Small side project: 1/144 DML Leopold

Modeling Subjects Armor
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Hi guys,

Well, I’m mainly concentrating on a “Space 1999” Eagle spaceship lately, but in between the scratchbuilding and correcting that I’ve been doing there, I’ve been working on this little kit, along with a Hornisse “guard” hanging out near it.

It comes with the track; I put it into a display box, and here’s where I am so far.

Here’s what the built-up parts look like in the kit.

Here’s the base glued down–I had to put down a piece of styrene over the weird “checkerboard” floor of the display case.

Painting done with Tamiya acryilcs–a Dark Grey basecoat,and then a really light DY coat. The “Leopold” was actually finished in overall Dark Yellow–NOT with camo stripes as is often seen! Here’s the base coat and the two small tanks finished the same…

I actually wanted to paint this mostly with oil paints for the true paint shade that it will wind up being displayed in. Herem I used some 502 Abteilng oils --BUff, White, and Yelloe–to lay down an oil coat. This was set aside to dry for a full week while I superdetailed my Eagle engines.

And then I took more White and Buff to add weathering streaks.

I laid down some Celluclay over the base, and added some more weathering with a Panzwr Grey acrylic wash, and then with MIG pigments–“Dark Rust” was mixed in a pool of thinner, and used to weather some more…

Here’s where I am so far…

and if anyone knows–what the heck are these parts? They’re the last two left, and I honestly have no idea where they go–in fact, the DML photo directions [banghead] don’t show the placement of SEVERAL parts–I had to use the boxtop, but I can’t see these!

Lots of small detail work and more weathering to go. Not too heavy; don’t worry–in this scale you have to be very subtle. Just some “detail” weathering.

Comments and suggestions welcomed! [:D]

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Wow… Wee… wah… [:O] Hope that explains enough [:O]

I think the green striped on the Hornisse is a little too close to eachother in the front there… And did you airbrush those tanks? If you did… how…?!

Also, I Really, really, really like the Leopold so far…

Was the metal barrel included? I can imagine so… How much are these two kits, moneywise?

Again, GOOD (Oh my god… read that backwards… “GOOD” [:O] ) work on them!! Can’t wait to see more!

-Lasse, maybe your biggest fan…

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Wow Karl. Thats Fantastisch. Superb. Magnifico, Magnifique. I think you out-did yourself on this one. Thats all I can say. I know you probably already thought about it, but the running surface on the rail road tracks needs to be a very shiny silver.

Joe

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Ha! I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away in the Sci-Fi forum for long! Nice work on the little Leopold so far Karl. Some of the rust looks a little on the heavy side but I’m reserving judgement until you complete the weathering look. [;)] [tup]

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Very cool…If I ever do one of these it will definately be in 1/144th scale…way more manageable than the 72nd and 35th offerings—and still very detailed…I like the overall look you are getting, although, like Bill, rust may be a tad heavy for my taste.

Not sure what those parts are for? I know you like the Horny-Z and the Mk IV, but for a dio I would leave those buggers off—IMO, the viewer should concentrate on the BIG GUN…if you want something to sit by it for scale then the ammo track and figs should do nicely…

Very Cool…

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!http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/Outkasted24/Smileys/search.gif

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Thanks, guys!

Huxy, yes, that did have the metal barrel. ANd it was about $20.00 for the Leopold, and another $5.00 for the lil’ panzers. I did airbrush them too, by the way.

Leopardman–oh, I’m nowhere near finished with the base, or the railroad. I have a lot of tedious painting to do yet–each one ofthe ties, and the rails too…Thanks for your comment!

Thanks Bill and Manny! The rust DOES look heavy when you blow up the photos–remember, it’s actually bigger on the photos than it is in real life! When you ee the actual model in scale, the rust us actually very subtle. The photos just make it “pop”. Bill, I’m waiting on decals for the Eagle, but I’m having a ball with it!

Manny, I’ll probably use only the Hornisse. I wanted to give it a sense of scale. There are figures with it, but I figures a vehicle comparision would be coool too. If it looks too busy after I put it in, I’ll delete it.

Thanks for commneting guys!

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A man of many talents.[bow]

Looking good as always Doog. Two things that kill me about this build…the subassemblies fit on toothpicks and there’s pe!

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i love those little 144th guys. Nice work on the rail gun doog.

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Oh grasshopper say “tiny it is”

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That is very cool Karl!

I have a few pics from the Northwest Scale Model show of I believe the same kit that I can email you if you would like them.

