Every journey must have its end I suppose and this one is no different. Today marked the end of the journey of my Leopold build. Hard to believe that 21 days and nearly 90 hours later, all the sprues are empty, paint bottles litter the desk, and what once was nothing more than 758 pieces of gray molded plastic have been transformed into the behemoth resting on it's own shelf above my computer desk as I write this. Ladies and Gentlemen, the last installment of the Leopold Log is hereby presented for your reading enjoyment.
Day 21 Log: September 25, 2004:
Erros/Issues Found: 1
Dragon's included figure set is supposed to be custom designed specifically for the Leopold. It includes 6 figures. One of those figures the "A" figure or officer figure, has two options for posing. One has him climbing a ladder, the other has him resting against a rail with one foot elevated. The only problem with this second pose is that there is NOWHERE on the Leopold that he could possibly make such a pose, leaving you really only one option if you want to include this figure in the final display.
Steps Completed:
---Revisited the decals one more time as I wasn't satisfied with the results from yesterday.
The following was done:
1) Shot another coat of dullcoat on them to settle in the drybrushing done previously.
2) Drybrushed just the outline areas with a little wetter brush to seal in edge and provide a smoother transition.
3) Very lightly applied some black artist pastel to blend it all back in to the surrounding surfaces.
There's still just the slightest hint of the outline on some of the larger decals but due to lighting/angle, that's always going to be the case as the decal is fractionally thicker than the rest of the surface. Looking at it dead on and level, it vanishes. I'm now 99% happy with the decals and going to leave well enough alone. Under normal lighting and not knowing it's there, you can't see it unless you put your nose right up against it and there's just nothing I can about that except get a case....hmmm....
![Big Smile [:D]](/FSM/CS/emoticons/icon_smile_big.gif)
---Painted the figures as pieces on the sprue to better handle the details and multiple paint colors required.
---Assembled the figures starting with some of the more interesting posing options. As mentioned above, some of them are neat but totally unusable on this kit. (Another example is one that has a figure operating the breech lever, this is possible only if you want the breech open and the lever in that position...something you have to take care of much earlier on in the construction phase).
---Dullcoated figures and placed them on the kit but have not yet secured them. Have to consider whether to permanently place them using CA or use something non-permanent like poster tac or other substance.
Total time today: 6.5 hours
Total time to date: 88.5 hours
Progress Pics:
Additional comments:
The figures will be secured down in some fashion. The officer climbing the ladder is positioned unsecured, when he's secured his position will change slightly to more accurately reflect him acctually climbing the ladder as opposed to hanging on to it for dear life...
I did not have time today to put together a gallery of shots of the finished Leopold but I will do that as a walkaround and post it up when I return next weekend from a business trip.
For all those who have enjoyed this journey along with me, thanks for your encouragement and support. It wouldn't have been the same without you.
For those seeking to build this kit, I highly recommend it for the experienced modeller only. It's a complex kit with a lot of quirks that can be turned into a great finished product with dedication and work and a little help with the instructions. If this log contributes to your success in some small way then it's done its duty.
At some point in the near future, I will be turning this into a pdf file and also posting it up on my personal website, who knows when but definitely "soon".