Tamiya leopard 2a4

[tomhugill]

Hello Tom,
i recommend this website:
https://www.scalenews.de/leopard-2a4-walkaround-316/

there are some minor details in your model that could be corrected now.

Thanks! Some good info on there

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[tomhugill]

Coming along spectacularly, Tom. I've always thought the big slab-sided turrets looked better than the pointy spaced armour on the A5 onwards, and the extra details on the skirts really make it pop. It's going to look gorgeous once it's all coloured in!

Thank you! I agree absolutely on that, I'm surprised we haven't had one commercially available in 1/16 yet

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[tomhugill]

Some more body work and a other coat of primer to see where we stand

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[tomhugill]

Some more progress, adding a couple of the turret details. The excellent walkaround now means some more scratch building will be needed!

I put the non slip effect on the turret and hull front using 400 grit sand paper. I've added the steps under the front armour and some more detail to the hinges on the rear of the turret.

I've not been happy with the implementation of the rain cover on the mantlet. So decided to improve it. I decided to see if a full lead foil one would work. Removed the old one and cut a new one out, moving the gun by hand show it worked ok. Unfortunately because of the way the turret separates the cover would either need to be removeable or the turret be altered so the bit it anchors to doent move when the turret top is removed. I went for the latter, a bit of fileing to get a good joint was needed.

The frame was made from thinner brass than last time and I've been able to make the tie downs. These were really fiddly but I think worth the time.

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[jhamm]

Excellent work!

[EAO]

Tom,

Fabulous work! The primer is a huge improvement and does allow one to see all the fine details too! I've always loved the big Leopard, so Teutonic looking!

Regards,
Eric.

[r32]

I actually cut a lot of details off the original Leopard 2A6 turret to add to the 2A4, and that included the flag posts that were on the right side of the turret. Based on the video I saw, the crew used it to signal if they were live or safed when they were on the firing range.

[tomhugill]

Some more work on the Leo 2a4 completed. Thanks to the excellent walkaround provided before I was able to add a good amount of the welds from the real thing. I use Vallejo plastic putty which is really nice to control and do fine welds. Compared to the real thing they're probably a bit "russian" but once it's painted you might be able to see them better than if they were perfectly scale.

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[Gillaspy2005]

Wow that's looking absolutely spectacular already! Superb.

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[tomhugill]

The Leo 2a4 has had a bit of attention as a break from the abrams. I realised that the lead foil I'd used as a mantlet cover was going to fatigue fail so a new material was needed. I've had mixed results over the years with different fabrics and have never been entirely happy. Some times you totally fluke onto a solution. I was never able to get a material that was thin, flexible and durable enough to model 1/16 material easily. My solution was a total fluke. I found a bin liner, a really cheap nasty one with very thin plastic on my garage floor. Whilst pretty bad at containing several kilos of waste it should be plenty tough enough to make a rain cover on a tank. It gives a nice crinkled look and is nice and flexible.



Something that's not correct on my tank was the mantlet, there should be another boy extending from where the end was. I'd looked into brass rod for this but was struggling. In another bit of serindipity I found if I you cut some of a tamiya tiger mantlet it fits perfectly.

I wanted to add the dust cover on the barrel, none I had seen had manage to do this without it being static and having the tube slide under it. I thought I'd see how the bin bag material would react. Was a bit of trial and error but I got something close to reality which didn't foul the recoil.






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