So I finally just had to build something earlier today. I chose a recent purchase. Tamiya's spectacular kit of the leopard 2A5. I popped in a movie and got going.



It's quite an impressive bit of kit. Both the real tank and Tamiya's own rendition. They did a wonderful job of molding on the anti-slip coat.


And check out the PERFECTLY reproduced intake screens. These aren't P.E. but plastic! No need for replacements here.


Yes there is a bit of putty. But I think that could have been avoided if I went a bit slower. And even modeling at warp speed I only had a teeny tiny gap to fill.


The wheels, suspension arms, and sloping front turret armour are all just sitting in place, not glued on. I may have my Kosovo Kitty sitting on slightly uneven ground later so I'll wait to glue the suspension arms.


Looks like a modern cross between a Panther and Tiger I. She's German all right.


I think I'll make a simple vignette for this one.


Perhaps something like this. Kinda like what you've so often seen in Panzer Wrecks only in a more recent conflict. And with a still intact bit of armour.


And one more for good measure.


See you guys and gals later.

Matt

Matt this is the best model that Tamiya has made I'm sure you will do a good job with it.One thing your going to need for your dio is a dog.Every picture I see from Kosovo there's a dog in the shot. One other recommendation , if you going to buy one after market product for this kit get the Cables from Eureka. The kit is great out of the box with the exception of the cables they make a big difference. A little PE won't go astray ether.

Hi Matt - Thanks for starting this one. I look forward to watching your progress as I have the A6 version. The grills on the back deck are an AWESOME piece of molding technology. What route are you going to take on the turret storage baskets,the kit supplied mesh or is there a PE replacement for it? Isn't it kinda nice to build a Tamiya kit after a Dragon ? Please keep sending us more pics and notes. Thanks again, Tom

Hi Chris. I'll try to do the kit justice. A dog eh? I like that idea. I might just order one from Doug's Originals. And I'll see about those cables too. I plan on this being mostly OOB but a few key enhancements here and there are always a good thing. Thanks.

Hello Tom. Thanks for tuning in. I have some PE screen that I picked up a while ago from a railroad hobby shop. They should work quite well for the storage baskets. It isn't exactly the same pattern as the real thing but it's close and is also far nicer looking then the stuff Tamiya provide.

This is one mega kit and I'm gonna get to the painting stage as quickly as I can. That's where I'll have some serious fun. One idea I've often thought of trying was making a tank model that looked wet from rain. If I'm still feeling brave later on I may just give it a try.

Matt

(I forgot to add this update so it's a little late. Of note is that I did purchase the Eureka cables. I also purchased a set for the M1A1 too.)



So construction is just about complete. Just a few more pieces to add. Then I'll mask off the vision blocks and send this kitty off to get a coat of primer.

I recently bought a simple organizer from Michael's to store various bits and pieces while I build. It's much better then leaving items loose in the original box which is what I used to do.




Got those pesky stowage baskets together and stuck on the turret. Not as nice as the real thing but I'm not gonna be too picky this time. The brass mesh is just something I picked up at a rail road hobby shop. I figured it would look better then the ugly stuff Tamiya expects you to use. It does.




Vision blocks are almost done. Just need to finish the two that are located on the driver's hatch. Which slides sideways on the Leo 2. Not something I knew till I began this kit.






Tamiya do provide a nifty little jig to make sure the wheels will line up nice and straight if you so desire. It works very well. Here it is in action.


I used my coarse sanding sticks to add some scratches to the side armour skirts. Just to give the tank a little history. As if she's been around for a bit. It's a little coarse in this photo and has already been toned down.



And a coupe more.






She should be wearing a coat of primer when you see her next.

(I have a hunch that's true, and that you won't have to wait long.)


Matt

I promised primer and now I'm gonna deliver.

(See, my hunch was right)

The various vision blocks and sensors were masked off which was actually easier and went quicker then I expected. Always a good thing. The only exceptions were the large front sight for the Cmdr and the large rotating sight on top of the turret. These still need a bit of work, so will get primed later. The various tools, armoured skirts and other bits also got a shot of Tamiya white.







Now to look over the model with a fine tooth comb and see what needs to be cleaned up a bit, and re primed.

What a sinister looking machine.




Some bad news however. While cleaning my airbrush after the primer coat I managed to drop apart of it. So hopefully I can find the little piece from my Iwata gun. Otherwise I'll have to order a replacement and have to wait a bit before doing more painting. Dang.

So I'm both satisfied and kinda bummed out today. Weird. On the plus side everyone's now up to date.

Matt

I hope you find that piece! Build is looking nicely

Looking good Matt. Good call on the cables those make a big differance withe the model.

