Another eye straining project. This conversion will be done fully scratchbuild with no AM or added PE part. Wish me luck.

The kit.....



The first 3 frontal slats was done using styrene strips at 0.25mm x 0.75mm and will approximate the actual size.


Size compared to a toothpick...



You can see how thin 0.75mm in this top views....



More to come.....

Excellent result. I always wonder how you guys manage to construct stuff so perfectly symmetric. Looking forward for more.

P.A.

Wow!

What size styrene card are you using?

That looks fantastic.

Awesome work, that slat is really tiny!


cheers

I was considering doing the 1/35 by HobbyBoss. From your build, I think I'll save some room on the shelf and build a 1/72.

did you make a jig for that?

Nice nice nice.

A great project.
Looking forward to see more like this.

Regards Daniel

Thanks gents!

Rick, I remember your 1/35th build on this and still have your WIPS for my added reference.

Graeme, there is no jig all is done manually with careful placement. Each slats are placed and adjusted one at a time to maximize accuracy and proper alignment. I find using a jig is very messy at this scale and doing it free hand achieved much better control and alignment. Down side is its very time consuming. By the way can you email me again your thorough walkaround of your ADATS. I lost all my pics you have given me on my old computer. Thanks!

Hi Val

Impressive result, must have taken a lot of focus and discipline to achieve it.

I'm looking forward to whats next in the build

cheers
Neil

Great and fine job.

Congrats.

Pedro.

Wow Val! Very nice looking scratchbuilt bar armor. After following your Chally II, I can't wait to see this one coming along! BTW- is this one getting the barracuda treatment as well???

Thanks guys.

Kerry: This one will be "naked". No barracuda as I love the way this tanks looks. Doing a netting will cover the "curves". Maybe on my next build I will again do a version with the full barracuda.

Updates:
I have done the whole left side slat armour except for the span that connects the first 3 front slats to the rest of it. I had the whole week building it because it was so tiny and tideous. Strains my eyes man. This is just a mock up and its temporarily adjusted and attached to my Leo 2 A5 KWS. The newly tooled Revell A6M is slightly bigger and I think its more accurate.








Until next time guys.......

Thanks for the update, looks really good!

Does the Revel kit have any of the Canadian specific items such as the T type antenea mounts and stowage boxes?



cheers

Thanks Rick, glad you like it.

As far as this new Revell Leo 2, the kit is just the basic Leo 2 A6M. Its comes with the add on belly armour and thats about it (ofcourse its a totally new tooling and not a rebox with added sprue) . I have to SB the frontal armour, stowage bins for the rifle on top, ECM arials, boxes etc. Sad it did not specifically comes with the Canadian version but I think its fun converting this to one and this is a very good base kit.

Looking good so far.

Anthony

Val,

I followed your last build and this one appears equally impressive, but doing the bar armour from scratch, and in plastic is positively insane. I can't imagine what it takes but really appreciate you sharing this great work.

Regards,
AJ

Splendid scratchbuilding there! Looking foward to your updates. I have one of those kittens sitting on the shelf and was contemplating building a canadian version as well. I will certainly use your buid as inspiration!

Hi Val,
Congratulations ! You're achieving what I started this summer. I was waiting for the Revell kit just to see if there were any improvements compared to the Dragon kit.
Revell really did a great job except for the wheels. I think you will have to get the ones from Dragon.

Bravo again !
Antoine

Braille scale, the last frontier

Thanks guys!

Now for some little updates:

I have managed to do almost 90% of the hull's slat armour. Man doing this is very hard. So much frustrations aligning each one. I also managed to create "bends" on area which is susceptible to damaged. Most of my reference pictures shows that most of the tanks had severe slat damage or even incomplete areas. I think the armour itself is very prone to damage especially it tight environment where hitting it is unavoidable. I will further damage the slats once I have it fixed.

Here are some updates: This is just temporarily fixed on the hull. Examining the totally new kit from Revell, it looks like its a little bit larger than the older kit.


The rear slats.....





Approximate stand off distance from the hull is about 400mm actual and about 5.5mm in 72nd.





Thanks for viewing....

Hey Val

A lot of work is done. I like it. Very fine work.
Looking forward to see the tank.

Regards Daniel

Great job on the slat ! They really look nice and regular, congratulations.

Olivier

I'm watching this build with both fascination and interest. It's hard to believe that that bar armor is all done freehand. Just out of curiosity, what type of glue are you using for it?

Regards,
AJ

Thanks AJ, yes this is all done free hand and I use a home made gauge to set the distance. Using a jig is dificult because the gule tends to sip underneath it causing problems. So I have to do it one at a time to let it dry and do the next slats. Very time consuming and strains the eye but I;m in no hurry. For the glue I use a thin cement like the tamiya's thin one however I ran out of it and currently using Humbrol which is equally effective. Use a very tiny amount to join it using a very fine tip brush.

@r2d2j – Val,

Fantastic and awesome job on the Slate Armour. Yes, you must be a robot to be able to see and work that precisely in this scale and get it right! You are certainly a patient person and modeler. For those of us that are not there are the 12 pack(s) of cold beer, and of course its Novem – .

I’m very impressed with your desire to get things in scale, correct and realistic, and so well executed. With a cold beer in hand I’m waiting to see more.

~ Eddy

G'day Val. Great to see another build from you, your Chally was an inspiration and I look forward to seeing this one progress!
Slat armour is looking great!
Cheers,
Tim