1/35 Dragon Leopold--Build Complete: 89 hours over 21 days!

bill simply outstanding work so far. thanks for the updates on your build.

joe

QUOTE: Originally posted by tigerman Just an impressive build so bar Bill. It's like watching a reality tv show. Just way cooler.

Maybe one of the cable channels should pick up on this idea...it could work on a Survivor/Apprentice type model I think. Take a group of modelers, lock them in a house or on a deserted island for 6 weeks and tell them to build like maniacs...hey if Gilligan and the professor could turn coconuts into phones, it could work.

Just an impressive build so bar Bill. It's like watching a reality tv show. Just way cooler.

Day 11 Log: September 14, 2004

Errors Found: none

Steps completed:

--Continued working on Step 19 and building the rails for the Leopold to ride on. Installed a 2nd section of ties and rails and joined it up to the first section. Had some success with threading the ties onto the rails and then adjust them to fit the slots but the tension was too high once a few ties were in place and the rail would slip out of the guides. Tried this three different ways and no luck Ended up putting the ties in place and threading the rail through as with the first one. These rails went in much smoother, no pliers required, probably because of the pre-threading I'd already done. As I suspected, it's taking about 2 hours to install one set of rails so I'm getting a section a day done working on the railroad...


---A word of caution about the ties and the embankment slots. I learned this the hard way with the first tie and neglected to mention it in yesterday's entry. Once you get the tie into the slot...it won't come out. It takes a bit of pressure to get it to go in all the way, and once there, it stays. Only way to get it back out is to thread the rail through it and use the rail to lift it back out but this runs the huge risk of the rail slots on the ties bending or giving way completely in the process.

--Weathered the first set of ties installed yesterday with black pastel and a small sable brush. You can see the before/after in the progress pics. Still a long way to go before this road is finished.

Total time today: 2.5 hours

Total time to Date: 52.5 hours

Progress Pic:

Day 10 Log: September 13, 2004

Errors/Issues Found: 1

In a bizarre, yet quirky, fashion, the instructions for assembling the railroad ties and rails have you do some very strange things. Inside the tie slots in the embankment, there are arrows and numbers indicating which way the ties should go in...funny thing is, I've studied all the ties as close as possible and, as near as I can tell, there's nothing different about them or the orientation they go into the slots. Still, better to be safe than sorry, so I am diligently following the pattern of g2, g6, g7, g6, g2, g6. g7, g6, etc. taking note that the arrows are lined up properly. Of course, when they told you to assemble the embankment sections, they did not indicate that anything had to match up with the arrows, so this could turn out to be quite amusing in the end... [:0]

Additionally, the instructions call for you to use two rails pristine as they are on the sprue, 4 rails that you remove 9.5mm from the end, and one rail that you cut in half at the 154mm mark (they only supply 7 rails but you need 8...). Measuring out 9.5mm and getting a clean cut is going to be really fun.

Steps Completed:

Step 19: 40% complete.

---airbrushed the railroad ties with MM Leather enamel and the rails and connectors with MM Burnt Iron.

---hand detailed the ties for the metal work that attaches the rails to the ties.

---placed ties for first two sections and their respective rails.

Total time today: 3 hours

Total time to date: 50 hours

Progress Pic:



Additional comments:

Threading the rails through the ties already in the embankment was very rough going... the tolerances are very tight and ended up having to use needle-nosed pliers to feed through the last few ties. May try threading the rails first and then placing the ties but that has some risk as the tie connection points aren't all that strong...have to think about it first and try it verrrry carefully or I'll be on the phone to Dragon again for more parts.

Weathering of the rails and the ties will be done once the entire rail section is complete. At this rate, that won't happen for a couple days.

It's good to hear that Dragon is not going to charge you for the damaged or missing parts Bill. But a couple of weeks before delivery! Don't they realize the world is watching this build? Give me names and phone numbers, I'll put the full court press on them, we can't have these kinds of delays. Semper fi, mike

Just got off the phone with Dragon USA about replacement parts for my missing G44 and G9 that the cat carried away along with the 5 E5 parts that were missing for the second ladder. They said it would take a couple of weeks for their customer service department to handle it, but they didn't charge so that's a plus.

Ha!! Beware in the future of doing any tanks with female names. You might be sleeping on the couch for a while!!

QUOTE: Originally posted by JWest21 And how is the sanity??

That's a good question...my wife is starting to look at me funny since she says I keep talking about someone named Leo in my sleep...

And how is the sanity??

Sneaked in a little bit of time today since the T34 work went smoother than expected.

Day 9 Log: September 12, 2004:

The last remaining major construction efforts now center around the railroad embankment and track section aseemblies.

Errors Found: None

Steps Completed:

Step 19 30% completed.