Hi Matt. great work on the Leo. Could you please tell me more about your diorama.

hi matt

the leo is great i fancy a leo now and you say this is tamiya wow
what kind of area you gonna do street scene??

im currently building there challenger 1 gulf war colours but need replacement decals for it
as the kit had em but were in such a state.

question for anyone who can help? if puttin tank on uneven terrain how do you make the suspension arms do this can any show a pic maybe of there tank please if possible. im a visual learner and struggle reading something and trying to understand it sorry if this is any hastle guys...


tony

Dropped your part, huh? I would assume its the inner nozzle? funny story...

I have two Iwatas, a Revolution i dont use anymore, and an HP-b Plus. I dropped the nozzle down the drain on the revolution. 20 bucks for a new one. That mad me....well......say some "things"

Just recently, while cleaning my HP-B, I dropped the hole thing( with the nozzle cap and outer nozzle off) into the sink. It bent the tiny needle 90 degrees and made a bannanna out of the inner nozzle. 60 bucks in total to replace both of it! im still in shock!

Much thanks guys. Although I couldn't find the missing bits of my Iwata, the local art store that carries them (and Iwata spare parts) was fully stocked. I was able to find everything that I needed.

Hi Tony. It's funny. Despite my hundreds, if not thousands of tanks pics. I don't have many that show them on very uneven ground. Here's one of the better pics I have. Yeah the tank is moving but it may still help a bit.


Oh and as far as the plans for the base. Don't have much of a plan. It won't be anything elaborate. Probably just a simple street scene. Maybe with a sidewalk or some grass.

And now, back to the build.

So today "Kitty" was going back and forth out of the spray booth faster than a (insert witty metaphor here). Primer coat. Check for blemishes. Re-prime. Back and forth. Ya'll know what I mean. Anyway, I finally got to the point where she was ready for some colour.

Unfortunately for everyone looking at these pictures I totally forgot to set up the colour balance on my camera. As a result the colours (at least on my PC) look kinda funky. But rest assured they should be accurate on the model as I was spraying Tamiya NATO green. What a great looking colour for a model.

Here she is after a solid coat of paint. This is straight NATO green.


But as nice as that looks (in person anyway) it's just. Kinda dull. The final finish I'm after is more like this.


Or this.


I love the faded finish on these tanks. Now whether they were this beat up and faded back when they were deployed in Kosovo I have no idea. And it doesn't really bother me either. I just know they look great!

Now another great thing about this finish isn't just the variety, but rather the practicality of it. Now if I ding the finish later on in some way I can patch it without having to match the exact shade. I love it!

Here's the next shade of NATO green going on. This is to add some life to the finish. It's just NATO green with some drops of Tamiya flat white mixed in and sprayed on in a squiggly, random fashion.


Here's the whole tank "squiggled up", side skirts and all. Looks neat at this stage, but there really is too much contrast.


To tone things down a bit the same lightened green had still more white mixed in. This was sprayed over the whole vehicle (including the wheels) to help blend all the shades of green. There is still some contrast but it's much more restrained now. If you look back at those two pics of the real tanks they are super faded with newer paint sprayed over in places. That's my final goal.

Here is the turret mid way through the blending stage.


The variety in the green is more evident in person.






Guess the next step is to draw the demarcation lines on the tank with a pencil then start shootin some brown and black.


The three kids have been cleaned up and primed as well. My only question about them is what colours to use on there clothes and what patterns could I replicate? They should be fun to paint.

That's it for now.

Matt

this dio gonna be spectacular as the one with the M1 as usual with you Matt
I will follow this work for sure
Good start so fare
Cheers
Seb

Thanks very much Seb. Kosovo Kitty should go much quicker then Boom Stick. And hopefully it may even turn out better. Even with less aftermarket. Much less in fact.

So after having another look at those ghastly pics from my previous update I just had to post some better quality pics. Just to prove it ain't actually yellow! Although they do show the technique used to paint the Leo, the colours are very distorted. My fault.

So here's how she really looks.


Ah ha! I told you guys it was green.






I feel better now. Maybe I can even get to sleep now? Yeah I think so.

Matt

Good job on the Kitty Matt. And yes, it's green.

The sliding driver hatch is a A5-6 feature only, from A0to A4, the hatch was opened by popping up then pivoting.

Thanks Olivier. I'm guessing the sliding hatch was added because of the sloped armour added to the turret?

Matt

Time to get you folks updated.

On the construction side of things, the armoured side skirts (is that what they're called?) have been glued on in preparation for the next two colours. NATO black and brown. The brown will be applied first. But first...

I decided that since Leopards have a very tight demarcation line for the camo it would be best to mask the next colours to go on. I can do a lot with my airbrush but I can't quite spray tight enough for what I want to reproduce.

