Decanted some Krylon Pistachio (first attempt) for the interior of my M109A2.
Had fun getting the straw fitted to the nozzle but a piece of masking tape and off to the sink. Leaving it to off gas now.
Easier than I thought!
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@165thspc, well Mike, that is a fair enough guess! As this does look like a skidder - but, those are articulated, which is a lot more work than I was interested in pursuing, as this project will be the load on a truck, so in a sense, I looked at it as background as this began. But, now that I’m in the the thick of it - well, it’s a project in and of itself! thanks for playing! 
@Uncle-Heavy , Robin, yes!! the correct guess!
It is indeed on its way to becoming an all terrain drill rig! I selected this for my project because I think it looks adequately strange (ugly? - and yes, even worse with the flat hood - I just couldn’t live with that), is good and complicated, and will be a good subject for plenty of weathering and wear and tear -
And, you win some bonus points - as I am never wrong 
…it humbles me to share this image:
The front deck - is now largely open! When I read your comment, I of course went back and looked at my reference photos - and what I thought was a full deck, well, isn’t 
I was tricked by shades and shadows! Only the center portion of my example was covered, so - I removed the sheet from the side areas. As I was pondering this realized the shape was wrong too - so, out came the knife and saw and you can see where it is now. A fairlead for a winch will eventually get added to the front.
Regarding what I think you meant about the “rear pillars” - I think you are referring to the two stabilizers - well, my pillars are indeed stable , and plumb!:
While not going backwards, some forward progress too:
In addition to the mast and boom, made up some levers for the cab, and the chain driven differential feeding a capstan/windlass (nomenclature re vert or horiz orientation varies) and drill head.
OK, on we go!
Cheers
NIck
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Looking good so far, you should try to find some “Army Painter” brand razor wire - typically used for gaming figurines, I;ve discovered it works great to replicate the razor wire bundles attached to modern vehicles.
spool it around the top of your chain link fence for added realism…
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I would call it “designed for a purpose” 
ugly is such demeaning word 
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It’s a work vehicle, not designed to win car shows. Ugly has a purpose.
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I was thinking about the “cabin”
Maybe I should have written “cabin posts” instead …
The rectangular side view of the cabin does the stylishly raked “hood” a disfavour.
On the CME-550x the rear posts lean forward which improves the looks of the whole thing.
Considering the redesign of the hood I would consider tinkering with the side profile of the cabin to “modernise” the clunky appearance it has now.
Maybe something like this?
Regarding the bonus points for the patio:
I thought it was an intentional deviation for some purpose unknown to me. Maybe some owner welded some sheet metal or diamond plate to create a work area or for some storage.
The “hood” was already redesigned so what is one more redesign after all …
A pretty red one, imagine cruising down Sunset Boulevard in a red one …
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ATV Pope Mobile?
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Pushed the pace a little too hard over the last 24 hours from unpainted to painted & chipping. Mr Surfacer Mahogany 1000, followed with Floquil Military Color Panzer Dark Yellow thinned with Mr Color Leveling Thinner, followed with chipping fluid & Tamiya white for white wash.
Lots of touch ups are needed…but it’s got paint.
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@Uncle-Heavy, well Robin, you are giving me a run for my money on this one! The original plan was to throw something together as a load for a truck, and now it’s taken on a bit of a life of its own! I tend to be more focused on other more intentional scratch builds - taking the time to uh, pay attention! In this case, I fell into the trap of building what I “thought I saw” rather than what I saw! One of the pitfalls of doing scratch projects using only pics
Alas, I did indeed go back to my collection of images and as someone might have observed, the legs of the roll cage on this do indeed slope inward - the rear legs do - so here we go;
The saw came out again! and now, the rear legs slope inward! and, I like the looks more
I also went about making the ten pulleys. That’s 10 disks cut from .040" styrene for pulleys, and twenty disks cut from .020" styrene to sandwich in as sleeves…good times:
The honesty of close in shots…a few of these need some more sanding, representing the obvious downside of cutting them with the trusty #11 - in real life the look pretty good - still some guides etc to add. And, the cuts on the deck need to be cleaned up!
@SableLiger, yes, form follows function - the rest of the build is pretty close to the prototype - for the nose and comments about its appearance, I thought about John Deere tractors, which have a sloping nose - so the driver can better see where they are going, and I like the look:
I chose this vehicle in particular for this project because no matter it’s appearance, I think it’s interesting and will look good on the bed of a yet to be built truck.
Cheers
Nick
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Damn, our coal is black.
Just kidding. Well done.
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That truck is a beauty, Richard! Kudos!
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Painted a few details and worked on touch ups. More touch ups to go.
Can’t decide if the main barrel in black lacquer would look gangster or stupid with winter white wash.
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Main colour blocks in place, now need to start on detail. Still lots to do on these fellas, but its taking shape
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Wow.
Very sharp. I just saw a railroad modeler make some, he used fabric, “tulle.” I like your flyscreen idea. Well Executed.
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You could probably use the break, a lot of good work there!
Uh, you might not use that exact phrasing when you talk to your wife “I’ll haul you for surgery…”
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