--- Embankment sections assembled in one long piece. 7 sections plus 2 end caps comes to 43" in length. Instructions call for the sections to be assembled using snap-together connectors between the sections, but these are too weak on their own to support the sections' weight when you get more than two together. Applied liquid glue to the connectors as well as the sections were they met up. Built two sections at a time and then gradually linked the together into one piece. Final assembly was done on a pull out drawer for easy removal for painting and transportation.

---Prepped the assembled embankment for painting. the embankment is rough textured to simulate gravel/dirt and is nicely molded in a somewhat random pattern. This has a negative effect though in that the joints between two sections are uneven. Had to use putty to fill the gaps and work with a toothpick to make sure the rocky pattern was maintained (nothing like a straight smooth line of putty to look out of place among a bunch of rocks! ).

---Airbrushed the embankment with MM Dark Earth thinned 50%. Consumed about 2/3 bottle (partially used to begin with, so just an estimate). Once paint had dried sufficiently, weathered the embankment to simulate sooty gravel look common to railbeds (at least the ones here in El Paso!). Total paint consumed so far: approximately 5 bottles. ( .5 Dark Earth, 1 Burnt Iron, 3.5 Schwarzgrau).

Total Time Today: 3 hours

Total Time to Date: 47 hours

Progress Pic:





Additional Comments:

The embankment still has a long way to go. There are 57 railroad ties that still have to be painted and detailed along with their respective rail sections. I have to stop at the LHS and get more Burnt Iron for the rails so still many hours left on this before it's done.

What a monster. I can't wait to see it finished.
mark956

Critr,

Yes it does...comes with sections for about 48" of embankment plus rails and ties. The sections are pretty big but the railroad ties are individuals along with individual sections or rail.

Did the kit come wth a railway embankment or base?
good luck
Ryan

Mike,

It could be worse, they could be bad drawings accompanied by text in Japanese...

Day 8 Log: September 11, 2004:

Today was extremely productive. Absolutely gorgeous weather, not a breath of wind and temps hovering around 90 degrees, perfect outdoor painting. Had to finish up several details first before though, so was a busy day both in construction and painting.

Errors/Issues Found: 1

---Step 15 has you build the shell transport cart and includes two sets of railings. In the drawing, the railings are identical and are supposed to meet up together in the middle in a clamshell arrangement. Part E15 is molded as drawn, however E14 has a bend and an angle at the top corner so it's not possible to get them to match up without breaking the part. Not sure if I just got a malformed part or if the drawings are wrong. I chose to keep the angle and tinger with the frame, it looks like it belongs but does not match the instructions.

Steps Completed:

---Step14 left at 50% due to missing ladder rungs, so progressed on to Step 15. Completed Step 15 and 16 to assemble the driving cart (not sure if that's what it really is called, but it's the structure housing the self-propelling engine for the Leo...) prior to painting.

---Completed remaining exterior superstructure painting on the gun cradle, upper plate decks, and self-propelled motor carriage. Consumed an additional 1.5 bottles of Panzer Schwarzgrau. Grand total of 3.5 bottles required to paint overall gray basecoat, confirming that this monster is indeed a paint sponge! Still have additional painting for the railroad tracks and bed. So far paint consumption on this project stands at 4.5 bottles in total.

---Completed weathering on exhaust stacks and shell transfer cart. Body of cart as well as upper structures on the rail carriages and gun cradle still require weathering.

Total Time Today: 10 hours

Total Time to Date: 44 hours

Progress Pic:



Additional comments:

Tomorrow I will be working on the T34 build, so will not touch the Leo again until Monday or later depending. Last remaining construction step involves the railroad bed.

God, Bill. The progragm manager part of you is really standing out buddy! Whether I ever get around to actually buying and building this Tech writers nightmare is a question mark? But the info you have shared with us is pricless for someone who wants to attack this monster. I have had some difficulty with Dragon instructions in the past myself. You'd think there would be an outcry of hobbiests on their illustrations and steps! Of course maybe there is? At any rate, it's good that even with the tech interpetations being questionable that you are finding enjoyment in the challenge. Thats one of the things in my eyes that make the true modeller. Keep going buddy I'm right over your shoulder. semper fi, mike

QUOTE: Originally posted by yw18mc You're doing such a nice job documenting this build Bill. I wonder what it would be worth to "Dragon" too have you rewrite their assembly instructions? Or at least send you any parts you need for doing such a thorough reverse engineering effort. Keep plugging friend, I'm enjoying the log and the results. My remark about second rate comments didn't come out right Bill, please disregard. semper fi, mike

You've got an interesting point there mike, I'd have no clue about how to go about such a thing, this whole idea just got started as a "hey I'm building this massive thing, wonder how long it's going to take me to do it so I'll keep a log of time/effort..." and it's just kind of grown from there.

