Happy Holidays

On behalf of Classic Construction Models and its employees, I would like to wish you and your family a happy holiday season.  We look forward to working with you next year.

Best regards,

Bob Peterson, President
Classic Construction Models, Inc.

D9H Update

Based on a QC sampling of the D9H models when they arrived, we decided to inspect each model individually.

We are nearing the end of this process and, unfortunately, have concluded that the best course of action is to go back to the beginning and redo all of them.

At this point we are estimating that they will be returned to us and ready to ship in four to five months.

Again, we apologize for the delay and will continue to do our best to get these models to you as soon as possible.

992C Prototype

We recently completed an SLA (Stereolithography) prototype of our upcoming die-cast 1:48 scale Caterpillar 992C Wheel Loader using our in-house SLA machine.  This will be the first model to go into production as the result of a customer vote and is approximately 60% of the way there.  We hope that you are as excited as we are for this model to arrive and enjoy the pictures that follow.

A stock image of our SLA machine, the Viper SLA

The assembled body of CCM's Caterpillar 992C.

The parts that make up the body of the 992C - all printed using our in-house SLA machine.

A size comparison between CCM's Caterpillar 992C, left, and CCM's Caterpillar 988 Wheel Loader.

Delayed shipment of the D9H

In case we don't have you on our email list, here is a copy of the email we sent today regarding the status of the D9H models.

Dear CCM Customer,

Our D9H, DD9H and SxS D9H models arrived here on November 29^th.  A random inspection found models that had not been corrected as directed during our visit to the manufacturer in October.  To ensure every model that we ship meets our standards, we are holding all the models here.  We are of course extremely disappointed that we are unable to ship these as planned and will advise of our new delivery schedule as soon as possible.  

D9T Sample is Here

We received the D9T hand samples from our manufacturer in Korea this week, and we have to say that the quality and attention-to-detail are excellent.


Features of this D9T include:  a positionable single-shank ripper, U blade with spill guard, individually-linked, free-rolling tracks, working track tensioners, fully-functioning bogeys, opening engine doors, a detailed operators cab with functional doors, lights, grab handles, and hydraulic lines.

During our review process, one issue that we noticed was that the edges of the gusset have a sharp, 90-degree angle.  The gussets on the real machine, however, have rounded edges.  As minor as this inconsistency may seem, it is an error that we are concerned with as we always aim for perfection, and it will be corrected before the production model is released.

Remember to keep an eye on this blog for more information regarding the D9T and other new products from Classic Construction Models.

10/26 – 10/28 – Measuring the 5230

Our introduction to Minnesota was a round of applause for the American Airlines pilot who finessed our plane onto the Minneapolis runway in 30 mph cross winds.  Four and a half hours later, after battling those same crosswinds, snow, sleet and rain, we went to bed early for our trip to the Arcelor Mittal mine on Wednesday morning.

Rob, Greg & Jim in front of the 5230

After a quick breakfast we met our contacts from the mine and Caterpillar and made the short trip to the mine site.  Another 8 miles of driving within the mine took us to where the 5230 was located.  Our arrival time was set up to fall within the weekly, 8-hour down-time maintenance shift.    It took us about two hours to get all of the dimensions we needed to start developing our computer model, after which we tracked down the one 992C still working at this mine for a few more reference photos and dimensions.

A look around the mine was followed by a tour of the processing plant where the raw rock is transformed into iron pellets that are shipped by train and boat to another Arcelor Mittal factory to become steel.


Our hosts from the mine and Ziegler Caterpillar were both extraordinary in their assistance in getting us to the machines.  We’re all very excited about making the 5230 model and looking forward to the  possibility of a larger shovel down the road when CAT rolls out their new product lines!

The 992C we found

Talking shop by the 5230

A BE drill used for prepping the rock for blasting

The rental company might not appreciate
 the mud we covered their Tahoe in!

That service truck in the middle dwarfed our Tahoe

The repair shop

Old school "dry" - where the miners keep their gear

Rob all geared up with his safety vest, hard hat,
metatarsal boots and gloves as required by the mine.
Standing in front of one of the pieces of equipment
used for processing ore.

