From One Extreme to the Other

The friendly neighborhood postman delivered a nice “little” package on my doorstep today in the form of Dragon’s 1/35 Leopold. Has over 700 pieces and the box measures over 27" in length! Quite a contrast to the Kettenkrad. Will have to wait a while before I tackle it, it’s quite a temptation sitting monstrously in the corner though.

[:D]

Well Bill, good things really come in “small” packages.

Lucky, you. Keep us psosted on that build.

Where does one put a kit of such size. Doesn’t it measure almost a yard long when completed? Might have to park it in the driveway.

Eric,

According to the kit reviews/descriptions I’ve read, the finished model (includes a track bed in the kit) will measure 43" in length. I have to build it first and then worry about placing it I guess. If I left it in the front yard the neighbors might start to worry. [:D]

Better yet, scare them away. [:D]

Being that big, good luck moving it when you are done!!

Sounds like you better build it in the room were your going to keep it.[:P]

I hadn’t considered that…it’s not going to be very “portable” I imagine! [:D]

ahhh…that looks really nice! and HUGE!

Jwest,

It’s competing with the 1/16 T34 for which one I will tackle next as a “major” (read months long) project after the Stug GB is complete. They both look so great just sitting there, it’s going to be hard to choose.

I just ordered a Dragon Leopold myself, 1/144 that is. Good luck, love to see the progress of this beast.

Why don’t you save the T-34 for a group build, a real slow group build. A few guys around here have it, myself included.

HE HE you could have your little man on the kettenkrad driving up and down the inside of the barrel inspecting it…[:D] Or in desperation have the men loading a kettenkrad ladden with grenades into the breech… [:D] Only foolin… Congrats on the debt! we’ll be looking for some finnished pics in a week or so…

wbill76,
Let’s get these T34s going. I’m planing to start the 34/85 this weekend for the local Hobbytown contest in October.
“For the Motherland!”

Ausf,

It would be interesting to see how many have the Trump 1/16 T34 on hand. I had thought about a GB for it but it’s not a cheap kit and didn’t know how many would actually be able to go for it. It would have to be a nice loooong build, maybe 6 months at a minimum given the pace most people work on 1/35, I don’t know.

Kenneth,

I’m going to take a lot of time on the monster…I can only imagine what “Mad Leopold” build would look like but it would probably involve a lot of cursing and glued fingerprints. [:D] The Kettenkrad is in the same scale, the possibilty of it joining the Leopold in a future layout may not be such a bad idea…

i got myself a lepold (dragon,of course) this summer and i was wondering if i needed to build a room around it.

Shannon,

It’s beginning to look that way for mine…I don’t know the width dimensions on the finished item but it’s pretty massive. Going to be a good challenge to tackle for the build and finish. [:)]

Bill, Certainly take your time. It seems such a waste when someone builds a kit like this in a month so they can be the first to display it… Its good that you have your mind made up…

I know exactly what you mean Kenneth. I’ve never been one to race to a finish and the cost and intricacy of these kits alone is incentive enough for me to take it slow and insure a nice finish in the end. I look on it as an investment of time and resources in a process to be enjoyed along the way as well as at the end. My wife thinks I’m crazy because I often will proudly hold up some piece or sub-assembly and ask her “how’s that look?” and she has no idea what it is or what I did to it, only that I’ve just spent an hour or two getting that “just right” look for whatever it is for whatever I’m building. [:D]

I usually work on builds only on the weekends because I have to get the right mindset for building knowing that I can sit down for a good bit of time at one stretch and really get into the job at hand. The Kettenkrad was an anomaly in terms of a quick build for me because of the jetlag/no sleep deal over three-four days. Under ordinary circumstances that would have taken 3-4 weeks as the total build and paint time for that one, including the base, was around 40 man hours. By comparison with all the detail and possible ideas I have for the Leopold, it’s a months long project easily. Slow and steady wins the race on things like this IMHO. [;)] I may keep a little notebook/log just to see how much total effort it takes from start to finish as a comparison to a “regular” build.

Ha ha … I know about the “and…” look as I proudly hold up an inprogress. Folks just don’t understand… All they can say is WHY? why in the world would you spend 8 hrs rebuilding a kit part that looks fine…I just shake my head and walk away…can’t get no respect…

We just retreat to our shops and work happily along…

While I’ve never gone that far as to completely rebuild parts, I’m starting to see the value of PE and AM in some cases but mostly it’s OOB for me.

I have a nice jukebox folder on my PC and usually set it to random, repeat when I’m working and the time flies as the world disappears around me…it’s a great feeling. [:D]