Leopard 1A5 BE Paint On

I've now got the paint on the model using as usual tamiya's NATO colours. The green has so far been faded with the black and brown still to do. Very pleased with the result so far and with a bit more fading should look just right later on. Still debating if I should add the extra stowage boxes and finish it as a Kosovo vehicle or not.     

Leopard 1A5 BE Tow Cables

My tow cables arrived today, so a five minute job to fit them in the unusual way that the Belgians ended up stowing them on the tanks. I used the Eureka XXL set for the leopard 1/2 for this. Hassle free and with nice soft copper cables. 

Another useful item arrived as well, a 3D printed turret holder. Perfect for construction and most importantly for painting. It's adjustable to fit any turret and is very stable. 

Leopard 1A5 BE Wheel Work

I decided to get some colour on the wheels and lower hull as I needed to at least fit the idlers now and then add the outer front mudguard parts so I could get them sanded flush and blended in before the main colours went on. 

XF 67 NATO green with some lighter tones added using XF 15 flat flesh went on nicely. this was followed by a further test f the AK markers using the rubber black on the wheels. This performed brilliantly and again was such a time saver. I'm very impressed with this wheel set which I can see being my default solution to wheel rubber painting. 

I then fitted the idlers then the side portions of the mud guards, then blended in the seams with a bit of filler and sanded flush. I am waiting on tow ropes arriving so will probably not continue with the painting until they arrive.  

Leopard In Primer & AK Markers Test

This morning I gave the model and parts a good coat of primer which has gone down very well. This will now cure for a few days before I start the main painting. 

Whilst I had the airbrush out I sprayed the tracks with my custom track colour followed by a misting of vallejo 865 oily steel. Having recently purchased some of the new AK real colors maker pens I was keen to try them out. These are acrylic in formula so I was interested to see how they worked. I bought the road wheels set which has flat black, rubber black and dark aluminium in the set. 

Starting on the inner track pads I used the flat black marker and found that the paint went on well and with the very tip of the pen a good result can be achieved. On the outer pads the pen worked really well and I found a couple of passes with the pen letting each application dry gave a good solid coat. The paint dries very fast as well. Finishing off with the dark aluminium on any bolts this gave a very nice contrast to the basic track colour.

So initial impressions are very good, the paint goes on very well and the tip of each brush is reasonably fine although I would like to see a finer tip perhaps for more finer areas and chipping etc. I will be testing the rubber black on the wheels next to see how that performs. The pens are definitely a time saver as I finished the tracks in half the time it would normally take brush painting each pad. 

Leopard 1A5 BE Main Construction Done

Well that's the main construction all done on the model. The final bits done to the turret, hull side bins and tow rope holders fitted as well as the tow point pins and chains. All I need to add are tow ropes which are onroute and some stowage for the basket and rear rack. 

I'll probably add stowage after primer just in case there are any more areas on the turret that need a bit of filler. The whole lot has also had a very very careful wash to remove dust and oils. So once dry I can get a nice coat of primer on all the parts.

 

Leopard 1A5 BE More Turret Work

Almost done with the turret now after adding the side grab handles, antenna bases and plugs to the mantlet. I've just got the loaders GPMG and mount and the extra stowage rack to add and it will be done. 

A small amount of work also on the hull, mostly making up new towing point pins from lead wire and etch chain. I've also added the mounts for the rear mud flaps and have started cleaning up the final parts to be added such as the side bins and side skirts. 

Leopard 1A5 BE Turret Basket

Back working on the leopard and the main area of interest is the turret basket. You have a choice of using the kit supplied parts which have the attachment points for the extra armour as used by The German army. Or make up the rails using brass rod supplied in the conversion. I went with the latter as removing the attachment point on the kit parts was almost impossible due to the fragile nature of them. 

So I first made a template using the basket floor mesh and some pins to get the correct curve. Heating the brass rod was next which takes the spring out of it and makes it much easier to bend to the correct shape. This is a fiddly operation and not something I've ever done so I took my time to get it looking right. As I'm crap at soldering I used CA glue and lots of activator to fix the parts together then carefully cleaned up each joint.

I'm very pleased with the result which is very sturdy and looks really good. That done more details have been added to the turret and the wind sensor made up from conversion set and SSR models parts.