wow. so much paint. my budget would have expired long ago. but excellent progress so far.
joe
Styrene,
Fortunately, the barrel rifling is designed so that the halves come together inside one of the grooves. I actually ended up with a small gap at the front of the barrel top and bottom instead of a seam that had to be filled. I did this very carefully with a very small amount of putty applied with a toothpick under the magnifier. Once painted, it’s invisible and the rifling stayed intact.
Joe,
One of the reasons I’m keeping track of the paint consumption is to tally up at the end when it’s all said and done the total materials costs required to build this thing OOB. [:D]
I’m begginning to feel like I’m in a bad Star Trek episode, trapped in a Robinson Crusoe type scenario or worse…these log entries have me muttering to myself constantly and grabbing the notepad to write something down before I forget it…pretty useful in the long run…
Day 6 Log: September 9th, 2004
If yesterday’s efforts could be described as big, today’s are the exact opposite. Spent the time today working on some of the surface details, lots of small parts and assembly with the requisite cleanup and time under the magnifier coming into play.
Errors/Issues Found: 2
—Step 13 calls for the loading ramp supports G48 to be glued to the ramp and then the entire ramp assembly fitted into the cradle using two cutout slots on the inner cradle. Only problem with this is the fit is too tight to work this way. It’s much easier to glue the supports inside the cradle first and then once dry, glue the ramp onto the supports.
—In another brilliant instruction move, Step 13 also calls for you to assemble the shell holder/cradle that loads the shell into the breech. It’s a critical assembly, marked with the infamous (!) icon meaning you have to be careful. Just to make it interesting, they draw the diagram so that the face that takes the two support arms is facing AWAY from you in the picture, so you can’t really tell without a lot of trial and error just how the parts go together.
Steps Completed: 13 (Out of 19, for some reason earlier I stated there were only 15 steps…)
—No painting done today since it’s Thursday, the usual night my wife and I go out to dinner. We got back after dark, too late to do any painting. It’s just as well as the detail work took more time than I anticipated and I wouldn’t have been in a position to paint anyway.
—Assembled the gun elevation axle holders, gun travel lock (instructions tell you to leave it workable and then glue a pin in to make it permanently closed…go figure), shell loading crane/holder, two ladders for front end of the cradle.
Time today: 2.5 hours
Time to date: 31.5 hours
Progress Pic:
Additional comments:
If I had any doubts that the engineer responsible for this kit must have never ever in his/her life assembled a model, they were removed today. Instructions keep calling for impossible or nearly impossible things if done the way they are drawn. Parts that have to be assembled first before attachment are shown in near microscopic pictures already assembled and on the kit with no direction, leaving a lot of the neat little details to guesswork, which is a shame since the detail of the kit is very nicely done.
After reading your log for the past 5 days Bill, I’ll never complain about individual track links again? It’s a good thing you live in El Paso, Tx. cause you’re going to need acrege to park this monster. This project is enough to make me consider hiring a project manager if I ever decide to build one of these beasts. It sure looks like you’re doing one heck of a job on it inspite of all the engineer screwups. Funny, but engineers are the same all over the world? They never have to build what they design. Great project, I’ll really enjoy following you through it, and will probably give you some of my second rate comments as you go. semper fi, mike
Great work ! Keep it up! I have the 1/72 scale Leopold , by Hasegawa . ( And I thought it was impressive.) I can’t wait to see your kit when is complete . And BTW thanks for the narrative on the construction ! It will help alot of modellers , in the construction of their Leopold .
Frank.
The odd thing (to some perhaps?) is that I’m really enjoying this build, quirks and all!
