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Badger's 1/72 Revell / MR Modellbau Leopard 1


badger

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Afternoon all.

 

After a bit of a hiatus due to a loss of enthusiasm I'm back with the next tiny tank build and my first of a new decade.

 

I'm well aware I have a fair few unfinished builds on the go but whilst tidying the stash this jumped out at me.

 

The Revell Leopard 1 is an excellent kit - I built one out of the box a few years ago and have at least 4 more to build as different versions.

 

This one will be backdated to the initial configuration with the help of a Modell Trans Modellbau conversion that provides a new turret (the Revell one has add on armour fitted to it).

 

20200105_152757

 

As ever I'll be adding some extras, this time the following will make an appearance:

 

OKB Grigorov early pattern tracks and sprocket

 

Zedval turned brass barrrel to represent the early version without the thermal sleeve.

 

Modelltrans deep wading set and crewmen

 

Military Modelling Accessories early Leopard Decals.

 

References from Tankograd Leopard 1 Early Years

 

I started this two nights ago and quickly built up the hull and fitted the road wheels. The turret has had the moulding plug removed and a skim of filler to take care of some air bubbles.

20200105_152824

 

The ice grousers have been removed from the hull front as these weren't fitted to early tanks and the rear mud guards have also been hacked off.

 

20200105_152807

 

While waiting for the filler to dry I have cut some blue foam roughly to shape and glued this to a wooden base a friend makes for me. A couple of stones from the garden have also been added. Once dry this will get skimmed with some ready mix plaster and my usual shot blasting powder and gravel mix applied to add texture.

20200105_152835 20200105_152851

 

Clear resin water will be making a reappearance on this, hopefully with better results than the Panzer IV I finished last year.

 

So far so good and I've enjoyed this a lot.

All the best 

Ben 

Edited by badger
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Cheers Stix

 

It's one I've been planning for a while (at least 3/4 years!).

 

Have done a fair bit more on it - photos later

 

All the best

Ben

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Brilliant - A @badger build - always something to learn :clap2:

 

You cannot beat at master at work - I'm following with great interest as always :popcorn:

 

All the best - Steve

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Cheers Steve

 

You're far too kind - I would hesitate to call myself a master at anything to be honest.

 

Hopefully this will go as planned, although there's usually a few "issues" along the way.

 

All the best

Ben

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First skim of plaster is on the base. This will get refined and shaped a bit more once dry as it will need a second coat in places.

 

2020-01-05_07-49-09

 

All the best 

Ben 

 

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Final update for today with more work on the tank.

 

Gun barrel is fitted (it is straight, despite what the photos show), although drilling out the fragile resin mantlet was a touch nerve wracking. It did split slightly but a touch of filler has sorted that.

20200105_214115

 

I've also got the loaders hatch in and started on the bustle rack. Front mudguards and some fitments on the rear have also been added.

 

20200105_214053

 

More soon

 

All the best 

Ben

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2 hours ago, badger said:

Hopefully this will go as planned, although there's usually a few "issues" along the way.

Hey - it wouldn't be fun if there weren't a few 'issues' - that's what it's all about - in my chaotic world anyway :lol:

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A small amount of progress last night with the stowage basket now fitted to the turret rear. 

2020-01-07_06-40-27

 

One side went straight on with no problems, the other was a real fight to get it level.

 

More soon

 

All the best

Ben

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Quick update tonight - I've been working on the base. I've always struggled to get tidy, clean sides on my bases so have tried a different approach tonight.

 

Rather than skimming with filler and sanding back to try and get a smooth level surface, I traced the surface of each side of the base onto some thin (1mm) basswood sheet.

 

This was then cut out and assembled into a three sided frame. The original groundwork was trimmed back with a sharp carpet knife, to a depth of approx 1mm from the edge. The bass wood frame was then offered up, a few small adjustments made and it was superglued in place.

2020-01-07_10-12-28

 

I then skimmed the surface of the base to blend it into the top edging of the frame, and applied a little filler to blend the bottom edge of the frame into the base. A light sanding tomorrow should neaten things up nicely.

2020-01-07_10-12-17

 

Pretty pleased with this, and it's much neater than my previous efforts. Hopefully should be able to get the texturing gravel on tomorrow, then it can be primed and painted ready for the resin water. 

 

More soon

All the best 

Ben 

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Update for tonight 

 

Base edges are all tidied up and texture applied using a mix of gravel, sand and several grades of shot blasting powder. 

 

Tank tracks have been added but these won't show up until it's primered.

2020-01-08_09-48-56

 

I'll give it five minutes to dry as I wiped it down with a wet cloth to remove dust then I'll pop into the garage and give it a quick coat of halfords grey primer.

 

More soon

 

All the best

Ben

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Fair bit of progress to update on this tonight as I've managed a couple of hours on it.

 

I've been adding the smaller details such as lifting eyes, headlights etc to the hull but kept coming back to the hatch ring on the commanders hatch.

More specifically the rubbish job I had made of removing the machine gun mount (it needs to go to fit the wading tower). This was really bugging me so a trip to the deep stash in the attic retrieved another of the kit (I did say I have few!), which is earmarked to be built as a pioneerpanzer with a resin superstructure.

 

This doesn't use the hatch ring so a section was cut from it and the offending section cut of the turret. A cut'n'shut job later and I had a complete ring with no mg mount. 

2020-01-11_10-26-02

 

I then proceeded to almost completely hide all of this by fitting the resin wading tower. I was going to do this more towards the end, but a trial fit turned into a permanent fit! 

