Nice job so far , I love P Grey on tanks and guns , the best scheme for old german stuff , yours is looking great !
Thanks styrene!
The wheels were airbrushed with MM Burnt Iron Non-buffing Metalizer as a basecoat and then drybrushed with MM Steel enamel. Black artist pastel was then applied as a dry powder by brush over that to give the sooty/aged metal look and then sealed with dullcoat to sink it in and pop out the details.
Spector,
It is indeed a huge monster. 43" long, 6" wide and can be up to around 48" tall if you put the gun in the full elevated position. I’m seriously thinking about getting a custom made case to hold this one to protect it from the dust that gets everywhere in the desert. Not sure if I can get that past the CFO or not though…
Stupendous build Bill. Thanks for sharing this with us. It has been quite interesting, and I felt like I’ve been on a ride of sorts.
Eric,
I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the ride thus far, on the last leg now!
Day 20 Log: September 24, 2004
Errors/Issues: None
Steps completed:
–After letting the decals cure up overnight, the thickness of the decals revealed themselves for all the world to see! All of them adhered perfectly to the surface but you could clearly see the outline of the film. Applied an overcoat of glosscoat and let it dry. Then applied a dullcoat over that but the decals still stood out. Tried blending it in first with pastels and then MMP powder with little success. Sealed the pastel and MMP with a 3rd coat of dullcoat…this helped everything tie together but now I had a light/dark contrast between the decals and the rest of the cradle. Finally hit on a novel solution. I very carefully drybrushed MM Scwarzgrau around the contrast areas and it worked beautifully. The decals look painted on and slightly faded in addition to being dirty/weathered. A good result out of a potentially bad situation and another technique to keep handy for the future. [:D]
Total time today: 2 hours
Total time to date: 82 hours
Progress Pics:
Additional comments:
I’m about 95% happy with the decals (as the builder I’m my own worst critic in this regard…) and extremely happy with how the drybrushing worked out to mitigate and blend them in to the body. When viewed at a normal viewing height and lighting my wife thought I’d handpainted them on so that’s good enough for me I guess. The decals didn’t silver at all, which was another big worry from the sheer size of the decals in question and the fact that they went on a dark gray background.
Every journey must have its end I suppose and this one is no different. Today marked the end of the journey of my Leopold build. Hard to believe that 21 days and nearly 90 hours later, all the sprues are empty, paint bottles litter the desk, and what once was nothing more than 758 pieces of gray molded plastic have been transformed into the behemoth resting on it’s own shelf above my computer desk as I write this. Ladies and Gentlemen, the last installment of the Leopold Log is hereby presented for your reading enjoyment.
Day 21 Log: September 25, 2004:
Erros/Issues Found: 1
Dragon’s included figure set is supposed to be custom designed specifically for the Leopold. It includes 6 figures. One of those figures the “A” figure or officer figure, has two options for posing. One has him climbing a ladder, the other has him resting against a rail with one foot elevated. The only problem with this second pose is that there is NOWHERE on the Leopold that he could possibly make such a pose, leaving you really only one option if you want to include this figure in the final display.
Steps Completed:
—Revisited the decals one more time as I wasn’t satisfied with the results from yesterday.
The following was done:
- Shot another coat of dullcoat on them to settle in the drybrushing done previously.
- Drybrushed just the outline areas with a little wetter brush to seal in edge and provide a smoother transition.
- Very lightly applied some black artist pastel to blend it all back in to the surrounding surfaces.
There’s still just the slightest hint of the outline on some of the larger decals but due to lighting/angle, that’s always going to be the case as the decal is fractionally thicker than the rest of the surface. Looking at it dead on and level, it vanishes. I’m now 99% happy with the decals and going to leave well enough alone. Under normal lighting and not knowing it’s there, you can’t see it unless you put your nose right up against it and there’s just nothing I can about that except get a case…hmmm… [:D]
—Painted the figures as pieces on the sprue to better handle the details and multiple paint colors required.
—Assembled the figures starting with some of the more interesting posing options. As mentioned above, some of them are neat but totally unusable on this kit. (Another example is one that has a figure operating the breech lever, this is possible only if you want the breech open and the lever in that position…something you have to take care of much earlier on in the construction phase).
—Dullcoated figures and placed them on the kit but have not yet secured them. Have to consider whether to permanently place them using CA or use something non-permanent like poster tac or other substance.
Total time today: 6.5 hours
Total time to date: 88.5 hours
Progress Pics:
Additional comments:
The figures will be secured down in some fashion. The officer climbing the ladder is positioned unsecured, when he’s secured his position will change slightly to more accurately reflect him acctually climbing the ladder as opposed to hanging on to it for dear life… [:D]
I did not have time today to put together a gallery of shots of the finished Leopold but I will do that as a walkaround and post it up when I return next weekend from a business trip.
