order.And the resin cut offs make a lot of dirt on the floor.

I do have a lot of other tools,too.But honestly I do not use them very often.
I also have a third milling machine that I use for very filigrane drilling operations.It´s not very powerful,but it can run at very low speed which is ideal when you work on styrene parts.

The major part of my workshop is filled with materials of all kinds.I could open up a hobby shop with my styrene and metal stock.You can never have enough different ones of these.
I also have a big box with model parts.I always hope I can use these someday for a new project.But some of them I keep for more than 10 years now.Maybe it´s about time to sort out some of them.

For painting I have a compressor and two different spray guns.A single action for bigger parts.It´s very easy to clean.And a double action for smaller and high quality parts.
For this particular model I only used the double action.Cool thing,but it takes 15 minutes to clean it and it has an open paint can.So you always have to empty it when you finish painting.For the other one I have the paint in small glasses that can be attached to the spray gun.

Jan

Jan,
From the moment I saw the start a while ago, I knew this was going to be a show stopper. Well done mate! This is by far one of the best, if not the best, CAT model I have ever seen!!!!! Love your work mate!!
Cheers,
Craig

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The Caucasianaasian

I must Agree with Craig on this one!! Gets my vote for custom of the Year!!! Only one thing i see wrong with it! I believe it would look better in my House? Well done.. Gaz

That is just truly amazing work!!! Wow is just about all that can be said of that model. Great job.