Karl, the PE adds a lot of nice small touches to make this one look a lot better! I do like how you have put the mirrors in the stowed position as well! You are getting bold to tackle the old Tamiya Leopard. That kit is probably 40 years old now and needs some serious work to bring it up to standards. One of the master builders in our AMPS chapter just finished the same kit, but with a ton of upgrades. I want to see how you work it out.
Hi Karl,
I dig into ooold history and I have a book about “modern tanks” from 1992… [whstl] and found this pothos from a Leopard, in fact there are like 6 more photos. Since its and old book, prior to Internet, I dont think you can find them out there…I just thought they wer nice pics.
Great work Karl. I have the Tamiya Leopard one one my bench and i’m here to tell you its A handful. There are a lot of things that need to be fixed. I can post them all tomorrow for you if you would like.
Looking very impressive looking forward to your progress.
Karl, the old Leo 1 should be a hoot!
After I read Harold Coyle’s “The Ten Thousand” I got the urge to do the Leo2A4, but I hate Italeri kits. Now that Meng has one in the pipeline, I may re-visit…
Why wait for Meng RB? Hobbyboss has a whole family of Leopard II kits out now in 1/35.
Thanks, guys—sorry that I’m once again tardy in replying. I’ve been working on these tracks and also doing some landscaping for the lawn.
Cliff, I agree with you about doing an old kit-it’s nice to get back to basics and really work on being a “modeler” with some creativity and work.
Carlos, I won’t go in for the “ton of upgrade” even though I know there are a zillion crazy things you can get for this kit that make it more than average. I had one of these built and sold it on eBay; it wasn’t as detailed, and the paint was very basic, so that’s my standard–a better paint job, and a little more detailing, and I’ll be happy with it. The MENG one will no doubt have everything you could ever want, so I don’t see the point on blowing wads of cash on this right now. 
Hugo, thank you for those pics! That’s the finish I want. I think I’ve seen those pics somewhere before; they’re probably the ones that inspired me to want to go with the old finish! I hope I can get that grimy, dirt-streaked finish on the bottom pic!
Feldgrau23–if you can post a link, I"d appreciate it. I am going to do some basic upgrades-mirrors, mantlet cover, etc–but would appreciate any help I can get!
I just got he Stridsvagen 122 Swedish one Carlos! They’re pretty nice kits. Rubber band tracks, but on these, that’s fine if they’re an acceptable standard.
Not much excitement here beyond finishing the tracks, which took hours. Yes, I did do the full run—no cheating and leaving off the upper run for me. [;)]
I also added some more chains to the front mantlet plugs, and found a figure for it. This is a resin British figure from the 90s, whose uniforms can be easily modified into that era’s modern German. Can’t wait to get this baby painted.The hull’s not connected to the bottom yet…
That “sag” in there is not for realism–Leopard tracks don’t sag, It’s just to snug the tracks against the sprockets. And you can’t see it under the hull.
Time to dig into that Leopard 1 now…[:)]
Looking nice Karl, I do like the look of that slab sided turret.
that’s an interesting music mix. if you like the flute try some didgeridoo. assuming the flute music is calming for you might i suggest GANDALF and HILDEGARDE VOM BINGEN. which is choral music from the 12th century.
my bet is MENG in November for a T-14. love auto loaders on bad guy panzers. apparently there is an entire series of new AFVs. including the BMP-T Terminator. and MOS-1
Very sinister in all black!
Carlos, I’ve thought about the HB kit, but from what I hear, the Meng kits are outstanding, and the HB kits are , well, not.
Karl, lookin’ good.
Just wandering why did the Germans built this tank with vertical armor. Wouldn’t sloped walls make more sense, a la T-34? Or is there some advantage to verticals?
Hey Doog,
I love the resurrection of old kits buildses WIPs (ah grammar?) And it’s a Twofer’ !
