After visiting Tank Fest at the Tank Museum, Dorset in June of this year I have to admit that I've fallen in love with the Leopard. After seeing three of them charge around the arena I was smitten so obviously once home I started looking at the kits I have in the stash;
One of them is the Takom 1A5/C2 Leopard that can be built as a Canadian vehicle in overall green. I found via Prime Portal (the photo walkaround site) the exact Leopard that Takom include markings for in the kit so it is this one I will depict (or try to).
I ordered a few bits from Leopard Club that I feel are essential, namely the smoke dischargers, mantlet plugs, aerials, RMG tow cables and engine grills.
Having looked at a Leopard close-up for the first time I see what the problem is with all the kits in this area and that is they are all far too shallow in depth. What I am trying to avoid is an etch set as I'm getting too bogged down in builds when using them plus Takom supply some etch in the kit so that will do for me. Another thing I going to live with are the roadwheels as the kit ones are apparently too wide but slightly too small in diameter.
After looking at the parts I noticed that some were quite greasy (presumably mould-release agent) so to avoid the risk of not being able to glue parts together due to the contamination I gave them a wash in warm soapy water;
So while the parts are drying outside in the warm I'm going to work out how to apply the anti-slip texture as it's quite coarse on the front fenders but on the turret and stowage box it's quite fine.
This is the actual vehicle I want to build (photos via Prime Portal);
The rest of the walkaround can be found here;
Prime Portal
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