The really funny thing about Step 14K? It would be soooo much simpler if they just showed that F37/F38 are assembled with 3 E1 rungs, F30/F31 are assembled with 4 E2 rungs, and F40/39 are assembled with 4 E5 rungs on the top (two for the G43/G18/G18 assembly) and 2 E3 rungs on the bottom...and then showed a separate step having the three ladder sections nest on top of each other to build the extendable ladder....but noooo they had to show it all together with multi-colored arrows and a horribly complex arrangement between the three frames.

In the end, I assembled the sections just like that since the pin holes are so shallow, the frames will fold in on each other if you try it the way the instructions show. It was such a mess that one of the G56 hooks ended up on the wrong ladder section and I had to cut it away and leave it off completely.


2.5 hours to build one ladder section...probably 1 hour could have been shaved off that easily if the instructions were clearer.

You're doing such a nice job documenting this build Bill. I wonder what it would be worth to "Dragon" too have you rewrite their assembly instructions? Or at least send you any parts you need for doing such a thorough reverse engineering effort. Keep plugging friend, I'm enjoying the log and the results. My remark about second rate comments didn't come out right Bill, please disregard. semper fi, mike

Day 7 Log: September 10, 2004

The devil was in the details today. Somehow managed to lose one of the elevation collar halves, I suspect the cat has carried it off as it was sitting with its twin in exactly the same spot this morning but vanished when I sat down to work. Will have to see if I can get replacement parts from DragonUSA but their Customer Service doesn't open again until Monday.

Errors found: 1

---Step 14K subassembly calls for making two ladder sets, one for each side. The kit parts supplied however do not give enough pieces to successfully complete both sets of ladders. Only 4 part E5 are supplied...and you need four per ladder set to assemble the top rungs. Will have to get extras/replacements from Dragon along with the collar replacements, so I'm lucky in a sense I guess.

Steps Completed:

Step 14K is 50% done with one ladder assembly completed. Very slow going as the directions are extremely complicated and lots of little parts. The support holes in the frames are very shallow and in close proximity to nearly identically sized sink marks, so the first one was very challenging to assemble.

Total time today: 2.5 hours

Total time to date: 34 hours

Progress Pic:

QUOTE: Originally posted by yw18mc After reading your log for the past 5 days Bill, I'll never complain about individual track links again? It's a good thing you live in El Paso, Tx. cause you're going to need acrege to park this monster. This project is enough to make me consider hiring a project manager if I ever decide to build one of these beasts. It sure looks like you're doing one heck of a job on it inspite of all the engineer screwups. Funny, but engineers are the same all over the world? They never have to build what they design. Great project, I'll really enjoy following you through it, and will probably give you some of my second rate comments as you go. semper fi, mike

The odd thing (to some perhaps?) is that I'm really enjoying this build, quirks and all!

It's funny that you mention hiring a project manager to build this for you since that's what I do for a living...

Engineers are a lot like programmers...they can design the most wonderful things but when placed in the hands of the enduser, they are absolutely awful.

I'd never consider yours or anyone else's comments as second rate mike, everyone has their own perspective and value to add, that's one of the main motivators I have for sharing this log/build with the group here after all.

Great work ! Keep it up! I have the 1/72 scale Leopold , by Hasegawa . ( And I thought it was impressive.) I can't wait to see your kit when is complete . And BTW thanks for the narrative on the construction ! It will help alot of modellers , in the construction of their Leopold .
Frank.

After reading your log for the past 5 days Bill, I'll never complain about individual track links again? It's a good thing you live in El Paso, Tx. cause you're going to need acrege to park this monster. This project is enough to make me consider hiring a project manager if I ever decide to build one of these beasts. It sure looks like you're doing one heck of a job on it inspite of all the engineer screwups. Funny, but engineers are the same all over the world? They never have to build what they design. Great project, I'll really enjoy following you through it, and will probably give you some of my second rate comments as you go. semper fi, mike

I'm begginning to feel like I'm in a bad Star Trek episode, trapped in a Robinson Crusoe type scenario or worse...these log entries have me muttering to myself constantly and grabbing the notepad to write something down before I forget it...pretty useful in the long run...

Day 6 Log: September 9th, 2004

If yesterday's efforts could be described as big, today's are the exact opposite. Spent the time today working on some of the surface details, lots of small parts and assembly with the requisite cleanup and time under the magnifier coming into play.

Errors/Issues Found: 2

---Step 13 calls for the loading ramp supports G48 to be glued to the ramp and then the entire ramp assembly fitted into the cradle using two cutout slots on the inner cradle. Only problem with this is the fit is too tight to work this way. It's much easier to glue the supports inside the cradle first and then once dry, glue the ramp onto the supports.

---In another brilliant instruction move, Step 13 also calls for you to assemble the shell holder/cradle that loads the shell into the breech. It's a critical assembly, marked with the infamous (!) icon meaning you have to be careful. Just to make it interesting, they draw the diagram so that the face that takes the two support arms is facing AWAY from you in the picture, so you can't really tell without a lot of trial and error just how the parts go together.