2020-01-11_10-25-54

 

There's a bit more still to add to the hull and turret but it's getting close now.

2020-01-11_10-25-35

 

Turning my attention to the base, I chiseled out two sections for the tank to sit in as this is meant to be loose, sandy soil and there would be a build up around the tracks that will be added once the tank is attached to the base.

 

I had previously painted and applied a couple of washes to the groundwork ready for the resin water but still need to paint the large rocks and pick out a few stones 

2020-01-11_10-26-11

 

More soon

 

All the best 

Ben 

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Little bit of progress this afternoon.

 

I've been working on the tracks. I forgot when assembling the kit that I needed access to the wheels to be able to bend the resin tracks for a firm fit.

 

Luckily I have a few more of these kits so I quickly made up a set of wheels and attached them to a hull side. 

20200112_164330

 

Using some hot water I was then able to bend the resin track sections to fit and glued them together, leaving a gap to allow me to fit them to the leopard.

20200112_164630

 

The OKB resin is very soft and responds a bit too well to boiling water as I managed to distort one side slightly by pressing them on too hard.

20200112_165903

 

Nonetheless I'm still pretty happy with the result and these will now be painted before being fitted.

20200112_172052

 

More soon

 

All the best 

Ben 

 

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This evening has seen a bit more work on the base. I've smoothed in the indentations where the tank will sit to make these nice and level.

 

I've then painted, shaded and highlighted the various rocks and stones before applying a variety of scenic grass and plants to imitate scrub like vegetation and grass.

20200112_213814

 

Finally I started painting the edges black, this needs another coat and a gloss varnish but I'll do this once I've added the resin water. I hope to get this on next weekend as don't think I'll get time during the week. Still need to make a shield to prevent the resin running off the base which I'll get done during the week.

20200112_213837

 

 

More soon

All the best 

Ben 

4 hours ago, BIG X said:

TOP TIP as always Ben - looking Good mate!!!

Thanks Steve - been fun today, although I don't know where the time has gone!

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3 hours ago, Andy350 said:

Looking really good.  I'm looking into creating bases for armour so this is very useful.

Many thanks - it's much tidier than my previous bases so will definitely be using the edging technique again

 

My main ingredients are some blue (or pink) foam to create the shape, ready mixed interior filler and a couple of different grades of shotblasting powder for the texture.

 

Still time for everything to go horribly wrong with the water though (I had some "issues" with it in the Panzer IV group build from last year7

 

All the best

Ben

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Well...........

 

Water has worked really well! I used a new (to me) UV setting resin which has dried in less than than 15mins, and that's with 2 coats!

 

I saw a tutorial on casting parts using it, so thought I'd give it a go to cast up a leaf spring that the carpet monster ate from a truck kit I have. This worked so well, I thought it was worth trying on the Leopard base.

 

Using an empty sliced ham packet (clean of course), as I felt it needed to be a 'greasy' type of plastic, I made a frame for the edge of the base.

20200113_202319

 

This was double sided taped in place as the quick setting action of the resin meant seepage would not be the problem I had on the previous water base. 

20200113_202514

 

The resin was then applied (it comes ready mixed and of a gel consistency). A few minutes with the UV light saw this set enough to add a second coat and less than 15 mins after I started I could remove the frame.

20200113_211538

 

It still seems a little tacky but I'm more than happy with the results and hopefully after a night or two to set it will be ready to have the edges trimmed up and I can then finish the base off. There is a small amount of resin on the edge of the base - my fault as I accidentally dribbled some over the frame side. This will get cleaned up once its had time to fully cure.

 

More soon

All the best 

Ben

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1 hour ago, Bullbasket said:

Nice work with the base Ben. It'll help set off the big cat once it's finished.

 

John.

Cheers John

 

Quite pleased with it so far. Just need to crack on with the tank now.

 

All the best 

Ben 

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2 minutes ago, BIG X said:

It's OFFICIAL - I'm impressed - VERY IMPRESSED!!!

 

Great work - Steve

Thanks Steve - worked better than I expected to be honest, especially with all the problems I had with the Panzer IV I built last year.

 

All the best

Ben

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15 hours ago, badger said:

Well...........

 

Water has worked really well! I used a new (to me) UV setting resin which has dried in less than than 15mins, and that's with 2 coats!

 

I saw a tutorial on casting parts using it, so thought I'd give it a go to cast up a leaf spring that the carpet monster ate from a truck kit I have. This worked so well, I thought it was worth trying on the Leopard base.

 

Using an empty sliced ham packet (clean of course), as I felt it needed to be a 'greasy' type of plastic, I made a frame for the edge of the base.

20200113_202319

 

This was double sided taped in place as the quick setting action of the resin meant seepage would not be the problem I had on the previous water base. 

20200113_202514

 

The resin was then applied (it comes ready mixed and of a gel consistency). A few minutes with the UV light saw this set enough to add a second coat and less than 15 mins after I started I could remove the frame.

20200113_211538

 

It still seems a little tacky but I'm more than happy with the results and hopefully after a night or two to set it will be ready to have the edges trimmed up and I can then finish the base off. There is a small amount of resin on the edge of the base - my fault as I accidentally dribbled some over the frame side. This will get cleaned up once its had time to fully cure.

 

More soon

All the best 

Ben

That is a really good looking base.  The water is impressive.

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3 hours ago, Andy350 said:

That is a really good looking base.  The water is impressive.

Thanks - I was impressed how simple this turned out to be. Just needs a little bit of a tidy up to finish it

 

All the best

 

Ben

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