Takom Leopard C2

A few updates today as I managed to get quite a bit done before I return to work. The anti-slip texture has been applied to the turret, turret stowage hatches and front fenders and for a first attempt at this I'm quite happy with the result;

Moving onto the hull an easy improvement can be made to the suspension swing arms as there is no detail on the front of them. This involved drilling a 0.80mm pilot hole in the centre to a depth of about 2-3mm, this was enlarged then using a dentists burr the hole was flattened out at the bottom. A short length of 0.75mm styrene rod was then inserted and cut to length, this was then glued into the hole. Doing this makes the featureless kit part look much better and it's an easy fix;

After seeing a Leopard up close I realized just how shallow the rear exhaust grills are on all the kits I have and ordered the welded Leopard Club resin replacements for the C2 (available here; Leopard club welded exhausts) and the cast ones for the Meng 1A5.
If you do buy these then you need to chop the rear deck before you glue the top and bottom hull parts together. For the Takom kit measure 2mm from the engine grill panel lines and draw a line, then measure 40mm from the top of the side hull, mark it then draw a vertical line down from that. Using a razor saw and feeling brave you then cut out the area that I've shown in the photo;

I chamfered the edges of the kit parts, cleaned them up and the fit of the resin replacements was almost perfect, all they will require is some filling to blend them in afterwards. I must say they look a hell of a lot better;

 All the road wheels, idlers and drive sprockets have been cleaned up and glued together, the only other big job will be the track assembly but that will be a separate post. One thing I need to do is put some wear and tear on the tyres as the photos from the Prime Portal website show a fair amount of abuse to them.

So far I'm liking this kit. Some of the details have been simplified particularly the suspension as it's moulded onto the hull whereas these were separate parts on the Revell kit I built in 2016 but generally it's pretty good AND my first ever Takom kit.

Takom Leopard C2

After hunting around the net for ideas about anti-slip textures I was pointed in the direction of these products;

Using a Revell Boxer as a test bed I sprayed each side with the colours. The results are pretty good to be fair, the Terra Cotta being a finer texture which is ideal for the turret and tops of the rear stowage basket with the bronze colour a heavier texture.

Looking at the reference pictures on Prime Portal the anti-slip texture on the lids of the rear stowage basket does not go right up to the edge so to attempt to replicate this I cut masking tape into thin strips and just followed the outline around the hatches and hinges. The rest was filled in using masking fluid which also helped with the arc-like areas on one side of the hatches;

This will be sprayed sometime later tonight or tomorrow. I masked the front fenders earlier this afternoon and gave them two coats of the coarser paint;

I'm quite pleased with how these have turned out and they should look good under paint. 

Takom Leopard C2

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

1946 Flak bunker

A little update to this as I mentioned that it could do with a rear entrance so I made one. I may be over thinking this project....

I tried to depict the concrete shuttering on the bunker sides using car filler and a wooden template but it looks a bit overscale so I may tone them down.                                      

Life Miniatures bust

After the head was stripped I primed it again and had another go at painting it. I got some very useful advice regarding the size of the eyes although this is the best it's ever going to get. I need to paint the throat mic next then give the head a coat of matt varnish as the black used for the side cap has a slight sheen to it which absolutely kills it.

The eagle on the cap probably needs re-painting too and the tank badge on the side is yet to be done but generally I'm quite happy with it so far.

Life Miniatures German tank commander bust

I started painting the face last night with the intention of just concentrating on the eyes;

Not bad for a first effort so I continued with the rest of the face;

And that's where I left it after calling it a night. Today while looking at  in actual daylight I've decided the flesh tone is a funny colour so it's getting the Mr Muscle treatment;

Once the paint has been stripped it will be re-primed and another colour used for the base coat. A bit of a set back but I'm quite pleased that I can actually paint it after all.

Revell TIE Fighter done

This was a fun little build, even though I just had to re-do the back end as the fit was'nt brilliant;

The base is actually a tin of mints with some lead and car filler put inside to add more weight (the mints were removed first by the way).
The black paper gave some weird reflections in the lens but it worked out well as they look like stars :o)