Still too windy to paint, plus I’m into a rather slow recovery from back surgery, so I thought I’d build an “easy” kit. Wrong, horrible kit, one of HB’s early efforts, nothing fits without a battle, lots of poorly made parts, tracks too short, even a few nasty errors and omissions in the reproduction of the real thing. I had a Tamiya -A5 kit handy, picked up at a show for six pack money (cheap beer too) so I’m scavenging it for parts where I can, like the entire running gear (odd, the best fitting parts on the whole thing were the Tamiya swing arms into the HB hull. Go figure.) tools, hatch covers and smoke dischargers. Since the skirts were such a poor fit, I’m modeling it without, based on a model magazine article using the Meng kit, which was what I should have used to begin with since I started out to model a Turkish tank anyway. Lessons learned, for sure. Anyway, so far here it is. If it’s green, it’s Tamiya. White is plastic stock (or putty):
Yeah, I hate that too when I grab what I think is going to be a quick and easy kit and then it becomes much more involved than I wanted. I swear by newer Tamiya 1/48 scale modern armor kits, easy to build and just plain fun.
You are doing a great job on the kit/kit bash. Believe me, I know the difficulties involved in trying to recover from surgery and still trying to build. Knee problems are keeping me from my airbrush. So I build with the idea of painting later.
Thanks all. Yup, no painting yet, still just building for the pleasure of it… well, mostly. I’ve become determined to get this thing at least ready for paint. My doc says modeling is meditation, so now I have a medical reason to model. Perfect!
Rob, I’m a fan of recent Tamiya stuff too, but still sticking to 1/35.
And yes, it’s not a Magach, but more to come for sure, once I’m off the meds. [:P]
One of the absolute worst aspects of the HB Leoaprd 2 kits is the horribly overdone anti-slip textures. Seriously, they look like applique armour or access panels. Are you going to try to sand/scrape them off or leave them as is?
I’ll take a look, didn’t realize they were overdone. And believe it or not, I had no idea what a rat of a kit this was when I started, but it only took about 10 miutes to have that sinking feeling.
Above the first two road wheel stations, the three rows of three raised areas, the row of four inboard of those (also repeated on the other side) and a host of raised areas on the engine deck (and some other areas) are HB’s representation of anti-slip coating.
Good luck with the back surgery, I hope you’re on the mend!
As thick as I sometimes lay on the paint I think I’d probably end up covering up the raised areas. Can you lay a couple of good layers of primer over the over-done areas of the anti-slip coating to tone it down?
Yeah, that’s some thich stuff, more like the “pebbles” the IDF used for a while on Merkava hulls. Ouch. I think it needs taking down a bit too.
In the meantime, I started the detail on the skirt/side armor hangers, working off pics the the Sabot Dutch Leo book. The lower parts are mostly done, upper parts which look like big cam locks are gonna be a bit more difficult, but here it is as of now:
Right side (left in pic) is done, pending final cleanup, other side has pieces freshly attached, but I’ll need to wait until tomorrow to clean it up and blend the pieces.
Okay, done except for tow cables (working on them currently) and antennae, which I willl do shortly, or hold off until after painting. I’m still on the fence as to whether to continue with the mods to build it as a Turkish tank or just do it in German NATO colors.
Something I noticed when looking for things I’d missed: ther should be two end connectors and two center connectors, minus guide teeth, stored under the folded in mirrors on each side. I used some old AFV Club bits from the M26 track set so do them, and moved the mirrors to the proper location as well,
You are doing a great job on the Leo II A4, but I will mention a little sacrilege. It seems that most builders ignore Italeri. I built several of their Leo II A4 kits and they were terrific. I had no fit problems, they are reasonably well-detailed, and www.leopardclub.ca does claim that the Italeri kits are quite good. I recommend them highly.
I’ve heard the same, and oddly enough am currently looking for one. I also have decided to “fix” the side skirts on this one and use them. They’re just too integral to the thing to omit.
It’s a shame that the Leopard Club.ca has reviewed all Leopard kits. Meng and Takom Leopard kits are not strongly thought of. Italeri Leopard kits, although not perfect, are well-thought of.
IMG_2861 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_2862 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_2854 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_2851 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
