This is Tamiya’s late 70’s vintage 1/35 Leopard 1A4 kit that I finished up this past October, but was holding off on posting here. The kit was missing a few details such as the tow cables and their stowage clamps, IR searchlight power cable, and ice cleats along with their stowage rack on the glacis, so I scratch built and added all those items. The decals are a mix of those from the kit, plus some from a Tamiya aftermarket sheet. I chose markings from the 30th Panzer Brigade, 10th Panzer Division. The basic paint is AK Real Colors Olivgelb, over a black base, and a field applied mud camo (Badger paint color Mud) based off of photos that I found of Leo’s and other Bundeswehr vehicles in the field during war games in the 70s and 80s. The camo net is a paper type that I painted up and then glued in place. Foliage is a mixture of Woodland Scenics pine boughs and railroad stuff, which I also used on the base. The German road signs came from the box sidewalls of a Tamiya modern accessories set.
I was holding off on photos until I had a TC figure for this painted up. Well, I had to sideline that portion due to the AMPS 1/72 GB, and then a last minute decision to do the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge. So in the meantime, I selected and primed up a Peddinghaus figure and last week on my days off I painted him up. Today after work I took some photos of the completed Leo on its base. It was a rainy day out, so the lighting is natural thru two windows. I may do some more in a few days when the weather clears up and the sun comes back out…
Thanks for looking, comments and critiques welcome…
Very nicely done, really like the look of the tank and the base is very nice. I have not come across those woodland pine boughs, going to have to have a look for them. Who makes those cam nets.
Bish, the pine boughs are from a company called Hudson & Allen. They are actually some sort of preserved moss, but they’re are perfect for 1/35 stuff like this. The company makes tons of diorama stuff, but I’m not sure if they are in business anymore. The camo net is from a company called Orange Hobby. It came in a basic medium foliage green, but I painted it to match the nets that I remember. It’s a great product but a little fussy to work with. Very delicate stuff.
German, aside from the roadside static grass and deadfall, the foliage on the base and some on the tank is stuff from the railroad area of Hobby Lobby. The local railroad hobby shop also carries the stuff, it’s basically HO Scale Woodland Scenics brand trees, that I though would be good as branches and shrubs.
Good job on a vintage kit. I was always amused when the Germans could butcher the local landscape for camouflage, but the US Army got charged maneuver damage for any leaf or twig that was broken off.
Thank you. I have to say that all the upgrades that I made to this are on the Italeri kit of the A4. I’ve built both now and Italeri definitely beat Tamiya on this subject in quality.
And yes it was a bit of a shock to go from stateside to Germany on camo and such. SOPs such as adding foliage and digging holes when you stop and occupy an area went right out the window…
Stik, ditto with the rest of the group on a great job with an old kit. I’m a bit surprised that Italieri has a better kit than Tamiya even though theirs is older. I really like the foliage camo on the panzer. The road sign is a nice addition to any dio IMHO.
M1, thank you. I didn’t know that the Italeri kit was older. I suppose that their proximity to Germany may have something to do with it. A quick train ride and they can see the real deal.
Agreed about the road signs being a good context addition to dioramas. In this case, I googled all the different sign locations on the Tamiya box, as well as what area that the decal subject unit was located in. This sign was the best matchup. It was not random at all.
Stik , Actually I wrote part of my post wrong. I was agreeing with you that the Tamiya was the older kit. I wasn’t really aware of Italieri until I joined this forum, but knew of Tamiya from my modeling days in the 60’s and early 70’s. I thought Tamiya’s Panther ausf. A was a great kit 'til I joined here! I’ve learned so much about some of these manufacturers from the forum. I had no idea that so many have changed hands over the years and they rebox each others stuff.
Phil, this basic kit is indeed an afternoon build. And nice enough. Actually the kit figure is decent, but terrible as a TC, he does not fit properly in the hatch.
Italeri’s Leopard 1A4 is often considered their finest armor model kit and their highpoint of the 80s. It still holds up quite well today and has been reboxed by Revell with updated items to modernize it.
Tamiya’s kit was a simplier, more robust kit designed to be motorized and survive rigors of handling and replacing of batteries.