First step was to draw the pattern onto the hull and turret. This way I wouldn't have to constantly refer back to my painting guide while masking. And each area to be painted next was lettered either "BL" for NATO black or "BR" for NATO brown. Of course this means that once the camo is done any exposed pencil marks will have to be erased.

Masking the brown areas took a good hour and a half. A movie playing in the background has become a big help while performing repetitive tasks like this. Today it was "Appleseed:Ex MAchina". John Woo producing an anime? Oh yeah! Bullet ballet at it's best!

Back to business. The brown areas masked and ready for paint. Many, many layers of paint.


A stylus was a big help in getting the adhesive putty right where I wanted it.


The first layer to go on was mostly Tamiya NATO brown with a little deck tan and flat white mixed in.


Next, the first highlight layer. This is the same mix as before but with more deck tan and flat white.


That proved a little brighter then I wanted. So the same highlight shade had a little more NATO brown and deck tan added. This was sprayed in varying amounts over the tank. Remember, I'm not after a nice, even finish. That's for a factory fresh machine. I want a seasoned veteran.


That looked better. The next area to tackle was the repainted areas. Take another look at this reference. Some areas are extremely faded. Others areas have been repainted, either partially or almost completely. And still others are somewhere in between. Also not that the repainted areas seem to have the border area untouched and left faded.


You can see here the darker "re-touched" areas, as well as other parts that received yet more highlights. This was done by playing with the amount of white and deck tan mixed with the NATO brown.


And after a while in the spray booth that masking could come off. Which also took a while to do.

Ta-da!




A close up of a "re-touched" darker area.


I just can't help myself when taking pictures. There's always another angle to shoot.


What's wrong with this picture?


Oops! Yeah. I kinda dropped the turret while moving from photo booth to spray booth. Thankfully all that masking did provide some protection. But as you can see the stowage baskets took a beating. One in particular. But after a moment I figured it was a happy accident. Just looks like the turret was swung into a tree or something. So it stays as is. This tank has character. And real battle damage! Kinda like my Spitfire. Notice the roundel on the far side?


Another look. Note that the area around one of the panels was re-touched to match the reference photo. Guess this area was prone to chipping.


That's it for now. Next step is to mask the tank to get it ready for...pretty much the same thing all over again. Only with black instead of brown. And hopefully nothing breaks this time.

One more for the road.


I feel like a modeler again!

Matt

looking really nice ... i like the "battle damage" . = )

Hey Matt great work there buddy. The battle damage actually looks really effective.
Keep up the good work mate.

Jaymes.

You need to leave those baskets damaged, they look very cool like that.

Don't worry Adam. Those baskets are staying as is. Thanks guys.

Well work continues. Time to get ya'll updated.

Here's a shot of the stylus in action. This is a great tool for getting the putty right where I want it.


Masking complete.


And now. Lot's of black. First coat is mainly NATO black with a little bit of deck tan.


Initial highlights/fading. Same paint with more deck tan added.


More deck tan and some white added for brighter highlights/fading.


A blending layer. This is NATO black with some white and deck tan sprayed lightly over the whole model.


And here we are after a few more coats of paint. The highlights were tweaked a bit. Some shadows were painted in areas that would be appropriate with a darker shade. And two very dark shades were used in various areas and amounts to replicate freshly re-sprayed paint. These had flat black added to the NATO black mix.


Time to peel off the masking and see what we got after an hour of airbrushing.


Hmm. Not bad. Got a little over spray but I can touch that up. This tank is all about mix mashing the paint.


I still need to add the freshly repainted green areas. May do a little bit of tweaking while I'm at it. Probably my last update for a week or so. I work six, twelve hour shifts this coming week. Why did I agree to pick up extra hours? That was stupid!


And the parting shot. Till next time.


Matt

Work began on the base that will eventually be home for my leopard. A 12x9" plaque serves as the base... for the base. To give the model a little extra height the plaque had four (approximately 2" tall) strips of balsa wood glued to the outer edge. It's not all that pretty but it serves as a good start. Once the glue has set work can begin on cleaning up the edges and sanding everything smooth. The base will likely wind up painted flat black. Although I'm not 100% sure.

The tank was added just to help demonstrate the size.


It's slowly getting there.

Matt

Hello Matt,

one of the finest Leopard camos I came across so far. Excellent modelling. I'll be following with interest 'till the very end

Johannes

Thank you Johannes. This is the most effort I've ever put into painting a model and I am quite happy with how it's turned out so far. I hope that will continue.

Back to the base.

During the last update the shell of the base had been constructed. Now it's time to start filling it all in. Florists foam from Michaels fills up most of the empty space. These foam blocks are extremely soft and as a result are very easy to cut and shape.


To fill in the rest of the gaps I used a product I had no experience with. Gap filling expanding foam. Neat stuff. But when I sprayed some on it didn't appear to grow in volume very much. So I sprayed on some more.



