[dozerbuilder]

Tractorfan, maybe assess your situation a little more before you set out to build a model. Firstly, don't let me put you off starting. Obviously you are considering a scratch build RC in metal, not a Bruder repower. You are going to need more than a welder.

One needs to assess what you want to do; do you want to learn the various trades involved in building the detailed working models you see here at RT&C such as CAD drawings, 2D DXF drawings, welding, milling, precision lathe work, etc etc, all essentially skilled trades in their own right or; do you want to end up with a specific model of a particular machine or; do you want to build something to occupy your time; or do you want a small machine shop and build models. As others have mentioned, it's an expensive hobby building a detailed working model like you see here on RT&C.

And if you have to buy all the CAD software, welding and bending and cutting equipment and machine tools, its even more expensive. And then you need to learn how to use all that equipment. And the CAD side is a steep learning curve (at least for me anyhow). Don't give up yet.

I went through all this myself building my 1st dozer. I was pricing welders, small lathes, a milling machine, 3D printer and so on an I don't even know how to use those. That was thousands of $$ worth of equipment that I had yet to learn how to use before I even started. All I got was a headache and all I wanted was a decent working RC dozer. I didn't want a workshop. The end result for me was when I asked myself the 2 questions; am I a model builder or do I want a particular model? It was the latter and I built this dozer:
http://www.rctruckandconstruction.com/showthread.php?t=11337"
So before you get too bogged down buying expensive equipment, consider what I did. Jobbing out the things you can't do or don't have the tools or knowledge to do. That's what I did. The only machine tool I own is a small drill press that cost $60.00 and a big grab kit of all the drill sizes from the smallest micro up to 12mm. And of course other small hand tools like torx drivers and allen keys, pliers, drivers, files etc etc.

Learning basic CAD to create your drawings is very handy. Find a outfit that can do all your laser cuts from your drawings. Find a small job shop that does welding,bending and sheet metal work from the laser cuts. Find a small job shop engineering outfit that does small lathe work, turning, milling, etc etc. Some shops won't touch small stuff, others are happy to do it. Sometimes home handymen are glad to be paid for making something constructive on their home machine tools and they are very good at it. Advertise for that in your local paper. There'll be guys who want to do it.

My point is you don't have to buy all these machines and tools. Job the your work out. Save yourself a bundle and concentrate your $$ on your model/s instead of an elaborate workshop and the learning curve. And getting tradesmen to do the job-shop work ended up in a top-notch job for me anyhow and was very quick. I'd get complex engineering work back in a few days ready to move on to the next stage. Even so, a decent size RC metal dozer in sat 1:12th or 1:16th is going to cost several thousand plus all up. The hydraulics or actuators and ESC's are going to be 1K.

Get good at one thing and let tradesmen do the trades. For example I found I could do the drawings. So I concentrated on that and got good at it IMHO. But I can't precision weld for peanuts. I had a lot of fun doing the build and I'm doing another soon, probably a Komatsu D475-5 or a Fiat -Allis FD50 in 1:16th. I'm glad I never bought all the machines and tools to build it, I have the dozer I wanted and no unused workshop and tools left over. Hope that helps.