Scratchbuilt Leclerc

[MonsieurTox]

Thank you sir!

That is what I've bought to use on my Abrams. Happy to see how nice it looks.

Barry

You are welcome!
You won't be disappointed with this stuff.
Practice on some scrap styrene or an old model kit first.

[MonsieurTox]

Hello guys,

I've modeled the road lights, it was not that easy, in particular the back of them. I 3d printed them but I'm planning to mold and cast them in regular resin.

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I created the hinges for the side armored skirts. They are functional but since the skirts are glued they won't work in the end.

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I created the box of the turret with styrene. The welds are stretched sprues (from the 1/35 Tamiya Leclerc ) softened with Tamiya thin cement then shaped with an x acto blade.

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[MonsieurTox]

Hello guys !

Here are some progress.

Continuing detailing the driver hatch :

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I've started to fine detail the hull, handles, rivets etc...

Here are the hinges for the engine hatch made from styrene :

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The hatch is movable, it's just for fun because I have no real reason to get it working :

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And finally the hinges of the front armored skirts :

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[RiskyR]

For detailed parts you can clearly see that a resin printer is superior to a normal FDM printer. Looks superb!

[MonsieurTox]

For detailed parts you can clearly see that a resin printer is superior to a normal FDM printer. Looks superb!

Thank you RiskyR, yeah that's true for details resin printers are awesome, almost no cleaning (and sometimes not at all).

Here are some more details that go on the lower rear of the chassis :

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Initially I 3d printed the front fenders or whatever it's called.
Then I thought it would be better to make them in styrene. I followed the way the original parts are built to create the curvature. It's not a smooth curve but folded plate into a faceted curve, I think it's an important feature that even Tamiya did not recreates on its kit.

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I u cut styrene plates, drilled holes then I scored the back with the back of an x-acto blade.
I was then able to shape them, ribs are glued on the back as well as bracket plates that attach to the hull (like on the full scale Leclerc).


Thanks for watching!

[HERMAN BIX]

hell of an effort going here Mr Tox and kudos to you for it too.
Sure will make an impressive AFV once you have finished, and a rare one too.

[Raminator]

You've got a real blend of traditional and modern techniques going on here, Mssr. Tox. A testament to what can be achieved!

I've found myself resin printing more and more parts, I just don't have the practical modelling skills to match my imagination. Unfortunately real life doesn't have an "undo" button like CAD software does!

[MonsieurTox]

hell of an effort going here Mr Tox and kudos to you for it too.
Sure will make an impressive AFV once you have finished, and a rare one too.

Thank you Herman ! Yes it will be nice and rare when I finish it, I'm very close but to be honnest, I have already started another tank... it was too cold here to primer or paint so I switch to another project haha. I hope to get back on the Leclerc soon and ready for primer and paint once the weather will be warmer here.

You've got a real blend of traditional and modern techniques going on here, Mssr. Tox. A testament to what can be achieved!

I've found myself resin printing more and more parts, I just don't have the practical modelling skills to match my imagination. Unfortunately real life doesn't have an "undo" button like CAD software does!

Thank you Raminator, yes I'm trying to use every techniques I can use, trying to find which one is the most suitable for each part.
I'm also limited when it comes to 3D modelling organic shapes. I'm planning to do a M4A1 Sherman but the cast hull is quite a challenge to get it right. But I have a plan and it will be very close to the original as it will a scaled down 3D scan of an original Sherman.

Well here are some updates on the Leclerc... which are not really hot stuff as I made those parts back in december. Just did not have time to post them.

First the 4 supports of the additionnal fuel drums. The original parts are cast. I tired to model them as close as I could, printed them then added a cast texture with Tamiya putty thinned with acetone.

You can see some printing lines : they are hardly noticeable by eye or with a nail, and totally disappear with a coat of primer, and in thise case, with the cast texture.

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The hexagonal nuts on the bottom are Meng styrene stuff. That doesnt look like that but that's 64 nuts for the 4 supports, for nothing that will never be seen.


Next parts are the parts for locking the small frames that are on the engine hatch.
They are quite small and made of 3 parts each : 2 styrene parts : a roundel for the bottom and the top part. And a Meng styrene nut (diam 1mm to give you an idea of the size)

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Here are 3D printed fake oleopneumatic suspensions. I did not go crazy with them as they are hidden by the wheel. And I messed up the 3D model, I don't know how it happens but the parts have been mirrored twice in a way that they're not correct for any side of the tank... that's OK for me.

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[MonsieurTox]

I decided to make new road lights.

This time I 3D printed the master, ready to be mold to make an open mold for the front ligths and a 2 parts mold for the rear lights.

Then I cast the parts with regular polyurethane Smooth-on resin.

I did the same for the rear light, the vertical struts are 0.3mm thin and wide so even if I would have been able to print them, I would have likely destroyer them by removing the supports.

The master pattern and the molds of the front road lights :

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Castings :

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Rear lights master pattern and the molds :

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Castings, they are very delicate :

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And in place, they can be removed to acces the interior (to put the LEDs etc), just like on the 1:1 Leclerc :

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[Kaczor]

Amazing Wonderful set of skills and tools