Leopard 2A5 - KFOR

Patrick Hagelstein
Nice start! I'll be watching this too!

Ingo F
Thank you James and Patrick and welcome on board.
@James: Yeah the track assembly was very easy and did not require much of cleaning/sanding. 🙂
Very enjoyable. 😄
I build the tracks with 78+1 links and will test it after i finished the lower hull.
When i saw the wheels, i was happy like a small kid on christmas. No molding line in the middle of the wheel that is pain in the a** to remove! 😄
About the mirrors. I am going to build them in the folded postion. Anyway thank you for your offer. 😉

Ingo F
Finished the hull yesterday and working on the turret now. I used only a few PE parts from the Eduard set as the kit parts looks much better.
The original non existing handles very removed and replaced with handles from wire. The Eduard PE handles were way to thin and flat.
The rope tow cables from the kit were replaced with Eureka cables made from brass wire.
I checked the tracks length and noticed that 78 links are enough for Tamiya Leo. You can see the difference on photo 14 and 15.
The build of the turret was easy until now and without any issues. It is possible to use the RB Model barrel on this one even if it is only for Leopard 2 A0 - A4. You just need to omit the rear dust jacket part.
The barrel is then too short so you have to cut a part from the kit barrel and hollow it out so the RB barrel will fit. I cut about 5mm from the kits barrel as seen in the picture 16. Don't worry, it won't be visible in the end. 😄

Ingo F
Thank you James. It is possible that it was made for the old Italeri kit. Who knows. 🙂
Have to add the muzzle reference mirror tomorrow or i will fotget it. 😄

Ingo F
Finished the build today. Already primed it and will apply the base color tomorrow. 🙂

Rene Scheiblich
You keep pumping out nice builds like a machine Ingo... nice work! I'll grab a cold one and find me a seat as well 🙂

Ingo F
Hehe, thank you Rene and welcome. 🙂
I have to build them like that. 😄 Sadly its the only way to calm myself down after a hard day at the office. 🙁

Murad ÖZER
yummm, another leo inbound. 👍

btw good choice with the turret baskets, definitely needs that one vs. the tamiya mesh.

Ingo F
Yes, definitely better then the mesh included in the kit. Easy to bend and glue. 🙂

Patrick Hagelstein
Looking good! Did you make the masks yourself?

Ingo F
Thank you James and Patrick. 🙂
@Patrick: Yes, its just Tamiya masking tape.

Rene Scheiblich
Seeing this makes me think about breaking out my Tamiya 2A6 and get cracking 🙂
Although I wanted to do a plane for a change 😛

Ingo F
Little update on this one. Base color is done. Have added the tracks and side skirts. Took me almost half a day to finish up the rubber pads on the tracks. 😄

Spanjaard
excellent details Ingo. as always a pleasure to follow your builds 🙂

Dan M
Almost missed this one! Nice clean build as usual Ingo!

Ingo F
Thank you Spanjaard. 🙂

Rene Scheiblich
Hehe. The pads are the most fun part, are they not? ;P

The kitty is looking good so far. Is the inner track black or a dark metallic color where the roadwheels 'polish' it?

Ingo F
Thanks Rene. Yeah right, painting the pads is the best part of the whole build. 😄
The inner parts are just black but i will drybrush them with a little bit of metalic paint. Same goes for the guide horns. The tracks are movable therefore there should be no proble to drybrush them later on.

Ingo F
Took me a while but the camo and detail painting are done. That remind me why i am rarely building NATO vehicles. 😄
Decided to give this model a subtle weathering. 🙂 Only a filter and wash, a little bit of scratches and chipping and pigments to the lower hull.

Ingo F
Thank you James. 🙂

Ingo F
Had some bad experience after i sealed the model with Vallejo Matte varnish. Almost all the weathering disappeared from the tank. 🙁
I have started the weathering by adding a fillter to the tank, let it dry for a day and then added light dust deposit. After this the model looked nice and dusty. The pigment were added to the lower hull and fixed with pigment fixer. After the layer of varnish, the dust deposit is not visible anymore only a few stains on the sides are visible. 🙁
The surface is shiny and not matte ...... -.-
Don't know what do to. Thinking of adding another layer of dust deposit and use another varnish .....

Soeren R.
Nice work Ingo!

Rene Scheiblich
After weathering (on my type 59) I used quite heavily thinned tamiya flat clear, misted on several times to build up a sealing layer. This muted the weathering and pigments a bit, but not as hefty as you're describing😄
Hope that helps.

Ingo F
Added a few pictures of the current state. Maybe another layer of matte varnish from AK will help..... or a new layer of glossy varnish and another layer of dust desposit. :/
What do you think guys?

Dan M
Was anything new in the weathering process + varnish compared with previous tanks ? Used a new product that you haven't used before? Maybe it's a bad combination somewhere that can be figured out.

On the other hand, from what I know and heard from others more experienced than me, usually the matte coat is applied BEFORE pigments and not after. I know a lot of people try to protect pigment, but unless you start playing with your tanks the pigments should be safe on a matte surface using just the pigment fixer to hold them. A matte surface as opposed to a glossy one is not exactly flat and that helps retain pigments in it which is why it's usually done before. The matte varnish can affect pigments if applied after but not to the extent you've described.

Ingo F
Hey Dan. Nothing new during the weathering process. I have two different varnishes, one from AK and another from Vallejo. I used them both. Mainly the AK one and sometimes from Vallejo.
I think i will just repeat the weathering process tomorrow and this time i will use the AK varnish. 🙂

Rene Scheiblich
I'd try to fix up the lost dust and pigment areas and then another coat of another flat clear.
That vallejo flat coat really does look more like a satin or glosscoat... Did you stir the stuff well?

Ingo F
Yeah, shacked and stired it well. 🙂

Rene Scheiblich
😄 hopefully the bottle didn't turn bad.

Ingo F
Thank you guys for your comments and help.
I am thinking of giving the model a very thin layer of dust deposit tomorrow only to tone down the color as it is way to dark right now. I think it will help. 😄

Scott Dutton
I dont think its too dark, about right in my mind. I have incredible trouble with matte coats, not matting. Using Alcad flat clear these days. Someone suggesteed to me to not use trumpeter paint stirrer as produces bubbles in the paint whichmay be impacting.

Ingo F
I don't know Scott. For me its a little bit to dark. I will try to take some picures outside if the weather is good. Maybe its too dark because the pictures were taken in the afternoon. :/

Ingo F
Finished. I have added a little bit of dust to the tank and with the dirt on the side skirts its looked like a vehicle that was out in the field.
Will take better pictures once the sun is back in Cologne. 😄

Ingo F
Thank you James. 🙂
I was afraid that the amount of dust is way to much but after it dried it was ok.
The mesh was from the Eduard 35340 set. You can also buy the set from Voyager AP006 if you dont want to buy the Eduard set. It only contains the PE parts for the bin, nothing more.