Those tiny added PE will make a great improvement to the tank.
hah, So True
Ok Karl I dont have a link but i can tell you the things i found that could be improved or could use some work to look better. 1) The smoke dischargers on the side of the turret could really be better. I should have scrounged my parts bin for better replacements. 2) The next would be the two parts that attach to the front sides of the turret. All the pics i have seen those pieces should be blended into the turret. I have contemplated using putty to blend them in. 3) The next would be the mirrors. They are awful. I still have yet to figure out a way to make them look like the pics i have scene. Well those are the major things i found. My apoliges for no pics. I will get them to you shortly if you still want them. Didn’t want you thinking i forgot you. Rich.
Great job so far Karl, can’t wait to see the other built up and paint put on plastic.
Hey guys, thanks for all the nice comments, and Rich, thanks for that “to do” list. I hope I"m doing it proud on this update…!
Well I’ve been working away on the Leopard 1. Wow, what an ancient kit! It really shows its age! I can’t believe I built two of these in the past “as is”!
The first step is to seal all the motorization holes. Quite a bit of work here.
The barrel being glued;
The wheels. Most newbs wouldn’t even think of doing anything with these, but notice how they have flash and some weird, “sharp” edges? I decided to take each one, sand the edges, and use an Exacto knife to “round” the edges a bit. It really improved the look of them. Before:
After:
Next: these projections for the binocular targeting optics on the sides. They are protected and “closed” by something that looks like a side mirror; the problem is that they are rather thick and gnarly. Plus they don’t actually attach as they should, especially the articulating arms to open the shields. I decided I could d something cool here…
Here’s what they’re supposed to look like. Note how dainty they are. Note also the missing lifting lugs on the turret sides in front of them?
First step: cut off the huge arms…
Another good pic of them…
…from my excellent Bundeswehr research library! [:P]
So…at this point, after wondering how I’m going to replicate those lifting lugs, I decided to raid another old favorite kit for parts. I actually have two of these; the other kit is the Testor’s kit, and is actually a far better kit, so this sacrifice won’t be too hard. WIth this decision, I have opened up a whole wealth of possibilities.
The first thing I did was glue on the parts for the scopes, and blend them into the turret with putty.You’ll also note that I removed the molded-on searchlight cable, and re-stippled the turret surface to match the armor texture.
Next, I checked the putty sanding by painting the parts to see if you could tell there was a join there…also note that I’ve put in periscopes in the holes there.
Here is the finished articulating arms, the lifting pintles, the periscopes, and a template for the coming mantlet cover…
These “bars” have been put on because the mantlet cover has these kind of “lines” of sort under the fabric.
HHere, the mantlet cover has been covered in tissue, and the smoke dischargers from the Leo 1A4 stolen for the better molding. Note also that the barrel has had a “Lip” of sort put on the front. This is barely visible in many photos, but is undoubtedly there.
Some of the texturing on the mantlet cover. Not done yet–I have to add wire on the outside of it and details around the edges.
The other thing I decided is to use the Leopard 1A4 wheels, as they’re far better in molding; less chunky and primitive looking. The lighter green ones are the original Leo 1 wheels.
Pretty happy with how this is coming along. I willl also be using the MUCH-better tools from the A4, and possibly some other parts. The tracks, interestingly, are about an inch longer, but look pretty much the same, but with blocks instead of chevrons. Depending on my references, I may have to monkey with them…
That’s all for now, guys! Thanks for looking in and commenting!!! [t$t] [:D]
That fabric cover really came out well.
Maybe there’s a chance for you pros to do a “Tamiya: purse from a sow’s ear” GB some time. I would love to watch it. Quite a few builds lately that start with “I filled in the motor holes”.
I lost my armor cherry with the old Tamiya Sd.Kfz 7. But, damn, it ran and I still have it.
Karl: Very cool work there on improving the sighting port shield arms (or whatever you call them!) and the mantlet cover- nice to see an already decent kit turned into something way better!