It’s funny that you mention hiring a project manager to build this for you since that’s what I do for a living… [:D]
Engineers are a lot like programmers…they can design the most wonderful things but when placed in the hands of the enduser, they are absolutely awful. [xx(]
I’d never consider yours or anyone else’s comments as second rate mike, everyone has their own perspective and value to add, that’s one of the main motivators I have for sharing this log/build with the group here after all. [;)]
Day 7 Log: September 10, 2004
The devil was in the details today. Somehow managed to lose one of the elevation collar halves, I suspect the cat has carried it off as it was sitting with its twin in exactly the same spot this morning but vanished when I sat down to work. Will have to see if I can get replacement parts from DragonUSA but their Customer Service doesn’t open again until Monday.
Errors found: 1
—Step 14K subassembly calls for making two ladder sets, one for each side. The kit parts supplied however do not give enough pieces to successfully complete both sets of ladders. Only 4 part E5 are supplied…and you need four per ladder set to assemble the top rungs. Will have to get extras/replacements from Dragon along with the collar replacements, so I’m lucky in a sense I guess.
Steps Completed:
Step 14K is 50% done with one ladder assembly completed. Very slow going as the directions are extremely complicated and lots of little parts. The support holes in the frames are very shallow and in close proximity to nearly identically sized sink marks, so the first one was very challenging to assemble.
Total time today: 2.5 hours
Total time to date: 34 hours
Progress Pic:
You’re doing such a nice job documenting this build Bill. I wonder what it would be worth to “Dragon” too have you rewrite their assembly instructions? Or at least send you any parts you need for doing such a thorough reverse engineering effort. Keep plugging friend, I’m enjoying the log and the results. My remark about second rate comments didn’t come out right Bill, please disregard. semper fi, mike
You’ve got an interesting point there mike, I’d have no clue about how to go about such a thing, this whole idea just got started as a “hey I’m building this massive thing, wonder how long it’s going to take me to do it so I’ll keep a log of time/effort…” and it’s just kind of grown from there.
The really funny thing about Step 14K? It would be soooo much simpler if they just showed that F37/F38 are assembled with 3 E1 rungs, F30/F31 are assembled with 4 E2 rungs, and F40/39 are assembled with 4 E5 rungs on the top (two for the G43/G18/G18 assembly) and 2 E3 rungs on the bottom…and then showed a separate step having the three ladder sections nest on top of each other to build the extendable ladder…but noooo they had to show it all together with multi-colored arrows and a horribly complex arrangement between the three frames. [}:)]
In the end, I assembled the sections just like that since the pin holes are so shallow, the frames will fold in on each other if you try it the way the instructions show. It was such a mess that one of the G56 hooks ended up on the wrong ladder section and I had to cut it away and leave it off completely.
2.5 hours to build one ladder section…probably 1 hour could have been shaved off that easily if the instructions were clearer. [8)]
God, Bill. The progragm manager part of you is really standing out buddy! Whether I ever get around to actually buying and building this Tech writers nightmare is a question mark? But the info you have shared with us is pricless for someone who wants to attack this monster. I have had some difficulty with Dragon instructions in the past myself. You’d think there would be an outcry of hobbiests on their illustrations and steps! Of course maybe there is? At any rate, it’s good that even with the tech interpetations being questionable that you are finding enjoyment in the challenge. Thats one of the things in my eyes that make the true modeller. Keep going buddy I’m right over your shoulder. semper fi, mike
Mike,
It could be worse, they could be bad drawings accompanied by text in Japanese… [:D]
Day 8 Log: September 11, 2004:
Today was extremely productive. Absolutely gorgeous weather, not a breath of wind and temps hovering around 90 degrees, perfect outdoor painting. Had to finish up several details first before though, so was a busy day both in construction and painting.
Errors/Issues Found: 1
—Step 15 has you build the shell transport cart and includes two sets of railings. In the drawing, the railings are identical and are supposed to meet up together in the middle in a clamshell arrangement. Part E15 is molded as drawn, however E14 has a bend and an angle at the top corner so it’s not possible to get them to match up without breaking the part. Not sure if I just got a malformed part or if the drawings are wrong. I chose to keep the angle and tinger with the frame, it looks like it belongs but does not match the instructions.
