…for now. This is Tamiya’s 1/35 Leopard 2 A5. I decided to do a dio with this one since it’s such a great looking tank. Since that will be a little down the road and I don’t know what I’m doing yet I’m going to hold off on doing the majority of the weathering till then. That said , this is one of the best kits I have built so far. Everything went together like a dream compared to a certain other one I am working on right now. I think the camo came out pretty good for my first try, but I am open to suggestions on how to better it next time. It is straight OOB except for the netting on the front which I saw in a ref pic and thought looked cool, plus it it covering a bad seam job on the barrel. Other than that only the headlights are not OOB since I threw away the original lenses [D)] so I painted the back of the houseing chrome and filled it with clear glue, looks better any way. Sorry to ramble on but I am just happy with this build.
Hope you enjoy the pics. As always any suggestions are welcome.
I think the wing things are something added by Tamiya to lure AC builders to armor.[:)] Actually they are armor panels that swing out to allow access to the engine compartment. They had to be added on after a design change. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.
The netting is cheese cloth ( It does work good Shermie ) airbrushed with some parsley thrown on for good taste.
Thanks guys.
Dwight- I don’t look at it that way. I feel it is a compliment that my work is so good that I am causing others to try and duplicate it [swg].
so when are you going to start your Panther Dwight Ta-Ala
[oX)]
is this a silly Question (where do you buy cheesecloth from???)
if it is a silly Question im sorry (but could you tell me anyway[C=:-)])
whats lizzardQueenie working on ? has she got herself the P38 yet?
Doesn’t it feel satisfying to get that camo job you want just right? It took me three applications on my Tiger I, before I was satisfied. Looks great Chris, I also like the use of netting.
“It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it.”-R.E.Lee
Cap: Here’s my situation. I spent all my hobby budget for this month last month (Leo 2 A5, British Chally 2 & M1A2) so I have not purchased the Panther yet. I’ll get that with my December budget (and the 1/144 Concorde if it does come, too…oops sorry this is supposed to be the armor forum). That would be my 2nd Panther so I am also excited.
Captain- I don’t know where the best place to get cheesecloth is, my dad happened to have some. I guess a grocery store or something like that would carry it.
She has started her P-38, it got most of it’s paint this afternoon other than that the cockpit is put together.
LQ Nice job. Very impressive camo job, and yes the netting does look [8D].
I now have a series of good detail shots of this beast (too late for you now I guess) but I’ve noticed that the spare rubber track blocks on the front of the vehicle (the ‘X’ things) are not painted with camo in the shots I have. The fittings where they go is, of course. Maybe this is just on the vehicle I have shots of.
If you want me to email you a few shots, let me know where to send them.
Captain. Cheesecloth is, funny enough, what old time cheese manufacturers would wrap their cheese curd in to hold the cheese together. It was an open weave to allow aircirculation and also drainage of fluids. Wax was sometimes poored over the cloth depending on the type of cheese. It was also used to make airing covers to keep insects off food like cakes, pastries and cheese - you know those umbrella type things!
It became a very popular fabric to make summer clothes (women’s blouses, etc) in the late 60’s and early 70’s, at least here and in the US. It is still used for this purpose, so I’d say your best bet to find it should be a fabric shop or Haberdashery.
Excellent work lizardqing! Man, I wish I had a decent digital camera to shoot good photos! I just finished a Diorama of a German secret strong point from a kit put out by Arii. It looks incredible; I just wish I could show everyone!
Peter- I found alot of pics to on my quest with this big guy. I have a couple were it shows the camo over the snow blocks, so it sounds like it is something that depends on the vehichle.
Duke- Thanks. That dio sounds like it is someting to see. Hope you can show it off here someday.
thanks Peter for the info on where to get chees cloth
all i thought was it origional use and didnt know where they make cheese around here lol, but ill give my missis the task to find some cheese cloth [4:-)] (i cant tell her what its for though[oX)])
Dwight i was sayit it for the copycat thing [(-D][C):-)]
Go on, be a bit adventurous and go and have a look for it yourself. You will be surprised what you turn up in a fabric shop.
I went in with my wife once. She bought nothing, but I bought a couple of decorative buttons to use as masters for casting building ornaments, some netting to use in a chainwire fence on a 'Nam dio and on a separate M113 ACAV dio, some netting that had a great brick work pattern to it (I spread it over a plaster building I had just made and pressed it into the curing plaster with a rolling pin. I waited til the plaster was almost hard and then gently pulled the netting out - presto, instant crumbling brickwork[:p]) and some really nice paint brushes that were ‘on special’ , that were for painting flowers and stuff on fabric, but were just fine for me too!
Thanks Robert and Eric.
Eric- I actually went back and sprayed a darker green over the light one that was on it. I believe I had originally used testors flat green. I ran out before the whole thing was done and could’nt find anymore anywhere so i went with MM medium green which was darker.
