In between plowing snow this week I managed to cut out the first parts for the next model I am building . I cut out the cab walls and windows and got it tack welded together. The toy excavator next to it is what it will look like when it is done.
I am building a Cat 390DL hydraulic excavator so it will look a little bit different than the toy in the picture next to the cab. I do like Cat equipment but I like every brand big and small . same with garden tractors, I like them all !! It's rare I refuse to climb up on a big machine and operate it because it is the wrong color, ha,ha. I just love all machines. My toy hobby has opened doors to drive some awesome real machines like a Cat 789C Haul Truck and a Cat 994D loader with a 23 yard bucket and a Terak RH-200 with a 33 yard bucket scooping rocks . It was a dream come true plus many smaller machines I would have never got to operate . I'm no good as a operator but it sure was great fun. if you ever want to see some of them they are not all model building and snowplowing, ha,ha.
I work a lot in the shop in the winter to keep busy, but summer I like to goof off and enjoy camping . Here is the second picture showing my progress on the left side of the revolving body of the model.
Thanks , it is a new challenge at a different scale and that keeps each new project very interesting . Each model is a one of a kind so I don't have to ever make two of anything.
Sometimes it is hard for me to believe I built all those models. Model building has opened so many doors but going to a tractor show looking at garden tractors is still very exciting to me. I love garden tractors . Thanks for the kind words.
My toy hobby has opened doors to drive some awesome real machines like a Cat 789C Haul Truck and a Cat 994D loader with a 23 yard bucket and a Terak RH-200 with a 33 yard bucket scooping rocks .
I think back to those days in the mines and still can't believe I got to operate several of those machines. I also drove a Cat 789C Haul truck and when I raised the box it was 40 feet in the air. Very cool !!
Todays progress picture shows me working on the rear counterweight . It bolts on to the rear similar to the real one. It had several different angles and holes and one cut out in the center but i think I managed to get close to the look. I'm always the first to admit my models are far from perfect . My tools are pretty basic and my shop is small but I sure do enjoy making my metal creations. Thanks again for the kind words.
Lookin' good! I looked through your pics on your web site and I must ask, what do you do with them all?! They are all very detailed and if it wasn't for the size references in the backgrounds, I would have ththought most of them were full size machines!
I used to take them and show them at shows but we have not been to a show in a couple years. I have friends that really like them and they have several of them in their houses on display.
We met a lot of nice people at the toy shows and we had so much fun. Then I got behind on toy orders and never caught up to make anything to sell at the shows ever again. Now days i build the models I want to build that are my favorites and that makes it so fun.
Don your skills are AWESOME! Those are ALL really cool models, and it's cool that you got to operate the real mccoy of some of them. Being a farm boy I am partial to your version of the Williams Brothers Big Bud. I didn't think it was possible to make one any bigger than the 1/16 versions before getting to the real one. Again, great work you turn out and can most definately be proud of.
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