Steps Completed:
—Step14 left at 50% due to missing ladder rungs, so progressed on to Step 15. Completed Step 15 and 16 to assemble the driving cart (not sure if that’s what it really is called, but it’s the structure housing the self-propelling engine for the Leo…) prior to painting.
—Completed remaining exterior superstructure painting on the gun cradle, upper plate decks, and self-propelled motor carriage. Consumed an additional 1.5 bottles of Panzer Schwarzgrau. Grand total of 3.5 bottles required to paint overall gray basecoat, confirming that this monster is indeed a paint sponge! Still have additional painting for the railroad tracks and bed. So far paint consumption on this project stands at 4.5 bottles in total.
—Completed weathering on exhaust stacks and shell transfer cart. Body of cart as well as upper structures on the rail carriages and gun cradle still require weathering.
Total Time Today: 10 hours
Total Time to Date: 44 hours
Progress Pic:
Additional comments:
Tomorrow I will be working on the T34 build, so will not touch the Leo again until Monday or later depending. Last remaining construction step involves the railroad bed.
Did the kit come wth a railway embankment or base?
good luck
Ryan
Critr,
Yes it does…comes with sections for about 48" of embankment plus rails and ties. The sections are pretty big but the railroad ties are individuals along with individual sections or rail.
What a monster. I can’t wait to see it finished.
mark956
Sneaked in a little bit of time today since the T34 work went smoother than expected.
Day 9 Log: September 12, 2004:
The last remaining major construction efforts now center around the railroad embankment and track section aseemblies.
Errors Found: None
Steps Completed:
Step 19 30% completed.
— Embankment sections assembled in one long piece. 7 sections plus 2 end caps comes to 43" in length. Instructions call for the sections to be assembled using snap-together connectors between the sections, but these are too weak on their own to support the sections’ weight when you get more than two together. Applied liquid glue to the connectors as well as the sections were they met up. Built two sections at a time and then gradually linked the together into one piece. Final assembly was done on a pull out drawer for easy removal for painting and transportation. [:D]
—Prepped the assembled embankment for painting. the embankment is rough textured to simulate gravel/dirt and is nicely molded in a somewhat random pattern. This has a negative effect though in that the joints between two sections are uneven. Had to use putty to fill the gaps and work with a toothpick to make sure the rocky pattern was maintained (nothing like a straight smooth line of putty to look out of place among a bunch of rocks! [:P]).
—Airbrushed the embankment with MM Dark Earth thinned 50%. Consumed about 2/3 bottle (partially used to begin with, so just an estimate). Once paint had dried sufficiently, weathered the embankment to simulate sooty gravel look common to railbeds (at least the ones here in El Paso!). Total paint consumed so far: approximately 5 bottles. ( .5 Dark Earth, 1 Burnt Iron, 3.5 Schwarzgrau).
Total Time Today: 3 hours
Total Time to Date: 47 hours
Progress Pic:
Additional Comments:
The embankment still has a long way to go. There are 57 railroad ties that still have to be painted and detailed along with their respective rail sections. I have to stop at the LHS and get more Burnt Iron for the rails so still many hours left on this before it’s done. [8D]
And how is the sanity??
That’s a good question…my wife is starting to look at me funny since she says I keep talking about someone named Leo in my sleep…
[:D]
Ha!! Beware in the future of doing any tanks with female names. You might be sleeping on the couch for a while!!
Just got off the phone with Dragon USA about replacement parts for my missing G44 and G9 that the cat carried away along with the 5 E5 parts that were missing for the second ladder. They said it would take a couple of weeks for their customer service department to handle it, but they didn’t charge so that’s a plus.
It’s good to hear that Dragon is not going to charge you for the damaged or missing parts Bill. But a couple of weeks before delivery! Don’t they realize the world is watching this build? Give me names and phone numbers, I’ll put the full court press on them, we can’t have these kinds of delays. Semper fi, mike