Steps Completed: 13 (Out of 19, for some reason earlier I stated there were only 15 steps...)

---No painting done today since it's Thursday, the usual night my wife and I go out to dinner. We got back after dark, too late to do any painting. It's just as well as the detail work took more time than I anticipated and I wouldn't have been in a position to paint anyway.

---Assembled the gun elevation axle holders, gun travel lock (instructions tell you to leave it workable and then glue a pin in to make it permanently closed...go figure), shell loading crane/holder, two ladders for front end of the cradle.

Time today: 2.5 hours

Time to date: 31.5 hours

Progress Pic:



Additional comments:

If I had any doubts that the engineer responsible for this kit must have never ever in his/her life assembled a model, they were removed today. Instructions keep calling for impossible or nearly impossible things if done the way they are drawn. Parts that have to be assembled first before attachment are shown in near microscopic pictures already assembled and on the kit with no direction, leaving a lot of the neat little details to guesswork, which is a shame since the detail of the kit is very nicely done.

Styrene,

Fortunately, the barrel rifling is designed so that the halves come together inside one of the grooves. I actually ended up with a small gap at the front of the barrel top and bottom instead of a seam that had to be filled. I did this very carefully with a very small amount of putty applied with a toothpick under the magnifier. Once painted, it's invisible and the rifling stayed intact.

Joe,

One of the reasons I'm keeping track of the paint consumption is to tally up at the end when it's all said and done the total materials costs required to build this thing OOB.

wow. so much paint. my budget would have expired long ago. but excellent progress so far.

joe

I'm curious: How did you solve (or did you) the problem of the seam on the inside of the muzzle? Is there a way to remove the seam and still keep the rifling intact?

Gip Winecoff

Thanks styrene! The only thing I know about the Trumpeter kit is that it has more parts, something like 400 more. The deeper I get into this Dragon kit, the more I'm convinced that the engineer was a sadist.

And without further ado...

Day 5 Log: September 9th, 2004

As I suspected yesterday, this kit is turning into a paint sponge. 2 bottles of MM Panzer Schwarzgrau have now been sacrificed to feed this monster and I had to stop at my LHS again...this time I bought out their entire remaining stock of 3 bottles, I hope that's enough.

Errors Found: None

Steps completed:

Painted the inner cradle inserts and cross supports as well as refilled/sanded/painted some areas on the gun barrel that needed a little more attention from yesterday's painting. 2nd bottle of panzer gray bit the dust in the process.

Completed Step 12. Was a little tricky since the instructions want you to put the cradle top on the inserts and then place the whole thing inside the cradle. This is virtually impossible as you are working blind so I put the inserts in first, adjust them to fit in the molded slots, then glued the top sheet on last. Step 13 is 50% done. Tomorrow will be more painting on the main cradle...hard to believe it's taking 3 days to paint this thing just in the basecoat, but it's pretty big afterall and starting to get heavy/unwieldy.

Edit: Additional comments:

Not quite an error but something that definitely has to be taken into account. Back in the infamous Step 11, the instructions have you insert the pivot/elevation axle plugs into the gun sleeve collar as well as attach the breech operating lever. Doing this at this time means that when you go to fit the top deck plate on, you will actually have to bend/flex it to get it over these lugs to sit down on the deck (and are also highly likely to snap the breech lever off as I did) . There's no reason to have the plugs in prior to the deck going on, so I advise adding them in as part of Step 13 so that the deck plate will slip smoothly down over the assembled gun.

Total Time Today: 3 hours

Total Time to Date: 29 hours

Progress Pic:

Quite impressive so far!

I'm following your progress closely; I have the Trumpeter version of the Leopold. While not the same as the DML, many of the same construction strategies may still apply, however.

Keep posting!

Gip Winecoff

Day 4 Log: September 7th, 2004

Stopped by the LHS on my way home today and picked up another bottle of Panzer Schwarzgrau. Should have got two, maybe three based on today's painting effort.

Errors Found: None.

Steps Completed:
--Step 12 dryfit only. Sanded and filled the barrel and housing, airbrushed it with first coat. Light was fading outside so will have to give it another coat/touchups to get the areas that didn't get enough attention on the first pass. It's difficult to gauge what needs painting and what doesn't since the construction of the cradle itself leaves a lot of open spaces. Only solution is to paint everything.... Painting effort today consumed 2/3 of brand new bottle at 50/50 thinned ratio.

Total time today: 2.5 hours

Total time to date: 26 hours

Progress pic:

Nice progress so far. I didn't pick up the Dragon, but rather the Trumpeter offering, then got rid of it. I'm waiting for the Karl Morser on Railway Transport to come out.
Keep us posted on the progress. Can't wait to see you begin painting this beast.