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Doog -is there any way you can adkust the weathering? Go look at some real railway rolling stock. More track grime, less rust. Remember that Leopold was a strategic national asset, crewed by elite artillerymen. No way would it have ever got into that condition.

Check out this Krupp K5 which has been stuck outdoors in a museum on the northern French coast, near Calais, without being painted, for the last sixty years and more:

http://www.echo-models.net/Todt.jpg/Leopold03.JPG

and this picture of the same weapon while actually in use:

http://www.one35th.com/model/k5/k5awall_09.jpg

Come to think of it, don’t over-do the track grime either, unless the gun’s just been on a very long journey. I did on mine (Hobyboss 1/72):

and although it doesn’t look as bad in real life as it does in under flash photography, I still think I over-did it.

The shiny recoil sleeve is artistic licence, BTW. Not pretending it’s realistic, but I think it looks good. Mind you, I suppose you could advance the same argument in favour of the rust…

As far as the shiny rails are concerned, I replaced the plastic ones in my kit with metal model railway ones (1/72 vs ‘OO’ gauge (1/76) doesn’t show much, and, in fact, made it easier to install the rails in the sleepers (ties):

I painted the whole permanent way base as one, and then sanded the paint off the tops of the rails, and polished them to a shine. could you do something similar with ‘N’ gauge rails?

Cheers,

Chris.

The T-shaped things, btw, are, I think, part of the coupling equipment on the truck buffer bars.

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Thnanks, guys, and thanks tooo Chris fo the pics ad recommendations. As far as the rust goes, I made it by mixing pigments, and applied it as a wash, so it will come right off with some thinner. Based upon consensus here, I will endeavor to tone it down a bit.[:)]

Having said that, the rust was just the forst layer of any weathering applied; I plan to mitigate that, and the overall look of it with more steps. And like I said, it doesn’t look nearly as pronounced in real scale as it does in the blown-up photos.

All I need now is SMJModeler coming in here now to tell me that I"m following a “trend” and this thread will really get hot! LOL! (Juts bustin’ your weathered ol’ chops, Steve! [:D])

I appreciate the info on these parts; I’ll try to see if I can locate them in the photos…[banghead]

Thanks again, guys!!!

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Very cool project Doog as soon as i saw this i went and checked on ebay for one of these i was suprised at the cost but i am going to keep a look out till i get one this would makea awesome project for those times when i get stalled in the middle of a build (like i am right now lol and resorted to painting a figure)

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Looks pretty cool, and at that scale you don’t need to devote an entire bookshelf to display it! I’ll add to the chorus on first rate weathering but overdone rust. On the other hand, I’m not all familiar those rail guns and what they looked like in real life. I do know what you mean how something can be virtually imperceptable when your looking at it with the un-aided eye and then really stands out in photographs.

I like the camo on the Hornisse. At 1/144 that thing has got to be really tiny.

My contribution to the “Name the Mysterious Parts Contest” is a couple of less than brilliantly molded sledgehammers. Even if a correct stab, I couln’t hazard a guess as to its placement.

Andy

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very nice, that is awesome Karl. By the way, where did you get those 1/144 tanks?? found the BIG GUN, but can’t find those dang, tiny, lil’ tanks.

Thanks, Jim

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Doog Nice work mate. lovely!

Cheers

Mike

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That gun is stellar! If you have not had a chance to see Leopold in real life, I highly recommend it! She sits on a rail bed at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. (and from what I understand from a friend ‘in the know’, was the rail gun used as a test subject during atomic testing after the war. If I can ever get my hands on a geiger counter, I plan to test that out for myself.

One small note, though, if you are going to have her in firing position, I would back that Hornisse up a little. Having it that close to the muzzle of that monster would make for a VERY bad day for the crew when she went Boom!

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Thanks guys,

model maniac, you ust have to type in “!/!44” in eBay’s search, and see what comes up. sometimes there’s a few, sometmes not so many. Good luck finding some!

Steve., the gun usd in atomic testing at Aberdeen wasn’t this one–there’s a gun there referred to as “Atomic Annie”, I believe; a play on the German gun’s name. That “Atomic Cannon” as it was referred to used to be parked off the main road coming into the museum, in a grassy side-field. I saw it in the late 80’s. It was big and green, lol. But not THIS gun.

Well, I’ve toned down the rust a bit; I may be slow getting an update here thoug, as my decals have come in for my Eagle, and I’ll be working on finishing that one up now…

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Nice one, Doog, I really like this.

Your breadth of interest and ability to hop between scales is very cool. I saw this kit at an LHS.

Anyway, nice work as usual.