But it's not a Magach!  

Ouch - back surgery.  Glad you're on the mend.  Bummer about the kit, but it looks good.  Paint next?

Looks like you're doing okay with it.

Yeah, I hate that too when I grab what I think is going to be a quick and easy kit and then it becomes much more involved than I wanted. I swear by newer Tamiya 1/48 scale modern armor kits, easy to build and just plain fun.

You are doing a great job on the kit/kit bash.  Believe me, I know the difficulties involved in trying to recover from surgery and still trying to build.  Knee problems are keeping me from my airbrush. So I build with the idea of painting later.

Keep up the great work!

Bill

Thanks all. Yup, no painting yet, still just building for the pleasure of it....  well, mostly. I've become determined to get this thing at least ready for paint. My doc says modeling is meditation, so now I have a medical reason to model. Perfect!

Rob, I'm a fan of recent Tamiya stuff too, but still sticking to 1/35.

And yes, it's not a Magach, but more to come for sure, once I'm off the meds. 

Brave of you to attempt this.

One of the absolute worst aspects of the HB Leoaprd 2 kits is the horribly overdone anti-slip textures. Seriously, they look like applique armour or access panels. Are you going to try to sand/scrape them off or leave them as is?

I'll take a look, didn't realize they were overdone. And believe it or not, I had no idea what a rat of a kit this was when I started, but it only took about 10 miutes to have that sinking feeling.

RBaer

I'll take a look, didn't realize they were overdone.

Look at your first photo from your opening post. 

Above the first two road wheel stations, the three rows of three raised areas, the row of four inboard of those (also repeated on the other side) and a host of raised areas on the engine deck (and some other areas) are HB's representation of anti-slip coating. 

Good luck with the back surgery, I hope you're on the mend! 

As thick as I sometimes lay on the paint I think I'd probably end up covering up the raised areas. Can you lay a couple of good layers of primer over the over-done areas of the anti-slip coating to tone it down? 

Yeah, that's some thich stuff, more like the "pebbles" the IDF used for a while on Merkava hulls. Ouch. I think it needs taking down a bit too. 

In the meantime, I started the detail on the skirt/side armor hangers, working off pics the the Sabot Dutch Leo book. The lower parts are mostly done, upper parts which look like big cam locks are gonna be a bit more difficult, but here it is as of now:

IMG_2863 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

I also had to slice off the final drives and reposition them, HB has them about 2-3mm too far back. Gee whiz Wally.

Right side (left in pic) is done, pending final cleanup, other side has pieces freshly attached, but I'll need to wait until tomorrow to clean it up and blend the pieces. 

IMG_2865 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

Regarding the anti-slip: I'm gonna let it fly as-is. I'm getting exhausted with this thing.

Hi old friend.... its looking good.

Howdy!

Okay, done except for tow cables (working on them currently) and antennae, which I willl do shortly, or hold off until after painting. I'm still on the fence as to whether to continue with the mods to build it as a Turkish tank or just do it in German NATO colors.

IMG_2867 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

IMG_2866 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

Something I noticed when looking for things I'd missed: ther should be two end connectors and two center connectors, minus guide teeth, stored under the folded in mirrors on each side. I used some old AFV Club bits from the M26 track set so do them, and moved the mirrors to the proper location as well,

IMG_2869 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

I feel better now.

She's coming along great! 

The Leopard is such a good-looking tank. 

Thanks G, and yeah, it's got a certain look.

You are doing a great job on the Leo II A4, but I will mention a little sacrilege. It seems that most builders ignore Italeri.  I built several of their Leo II A4 kits and they were terrific. I had no fit problems, they are reasonably well-detailed, and www.leopardclub.ca does claim that the Italeri kits are quite good. I recommend them highly.

Bill

I've heard the same, and oddly enough am currently looking for one. I also have decided to "fix" the side skirts on this one and use them. They're just too integral to the thing to omit.

It's a shame that the Leopard Club.ca has reviewed all Leopard kits. Meng and Takom Leopard kits are not strongly thought of. Italeri Leopard kits, although not perfect, are well-thought of.

Bill

In green, with the side skirts/armor ready to go too....

IMG_3284 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

Looking back, I'm glad I decided to use the side armor/skirts. Once the missing detail is added, they do a lot for the model. Next, more color.

Whoa! Nice to see you getting all this painting done! 

It was about a hundred and three, no breeze, so I painted... a lot. 

About 95 here. To heck with painting, I'm coming in from work, taking a shower, and collapsing to read or watch a movie... 

I was lucky yesterday, my first day back after three months. I got all my assignments done in the morning while it was still tolerable, but it still took it out of me. 

So, once I get the second Challenger ready for paint, I'll be on a painting binge for a while. I'm actually looking forward to doing this one, my first build after the surgery, still in a fog.

She is loooking really nice .....Cheers mark

Thanks!

While I was psinting the road wheel tires on the Challenger the other day, I mixed up a little too much gray, so I painted the tires on the M60, had to mix more paint to finish and mixed a little much, so I painted these too.

IMG_3502 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

Start to finish, I painted 42 sets of double-wheel tires. In one sitting, 88 tires. Fun!

Another one for the display case, Leo2A4 done. While it has a few little hickies here and there and missed opportunities to correct a designed-in flaw, in general I'm happy enough to put it ine the case, at least until I decide it's time to put it on Ebay anyway.

IMG_3572 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

IMG_3571 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

IMG_3568 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

IMG_3567 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

I think the biggest hurdle, aside from trying to cover up booboos in the kit itself, was representing all the small bits that serve asfront skirt mounts and their hardware. 

IMG_3570 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

The camo was kind of fun, and like the Challenger I kept weathering to an absolute minimum, for me anyway, so as not to totally obscure it.

Another winner there for you show case!

I need to build another Leopard II, such a beautiful tank.

Very nice Leo II.  Despite your misgivings about the kit, it turned out great!

Now you are ready to tackle the KF51 Panther next gen German MBT.    I wonder who will be the first to market with a kit?  I don't know how much of a performance leap it will be over the current model of Leopard, but at least it looks more intimidating that the US Army's MPF.