Making those parts in resin might help out the guys at MLM, you could be building the master of the Canadian Leopard 2 conversion.

So Rick, what type of resin did you decide to use for your project?Let us know how it works out eh?
Bill

Rick,

Make sure to check out Anthony Seward's newest images he posted today on Photobucket...lots and lots of bolts to add to your glacis armour as well as anti-slip patches.

Jason,

Ya, Anthony's site is where i get most pics from including the "ladder dude" pic up top. Very invaluable site he has going.

The bolts on the front glacis won't be an issue, but I haven't figured out how to make the anti-skid pads yet.

Going to Ottawa tomorrow and pick up some supplies including maybe some AM bolt heads!

Thanks for the spell chech henk, does doing grade six twice count for grade 12?

cheers

For the anti-slip surfaces pick up a can of Rustoleum Fine Textured Spray...easily found at Home Depot...it is great for modern anti-slip surfaces such as seen on the glacis plate add-on armour.

Just mask off the areas you don't want the surfacer on and spray of the Rustoleum.....let it dry and remove the tape.

I have used it for a few modern armour project and it looks the part.

Great tip for the anti-slip coating Jason.

Well this is the first of probably many prototypes





Lots more finetuning before i'll be satisfied.

Is this the resin Bill that you mentioned? Picked it up today from town.



We'll see how this ends up!?!

Thanks for the non-skid paint tip Jason, gonna try that tomorrow.

cheers

Yes that is the resin I have used in the past, different RTV but I'm sure it'll work fine. What I found was the more volume you use the faster it sets up and it gets very hot during the process. Matt Leese uses lego blocks to form the mold container but I use styrene boxes that I re use afterI brake open the mold.
I'll be interested to see how you get on with the master, good luck, keep up the great narrative.
Bill

It's only been about 5 months since this bad boy was on the work bench

But two weeks after I started to build the slat armour Miloslav announced Eduard was developing a PE set for it, so,.........



We shall see what is involved, this set is VERY thin, some of it was bent in the package, luckily not severe enough to have to bin it.

I'm also adding the Voyager PE set

cheers

That's ok. We all know you have been busy with your LAV III, which turned out great.

I didn't know the etch slat armour had been released. I hope all that PE makes it a little easier. At least you don't have to make all of the parts now.

-Matt

Wow... Looks pretty good!

Good luck with the PE Rick

Thanks for the kind words Matt, that LAV III sure took awhile .

I received the etch set from Eduard over two weeks ago, just sorted everything out to get cracking on it. It's going to take a while to build this up being careful to check references, not add any kit parts that will get in the way, and mate the Voyager PE set to it as well all at the same time. Have to look at three sets of instructions at once to make sure there are no conflicts

cheers

I'm in a similar boat. I'm building an in theatre Canadian Leo 2A6Mas part of a review for IPMSUSA, using the Eduard slat, Voyager PE, PSM 2A6M resin and Hong Kong Creation Workshop Tracks. Plus maybe an after market barrel thrown in for good measure. I've found it easiest to lay out all the instructions, and just go through those first, making notes on the sheets where mods are going to be made with the PE or resin. Then, go to the references and make adjustments on the instruction sheets you just marked up. Trying to both at the same time drove me nuts! I couldn't concentrate after a while. Admittedly the instructions get a bit crowded with notes, but atleast it's sorted out ahead of time.

Good luck!!

Hey John, thats pretty much the stage i'm at now. I just sit and study the instructions making mental notes on the process. Then relaying them down to the sheets.

First stage is to build up the base model from the kit instructions and remove any detail that will be replaced. Concurently deleting anything that isn't specific to the build (non Canadian).

The last will of course be the slat armour

cheers

Well i have the front hull pretty much done, just some tools left on the rear deck and then start the slat armour





cheers

Looking good! May i ask what are those square patches?

Thanks, they are anti slip stick-ons.

cheers

Rick,

Very nice job on the glacis armour.

I know that there is probably no way you want to rebuild it but the front edge of the glacis armour (three flat panels and the two angled panels) should actually extend right to the top edge of the grousers....right to the top of the Xs. The gap between the glacis armour and the grousers should not be there.

I also think the curve by the driver's left pericope should be greater.....and further away from the periscope.

I am only going off of the reference images that I have been provided that show the details I am talking about...but I cannot post the images that I have.

One thing you can add is three small bolts on the forward edge of the three front panels and the two front angled panels......one centered and the other two to almost the outer edges.

Thanks Jason!

Actually the fix wasn't to bad LOL



Just a little more tweaking and it should be good to go.

Started on the slat armour as well tonight!



Just these three sections took only 15 mins to build, sweet set-up with the way Eduard makes the PE set for this, just fold the sections and add the vertical bars.

cheers

Much better....now that looks correct.

You've made some great progress with this one. And you even managed to tweak the front armour as Jason suggested. Nice touch. The slat looks good and straight. And I'm glad to hear it's not too difficult to assemble. I know I'll have to add one of these to my collection someday. And I know I'll refer back to this thread for tips.

The tool clamps look like they haven't changed in sixty years. The more thing change....

-Matt

Where did you get your Eduard slat from? It looks like it is just plain brass - that's good. I got mine from Squadron and it's that stupid nickel-plated stuff. If I'm soldering it, I much prefer the plain brass finish. Just curious.
Jim

Thanks for the replies, i'm almost seeing the light at the end of the tunnel .

Jim the slat was ordered directly from Eduard and it is just plain brass. It was just over one week from internet order to home delivery.

I'm in the process now of doing a step-by-step for assembling the slats, it's actually quite simple.

OK here some very easy steps to build up the slat armour for this kit.

These are the tools that I use for soldering PE. A small soldering gun, thin solder, soldering paste (very important) and tweezers. I also like to work on a scrap piece of metal plate for the obvious heat related issues .



Now this is my first adventure in building slat armour of any kind, and this Eduard set goes together pretty well.

After cutting your desired piece from the sprue make sure that the slats are folded in the right direction, be it left or right. If you have bent them in the wrong direction and have to go the other way your in big trouble, the slats will start to break off, not good. (don't ask) What I did was fold the side vertical pieces almost straight and then fold the horizontal slats.



After I had the basic shape I would then fold up the sides and instal the vertical slats.
Before applying the solder I always dab some Flux (soldering paste) on the areas to be joined, this cleans the metal and makes the solder flow.



Only a little dab will do, alot of solder is not required for a strong bond.




cheers