# CATERPILLAR 60's BUILT!



## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi all, 
The Caterpillar 60's are out of the paint shop and basically done. 
I have to add some hooks and clevis's at the winches and the Logging Cruiser will eventually get a tracked arch.
Of course the weather and wear has yet to be added but thought you might like some pictures.



Here is South Fork Timber's Logging Cruiser #5 in the morning sun.













Another view of #5












In this view of #5 you can see the winch and the extra line waiting a place to hook up.













South Fork's Cable Dozer #3. Still need to build a radiator brush guard and hooks and clevis at the winch.














The other side of #3 with the loading car and dedicated flatcar in the background. The Logging Cruiser is already loaded.














Here #3 is crawling up the ramps to the flatcar.














Here we are all loaded, turned and ready to head to the woods. Oops maybe should throw some chains and binders on that load.










Well thats it, thanks for taking the time to look.
Rick Marty


----------



## parkdesigner (Jan 5, 2008)

Great looking models Rick! 

I've loved following your posts on the building effort... can't wait to see what you do next!


----------



## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Fabulous Rick.... they look great. Very realistic.

Well done.


----------



## Don Gage (Jan 4, 2008)

Wonderful work Rick, 
Man they look Great! 
More motivation to build one for myself, 
Don


----------



## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

Gorge-u-ous!!!


----------



## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Rick, I have been watching this build very closely and let me say the final product is spectacular.  


I have been wondering how you were going to tackle painting the flexible plastic (rubber?) tracks.  I have an international crawler dozer that I weathered a while back and the paint didn't stick to the rubber crawler tracks very well.  since then I have made sure that any crawler models I buy have linked metal tracks-- but I would love to go back and paint the tracks on my old international because right now it looks a bit silly with a weathered and beaten down tractor with bright yellow tracks!  I would love to hear what you used to paint the crawlers.  Do you feel as though the paint is pretty durable on the tracks?


Once again, great build.  The cats look fantastic.


Regards,


----------



## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing.


----------



## dltrains (Jan 2, 2008)

R.W., 
Awe inspiering! You have reached "Cat Master" model builder with this build. 

Dave


----------



## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the comments guy's, they are appreciated. 

I will say that this project turned out to be way more work than I had thought it would be, but I am happy with the results.
Yes there are a few things I would do different next time, mainly the tracks.

Eric M,
Painting the tracks was/is a problem. I tried to buy metal tracks but neither SpecCast or Norcost would answer an email or phone call
about buying track separately. Metal track was/is my first choice and I may yet find a way to change them out. 

As for painting the plastic/rubber tracks what I have done in the past and on these follows;
rattle can the tracks with Krylon Gray primer and let dry for at least a week. Then add the next color in this case I used rattle can
Aluminum and let dry for a week or more. They have been drying for several weeks now and I will add the weathering colors as 
I feel they need, mostly washes of water based paints and dry brushing.
My expierence has been that the paint will bind well and not chip or flake over the short run (3-4 years) but they, the tracks, will always remain slightly "sticky". That is, the paint will dry but 
will have a tendency to slightly stick to any surface that they sit on for any length of time. Not enough to cause paint transferer but enough to feel the "stick" when you pick it up,
if that makes sence.


Thanks for the interest
Rick Marty


----------



## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi Rick thanks for the honest response about painting the tracks. I suspected that painting that material might present some challenges. As I have been thinking about the problem I have unearthed a few possible solutions. 

I was thinking of trying a product made by Duplicolor, it is sold at auto parts stores here in CA, it is called "Flexible Bumper Coating". It comes in a spray can and is available in black, silver and charcoal. It is meant to adhere to flexible plastics so it might work. I suspect it would be dry to the touch and not have the stickyness that you have now.

My second thought was regular acrylic paint because acrylics tend to be a bit more flexible than solvent based enamels. the question if they would bond with the surface or flake off. You can also buy spray on "adhesion promoters" that come in spray cans. These may help with either the acrylics or the enamels but they would have to be tested.

And lastly, Classic Construction Models who mostly manufactures high end static models of construction equipment in brass has a spare parts page on their "swap" website and they have some metal link crawler tracks availabe as a spare part. They come in Cat yellow so you would have to paint them. The material is brass. The big question is if they are the right size because they were originally meant for a 1/24 scale tractor.
Click here to see the page that shows the crawler parts. I have talked with the CC Models folks on the phone and they were helpful so they might be able to give you more specifics on the demensions of the tracks. 
Hope that helps. I'll post if I experiment with any of the paint methods I mentioned. Regards,


----------



## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

LOL!!! I just realized that the crawler parts are 25 bucks each!! that would be $50 just for one tractor-- that's assuming they were even long enough! For that price you could buy a whole tractor and cannibalize it for it's tracks. I guess that's because they are brass. Oh well, maybe the painting ideas will work-- I'll probably experiment with them. Regards,


----------



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

I'd paint em rust, dry brush the ends of the cleats a flat metallic, then coat the whole lot with a dust color.... but man them things deserve to look 'right', not just 'close enough'...Maybe send em to Kevin to weather?


----------



## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Excenent modeling! Those are a couple of super nice crawlers. Could the tracks be made with a cloth tape and plastic tread parts glued on? Just a thought.


----------



## traindude109 (Jan 2, 2008)

Excellent work as always Rick! I need to get back out to your place soon to check on all your new stuff!


----------



## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

The draw bridge is always down for you Matt, just give me a call.
Rick Marty


----------



## trainbuffjr (Jan 11, 2008)

Wow Rick! Those Cats came out great. It puts my Cat 60 to shame. Keep up the great work.

Aaron
Loyet Logging Company


----------



## Russell G (Jun 7, 2009)

Hey, I gotta say WOW also. I'm new here and I've never seen anything like this. I've liked bulldozers since I was a kid and always enjoyed seein the few models I've found. Fantastic! I look forward to goin back in the posts lookin for your build progression. This kinda stuff gets my blood goin. I'm flabbergasted Rick! The tuff choice: enjoy the stuff on this site or get some work done?


----------