For all those who have enjoyed this journey along with me, thanks for your encouragement and support. It wouldn’t have been the same without you.
For those seeking to build this kit, I highly recommend it for the experienced modeller only. It’s a complex kit with a lot of quirks that can be turned into a great finished product with dedication and work and a little help with the instructions. If this log contributes to your success in some small way then it’s done its duty.
At some point in the near future, I will be turning this into a pdf file and also posting it up on my personal website, who knows when but definitely “soon”. [:D]
bill i have thouroghly enjoyed taking this journey with you. it has been one heck of a ride. thankyou for steering one of the more interesting threads i have seen in the nine months i have been associated with this forum. your build is outstanding. i am glad you solved your decal problem. i cant wait to see the final pics on this build.
joe
I agree with everyone about this Kit. Not as mindbending as the TRUMP version and if you treat the instructions with a pinch of salt your left with a beaut of a model.I will always have a soft spot for it as it was my first model to be shown in an exhibition and then accepted by the Warsaw museum of technology for permanent display.Good job as I do not have the room to keep it at home.
Great job! It was great watching your progress on that monster, and the final result is awesome.
Just excellent job overall, Bill. Just excellent!
Wbill, I have lurked around here since you started and I have to say, you have done a remarkable job. You are a true model builder. Gives me something to aspire to.
Thanks for the kind words! I’m in plastic withdrawal right now since I’m travelling and didn’t have anything portable enough to bring with me. A whole week without building is going to be tough! [:D]
I will be submitting this for the IPMS DesertCon October 23rd. I’m wondering if they will allow me to submit it as a kit or will require it to show as a diorama because of the crew… [;)]
I think they will not accept it as a kit. If I remember it right, bases and figures are excluded when submitting an entry for the “kit” only.
But hey, even without the crew…that thing rocks!
See that’s the catch with this one…the base (the railbed) and the figures are all part of the kit…not add-ons or scratchbuilt, so I don’t know how that will factor in. I need to find out from the organizers I guess… [:D] I know ordinary vehicles are allowed crew figures and still be counted as a kit but I don’t know if that would stretch to 6 in this case. The Artillery category is separate from the AFV categories, so maybe it has some different guidelines.
Bill I really enjoyed following your build, haven’t started mine yet due to awaiting workbench space. Thanks for highlighting the errors and problems with this kit it will help greatly.
You have done a very good job on the kit, looks good. Thanks for sharing.
Be nice to have the PDF as I have a modeling mate who is completely computer-illiterate. He is building this big baby now!
Btw, magnificent work, well done!
cheers
Mike
Excellent,Excellent,Bravo,bravo what a job you did on that.Plasitic withdraw I would not think so on something that big.Hope you win something out of this,I know that this kit must have tried your pateints.Good luck and good work.Digger
South Aussie,
Thanks for the support, Dragon is known for their awkward instructions but this one had some doozies for sure that I hope others can avoid. [}:)]
Workbench space is definitely a big requirement for this monster! I ended up with finished sections stashed around various shelves around the workbench and computer desk in an attempt to keep things out of harm’s way and the cat’s reach…and was successful for the most part. Biggest challenge is keeping the larger pieces from warping over time, the main box comes in very handy for this with it’s internal supports designed just for that.
Madmike,
Thanks for the kind words!
I will try to get that pdf put together this weekend. I need to figure out the best way to handle the progress pics (there are over 40 of them) in order to keep the overall size manageable.
Digger,
Working on this monster was like a huge sugar rush…followed by the crash! I’m thinking of tackling either the Pz I-B or the 223 scout car when I return home. Need something that I can measure in inches instead of feet to return to some “normalcy” [:O)]
I thoroughly enjoyed the build from start to finish even with all of its quirks as that’s what makes a challenge a challenge! All of the larger pieces went together perfectly, hardly any fit issues or extra flash, just the usual struggles with the instructions common to Dragon to deal with. [;)]
wbill,
congratulations!
great job on this monster. you did a nice job hand blending the decals in.
thanks for the insight on the kit, and for taking the effort to keep us abreast via this log.
I just got back this past saturday from the IMPS here in omaha and there was a few kits with figures including mine that did not place in the diorama catagory,however they did take my friends out of the advanced and place him in the diorama catagory, only because there was 2 dio’s for entries and they needed a 3rd. Good luck.
By the way the beast looks increadible,just when I thought I was the one with the big guns around here hehehe[:P]
Ed,
Thanks for the compliment!
Thundergod,
That’s good to hear…the DesertCon is a recently revived event so not sure how many will participate or even if the categories will all be represented! Mine might get moved for the same reason as your buddy’s, will just have to see. I’m not going to permanently place the figures but will use poster Tac on their boots (just a teeny bit to help keep them stable) so they can be repositioned or removed entirely if the situation calls for it. [:D]