Hitachi ZAxis 135 excavator

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

Nice touch, with the brass stop pins.

[bravo1jon]

So happy to see this kit done right. I get so much from watching your process thank you.

[Beekster]

Houston, we've had a problem....

As I feared, the whole decals-as-window-seals thing is a wretched mess:


On the left, a decal applied normally. The carrier film is easily visible; no bueno. Also, adhesion is quite poor, just before writing this the whole thing easily peeled right off. On the right, a decal with the carrier film carefully trimmed out from the inside area; now too fragile to accurately place on the part. It too has been washed off. So, I have to do it the hard way:


Since Hasegawa does mold in perimeter lines, painting the black areas is possible and work on that has been started. More to do, and I need to thin the paint a bit more, but I think I can get an acceptable result. Unfortunately, a couple of these windows are attached to the outside surface of the door and a side panel, and the area to be painted is exposed on the outside. That means some very careful sanding now to even out the blotchiness, and some fine work with really thin paint to build up the necessary opacity. Yay.



To some extent, the places that are supposed to be black can also be painted that color on the relevant cab parts, so that is in process too. I suspect that when the transparencies are installed, I will need to make up some black wash with watercolor & white glue to both get a good seal and color the seams more uniformly.

That really big window has a bunch of safety placards as part of the black perimeter seal decal. I think I will cut that section out and apply it alone. Since those things are actually printed on transparent stickers and stuck to the glass, a little carrier film won't look out of place for that particular decal.

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

Windshields ( Windsreens ) can be a real insect ( bugger ), sometimes ...... uh, well ......., all the time.

[JCON]

Coming together slow but sure!

[bravo1jon]

I'm kind of confused on the window decal issue. Are you talking about the rubber seals in the window frame? Those are decals? I can see how this would be problematic. I have a love hate relationship with decals. I hate the white film it leaves behind. Until recently that is. I got some Ammo by MIG Ultra decal fix and it changed everything. Simply apply it and leave it be for an hour and ALL of the film goes away. It works but it will burn older decals so try and test it out on a decal your not using first. I'm not completely sure that's the issue your having but if it is try this stuff it's amazing. Not unlike this build. I'm going to go get me a couple of those kits now. Than again for sharing this build with us.

[Beekster]

Slow progress; real life has been interfering with bench time. But the cab is finally coming together:





Still some touch-up to do, especially on the black window frames, but it's looking fine so far. Photos like this are great for showing where additional work is needed.

Then there's this little thing, which sits in the top deck and is called the radiator in the instructions. Too bad it is entirely covered by an access panel:


And before it started getting cold, I started painting all the orange bits and most of them are seen here. The big piece at the back needs a respray; I failed to notice an irregular mold seam that cut across the molded detail on the top surface. I realized that cleanup would obliterate it, so I measured up the features and built replacements.



The boom arm and that big piece (the rear of the excavator) both need additional orange paint; the other bits can get a flat coat just about any time. When it warms up again. Might be next weekend before that happens.

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

Looks like some good progress.

[JCON]

Very nice progress!!!

[RLFoster]

Coming along nicely!!!

[Dukemaddog]

Impressive work despite life getting in the way. Way to go Beekster!

[Beekster]

No, this one hasn't been forgotten. It just is at a stage with a lot of wait time baked in. This little beast has a rather large number of decals everywhere, so everything got a couple of coats of Glosscote that were left to cure for a few weeks. I missed a couple of spots on the excavator frame and only got the gloss on last week, so that piece is going to cure for another couple of weeks before decals go on. All the parts in the photo have their decals and a light sealing coat of clear gloss, and when that's sufficiently cured all of these will get a flat coat.

I deviated from the instructions by moving the HITACHI logo on the back piece down, so that my custom company decal could be more prominent. I got the decals from Bedlam Productions, and they will go on several logging-related model projects. They are very thin and must be handled with care, but they look great.

[JED]

Looks really good with the decals

[mustang1989]

This is one crazy build right here. Looking great so far.

[Beekster]

A little more progress:




The rubber hydraulic hoses are now attached. The ones atop the boom are glued on at both ends; the others are glued down on one end and tend to stay in place by friction on the other so that the boom can be articulated. All the ends need to be painted silver and there's other touch-up to do before a last spray with Dullcote. The bundle of hoses lying loose actually go into a recess in the superstructure; it has to wait until the boom mount is glued down and thoroughly dry. The rubber has enough spring in it to push the mount out of place otherwise. Attaching all these took a fair amount of time, superglue had to be allowed to set before each line was flexed to attach the opposite end.

[mustang1989]

Wowsa!!! Keep it coming bud. Looking great so far.

[Beekster]

So, I've set aside the second yarder for a while and gotten focused on completing three other projects that have been hanging fire for a while. This one, the log loader, and the F-350. Updates on all will come in the next few days. This is the excavator now:






The track frame needs a last bit of gray sprayed on a couple of spots as well as painting the track rollers. Then a flat coat. The gray will be done when I do the engine compartment for the log loader shortly. The rest of the thing is just about complete save for the cab. The latter still has two panels needing interior decals, and when the gloss for that has cured I will proceed with that and the same stuff on the log loader cab parts. Weathering will of course be last. One mishap had to be dealt with recently. The last image shows three hydraulic lines from the boom disappearing into the mount. The attachment points in the kit are just little plastic nubbins, and like the ones on the 'dozer blade support these broke too. So I had to carefully pry the boom back out, shave the ends of the pipes flush, and drill for .016" brass pins. Everything is much more secure now. The various hydraulic lines on the boom won't stay in place by friction, so I had to superglue them in place. That left me with a few shiny spots that aren't really visible here but will be dealt with by spraying them with a thinned coat of Dullcote.

[JCON]

Busy boy you are!!!