Good stuff, Karl. I always liked the looks of that thing. Built the several Tamiya cruddy ones.

As for wedding nights, when you get there... well I know you don't drink, but in my case I was umm pretty sleepy.

This should be a good one to watch! BTW, I think that the molds are originally by Italeri and date back to when the Leopard II was new in service!

O, nice, a Leopard. I remember seeing some of these at the Castlemartin ranges in Wales in the late 90's, a really nice looking tank. Looking forward to this Karl.

Hello Karl!

I'll be watching this one! Did you know that Poland uses more than 100 2A4 Leos since 2002? Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

GMorrison, ha ha, my "wedding night" will probably be much the same. Yeah, I built quite a few Leopards of different stripes, and sold a whole slew of them on eBay a little while ago, as they were all mostly done in the mid-to-late 80s. Not up to snuff, you know....time to get a couple good copies in the display case!

Carlos, this is definitely a old mold! There are some grab handles as thick as drinking straws, lol.

Bish, this has always been one of my favorite looking tanks!

Pawel--Polish Leopards? I'm 100% Polish! This should be a good match, then! :)

It certainly looks like the old Italeri kit (or it's based on it). The portion of the tow cables molded to the engine deck brings back memories. The ejector pin marks between the "X"s on the grouser panels are a pain to clean up.

If I recall correctly, Italeri was first to the market with a Leopard 2. I want to say 1981/82 but I can't remember for sure.

I look forward to seeing your paint magic on this one

Watching....   I like the slab-sided early Leo2's myself, but plan on waiting for the Meng kit.

The tank in the mud-bath pictured at the top looks like a good subject.

Very cool Karl! Sad to admit I like the NATO German hardware more than I ever liked the Wehrmacht stuff! Personally I think I agree here, there's something about the lines of the thing that I like. I just think the Leopard looks better than the Abrams or the Challenger II.  

Hello the doog,

These finnishing sugestions might not suit your kit...

The Leopard is STRV 121 in Swedish Service.

Zack

Phil,

I got this cool micro-chisel set from MicroMark, It made cleaning up those nasty marks a breeze. It's really useful for other things as well, Highly recommended!

I've actually built the Italeri kit, but in a Dutch configuration,...I think there's a picture of it in my Fotki gallery.

Russ, I have always liked that series of photos that the one above was taken from. I don't know if I'll do it up that dirty, but you never know with me, lol!

Cliff, I agree with you about the Leo2A4. I have always thought that the turret was almost a challenge to the enemy, like "Sloped armor? What? Why? Go ahead, take your best shot!" Yeah, it's a cool looking tank for sure!

Zack, thanks for the cool photos, Most export Leopards have unique individual parts, unique to that country, so you have to be careful if you want a diffeent paint scheme.. This one will be simply German, from the early years. I always love cool pics of the 2A4 though, I've done a 1A3 in camo netting. I think it's in my Fotki gallery too..

I did some more work today; geez, there's a lot of cleanup needed! I decided to close the gunner hatch, but keep the TC one open. The TC one has a molded on hatch wheel, so I scavenged the one from the one on the gunner's hatch since it will, be closed. I also had to put a brace into the Gunner's hatch because it would just sink into the hole.

The hatches as they now sit..

Gotta do some work on the smoke dischargers and try to get those tools brassed-up with the PE tomorrow. Stay tuned!

the doog

Cliff, I agree with you about the Leo2A4. I have always thought that the turret was almost a challenge to the enemy, like "Sloped armor? What? Why? Go ahead, take your best shot!" Yeah, it's a cool looking tank for sure!

Yes, it's almost like the guy who designed the original Henschel Tiger I had his ghost working on this one...

As far as photos of Leo2's go... these are my faves ever since I came across them... the WWII 11th PD insignia on Bundeswehr tanks... 

Can You say " Run "

Nice selection and add-on parts, Karl. But Leopard 2 A4 is a little outdated. Now I'm waiting for Meng or other manufacturers to offer the new Russian T-14 tank. It's my most wanted item now!:

www.youtube.com/watch

Carlos, I agree, I love that WWII panzer division sign! I noticed that on a few other pics as well.

Phaisal, yes this model is a bit "outdated". But it's a good model and captures the look of this impressive tank if given a little care. I hope to do it justice!