Turns out, that extra foam really wasn't necessary.


Oh my...


But this foam is meant to be cut and sanded once dry. So after letting it sit over night I took out a couple of different sized saws and started cutting.


With that done a thin layer of Celluclay was spread over the surface. This isn't how the finished base will look. It is still essentially a blank canvas. Yes it's rough but everything will be cleaned up later on.


But how to position the tank? Something like this?




Or maybe more like this?




Back to the spray booth. Remember how I want this tank to have a weathered and repaired finish?





Well I had replicated the look of repaired / re-sprayed paint on the black and brown areas. Now it was time to get started on the green.

Like before, adhesive putty positioned with a stylus, was used to mask off a few areas. Then NATO green (mixed with a little field grey) was sprayed on a few areas to look like fresh paint. Looking at the black and brown paint already on the model I noticed the faded green looked a little dull. So again a few areas were worked over with various shades (some lighter, some darker) of NATO green. It is most obvious on the upper front of the hull.








I think a little more tweaking of the green is in order. It's close but not quite there.

Matt

Great job on the camo.

As for the position, with the tank at a roadblock/OP the kids could be pestering the crew but if the turret is traversing onto a target then it's unlikely the kids would be hanging out around the tank so the first position is better IMO.

Paul

Hey Matt this has come along a fair way. I like the camo it has been done rather well. I have to agree with Paul on the chirldren have them pestering the crew or being nosey at the AFV as they look like there posing for a photograph and if I was them I'd be rather fasanated with the tank .

Just remember, in the former Yugo, the general rule was that the only safe place for vehicles was on the road. This was due to the ever present threat of landmines. I think placing the tank at a check point or on a road stoping during a patrol would be a good and realistic vignette. Also, tankers or any vehicle crew would be around little kids (or anyone) when they are near a vehicle that large. To many things could go wrong.

Is it just me or is the really little kids head to large?

Now when are you going to do a Canadian Leopard?

Hi Mat, great tip on the stylus for moving the blu tack stuff around. I think I will have to try that on some 72nd aircraft in the stash.

Quick Q about the cam pattern - on the lower front hull there's a wide band of brown than turns into black on the upper hull. Is that from the 1:1 scale pattern?

Hmm. Hi Cam. Paul. You guys point out some valid information. It certainly makes sense to have a member of the crew keeping an eye on anyone near the tank. And that no one should be anywhere near a vehicle such as this when in operation.

So what to do about it.

Well I do plan on having the tank on a road. So that's covered. And I'll see about moving my curious civilians farther away from the tank.

About the position of the turret. I just thought that having the turret traversed looked more interesting. How about a parked vehicle with the turret traversed but stationary? As if at an intersection perhaps? Honest thoughts please.

I'm not sure about including crew members in the scene as the hatches are all closed. I'm not familiar with who sells any that would be appropriate. Maybe a single German foot soldier would do? But again. Don't know who makes any. I also don't want to overload the scene with figures. How about a German soldier taking the picture? Or posing in the picture?

Unfortunately yes. The small child (who has a fantastic pose) does have a rather bizarre head. Looks like I'm about to swap that figure out with one that just arrived from Mk35. A figure of an older chap holding an umbrella. He is very well sculpted. Head and all. I'll post a picture of him soon. A note to any figure sculpters out there. Work on some children. And of different races. Please! Only a few out there are any good. Those that are, tend to look the same.

And Graeme. You asked about the camo on the front hull. That's what is shown in Tamiya's painting instructions. I also found this picture which shows brown on the bottom with black on top. You also see the extreme paint fading. The brown on the barrel almost looks pink.


Sorry no pics today. It seems I have run out of NATO green so I will pop by the LHS soon as it opens and continue painting.

Matt

Back to the paint booth.

Last time I had sprayed on some dark, fresh looking NATO green. This is to look like freshly resprayed patch up work. I wanted to add some more patches, but as a lighter shade to indicate some time had passed since this layer of paint had gone on.

I also wanted to tweak a few highlights and shadows. Some areas I wanted to increase the contrast, like on the rear deck which was looking rather dull. Other areas I wanted to blend and slightly decrease the contrast, like on the angled armour plates on the turret front and sides.

First job as always, masking.


Some of my airbrush strokes were intentionally left visible. This is to match photos of some real world paint jobs.




Time to take off the masking. But along with all the tape and putty, a headlight and the Cmdr's front sight came off too. These are still in my possession and just need to be glued on.


A few pencil marks still need to be erased.


I had done a fair bit of work adding different tones to the black and brown. Now I think the green displays some life too. It's coming together.




In the future I'd like to build a Canadian Leo 2A6M. Only I prefer the look of the current tanks that are covered with that funky Barracuda MCS cam.

Someday...

Matt