Mike Nies, a 10-year CCM customer, pays us a visit

Mike Nies, left, and Gary Peterson,
CCM Sales Manager, right

Mike Nies, a long-time customer of CCM, visited Friday from Grand Junction, Colorado.
Mike first became interested in construction scale models after joining the Alaskan Local 302 Operating Engineers in 1975.  He currently works for Price Gregory International - a pipeline contractor - as a superintendent charged with fleet management and early project planning.
After working with a number of machines throughout his career, owning scale models is a nice way to remember them and show others what he has and continues to work on.
Mike has been a CCM customer for over 10 years now, and says that the "museum-quality" of the models keeps him coming back.
His favorite CCM model is the brass 1:48 Caterpillar 583T as it is the workhorse of pipe-laying and the most common machine in his company's fleet.
If you have any interest in visiting our office, give us a call at 503-626-6395.

666 Models Have Arrived!

Our die-cast 1:48 scale Caterpillar 666 Scrapers arrived Monday and we've been busy sorting and getting them ready to ship.  If you have one on order, you'll be seeing it soon!

Grant and Rob's Most Recent Trip to China

Day 1-2, 9/6-9/7:
Left Portland this morning and are on a plane headed to Tokyo Narita International Airport in Japan.  After a quick plane change, we headed for China.
20 hours later we were there.  An hour long cab ride through the border and another hour long drive to the hotel.  Managed to crawl into bed at 1am local time.

Day 3, 9/8:
Up and at 'em early; it's 11pm back home and we're just starting our day.  Inspected the D9H and found a few issues to address.  Worked with the model maker to change some assembly line processes that could potentially cause problems.  Left today to give them time to make changes and will come back toward the end of the trip.

Day 4, 9/9:
At another model maker today.  We inspected the 666 and it was pretty close to perfect.  We made a couple adjustments in the processes on the assembly line to ensure top quality and also learned a few things about assembly that will allow for better models down the road.

Day 5, 9/10:
Inspected the 666 models and found everything was done so well that our plan to have a full day at the factory ended up being only 30 minutes.  The models will be individually inspected by a third-party quality control (QC) agency prior to packaging.  Shipping on 9/25 from China, should land in the US no later than the week of 10/18.
Had lunch at a local restaurant.  That’s Rob eating chicken feet.  I wasn't up for that – could barely take the photos without gagging.

OSHA approved?

Day 6, 9/11:
First night in Shenzhen.  A gorgeous city – very similar to Portland with the amount of greenery.  If you look at a map it's in a tropical latitude and I can confirm with 90 degree temps and 90% humidity that the maps are not wrong.  In China they call it “The Garden City”.  Our hotel here is 100 times better than the hotels in rural China.  Speaking English with the front desk clerk may seem like a minor thing back home but its music to your ears when you’re in China.

Day 7, 9/12:
Spent the morning at a trade show in Shenzhen.  Not a huge show but interesting to see products that won't make it to US stores for several months.  We also met some new people who could be helpful in manufacturing in the future.

Day 8, 9/13:
Sunday here: our first real day off.  Went to the local shopping center and found lots of well known name brands.  Glad to see there wasn't any Caterpillar product in the mix.

Day 9, 9/14:
Back to the D9 manufacturer.  Most changes are perfect but still had to do some fine tuning.  Fried rice for lunch at the factory - it's hard to get these guys on board with the idea that we're here for work, not two hour lunches.  After a quick lunch, back to the assembly line where we spent time illustrating that perfect parts make for perfect paint and that making a perfect model isn't in the assembly but rather the whole process.  Not a complex concept, but hard to get through language and cultural barriers to make it clear that only perfect is perfect.  A few delays because of the raised expectations for this model but they will land in November.

Day 10, 9/15:
Met with another factory working on a ‘secret’ project.  Secret meaning we won’t announce it until we have a better idea of delivery dates, etc.
Side note on this one: We are well aware of and feel the pain first when the delivery dates for a model keep moving back.  Our efforts to streamline both development and production procedures will help improve our performance in this arena but with that said, it is important that everyone understand we will always choose quality over on-time deliveries.

Additionally, if you ever have something you want to share, you can always e-mail or call us.  We pride ourselves on our customer service as much as our model making and will always take the time to answer and explain to you why we are doing what we are doing.

Day 11-12, 9/16-17:
Out of China and off to Hong Kong.  Only 2 layers of security to leave China and 2 more to get into Hong Kong.   I wonder what would happen if we left China and Hong Kong decided not to let us in.  It’s basically no-man’s land isn’t it?  Would we be stuck there indefinitely?   If you work for Homeland security drop us a line and let us know…but be prepared for us to give you more ribbing about other TSA procedures.

We will be updating the blog on a weekly basis.  Our goal is to allow you to see a lot more of what happens behind the scenes at CCM and gain a better understanding of how we work.  We just ask you to remember that we are only human if we happen to slip or stumble.