I'm finished with the body hull and turret. I dug out some PE to use for the smoke dischargers--I know that some would say that I'm probably polishing a turd here, but it wasn't hard to do and at least adds some detail to an otherwise chunky kit in some regards. Note the weld seam made around the small hatch on the side. Only the very earliest Leopard 2A4 had a shell eject hatch here; it was quickly welded over and then deleted on later models.

The PE for the tools are those clamps that I picked up. It must be noted here that these clamps from Voyager are so ridiculously fragile and tiny that I would go as far as to call them "defective". The small handles for the clamps simply can not be used in the manner proposed, as they are hair-thin, impossible to handle or manipulate. I wound up not using them after mangling several of them and realizing the futility of the exercise.

Most photos show the mirrors folded down, so I reconfigured the mounts for the mirrors and put them in a down position.

Gotta love the look of this panzer. I still have to tackle the tracks..

I've also decided to do a "twofer", since this tank and the second one here can both be finished in the same paint color, "Gelb Oliv". I'm going to build the venerable old Leopard 1 as well and finish them together. Stay tuned!

Lovely looking build there karl, coming on nicely.

Karl,

Cant wait to see how you make them stand out.

Where do you find time to do so many kits?....I can barely keep up with my Jagd...which has like 50 pieces... =)

And now, are you going to build 3 leopards?, Revell, Tamiya and Meng??...

Your local hobby store must like you very much .. $$$

I'll sure keep an eye on this thread.

Very cool Karl, and I have to agree- with some of the teeny PE parts it's just not worth it to me to try to cement something on smaller than a gnat's eyebrows...

That Tamiya Leopard I should be fun, just finished up a 1979 vintage Tamiya Type 74 recently and it was a nice break from the super detailed zillion part kits of today.

Karl, the PE adds a lot of nice small touches to make this one look a lot better! I do like how you have put the mirrors in the stowed position as well! You are getting bold to tackle the old Tamiya Leopard. That kit is probably 40 years old now and needs some serious work to bring it up to standards. One of the master builders in our AMPS chapter just finished the same kit, but with a ton of upgrades. I want to see how you work it out.

Hi Karl,

I dig into ooold history and I have a book about "modern tanks" from 1992...  and found this pothos from a Leopard, in fact there are like 6 more photos. Since its and old book, prior to Internet, I dont think you can find them out there...I just thought they wer nice pics.

Looking very impressive looking forward to your progress.

Karl, the old Leo 1 should be a hoot!

After I read Harold Coyle's "The Ten Thousand" I got the urge to do the Leo2A4, but I hate Italeri kits. Now that Meng has one in the pipeline, I may re-visit.....

Why wait for Meng RB? Hobbyboss has a whole family of Leopard II kits out now in 1/35.

Thanks, guys---sorry that I'm once again tardy in replying. I've been working on these tracks and also doing some landscaping for the lawn.

Cliff, I agree with you about doing an old kit-it's nice to get back to basics and really work on being a "modeler" with some creativity and work.

Carlos, I won't go in for the "ton of upgrade" even though I know there are a zillion crazy things you can get for this kit that make it more than average. I had one of these built and sold it on eBay; it wasn't as detailed, and the paint was very basic, so that's my standard--a better paint job, and a little more detailing, and I'll be happy with it. The MENG one will no doubt have everything you could ever want, so I don't see the point on blowing wads of cash on this right now. :)

Hugo, thank you for those pics! That's the finish I want. I think I've seen those pics somewhere before; they're probably the ones that inspired me to want to go with the old finish! I hope I can get that grimy, dirt-streaked finish on the bottom pic!

Feldgrau23--if you can post a link, I"d appreciate it. I am going to do some basic upgrades-mirrors, mantlet cover, etc--but would appreciate any help I can get!

I just got he Stridsvagen 122 Swedish one Carlos! They're pretty nice kits. Rubber band tracks, but on these, that's fine if they're an acceptable standard.

Not much excitement here beyond finishing the tracks, which took hours. Yes, I did do the full run---no cheating and leaving off the upper run for me.

I also added some more chains to the front mantlet plugs, and found a figure for it. This is a resin British figure from the 90s, whose uniforms can be easily modified into that era's modern German. Can't wait to get this baby painted.The hull's not connected to the bottom yet..

That "sag" in there is not for realism--Leopard tracks don't sag, It's just to snug the tracks against the sprockets. And you can't see it under the hull.

Time to dig into that Leopard 1 now...

Looking nice Karl, I do like the look of that slab sided turret.