Hello,

This is my first tank build in a very long time (I usually build aircraft). It was by far my fastest build in years, having taken two months overall. The idea was to replicate the Leclerc in desert camo nets, which I have never seen in scale:


I used Tamiya's kit (35279) along with the Voyager set (35073), which is great value for money. The aim of the build was to learn three new skills:
_How to make baracuda camo netting
_How to paint a camo free-hand (i.e. no masking involved)
_How to weather an MBT in the desert









Please let me know what you think, I'm keen to improve as
_I can still change things
_I have an Abrams and a Merkava IIID lined up after this one

Many thanks in advance,

Arnaud

Looks pretty good. What technique did you use to make the barracuda camo? To keep decals from silvering, apply a layer of gloss clear. Then apply the decal, using decal solvent or setting solution. Allow to dry completely and apply another layer of clear gloss. You can go back over this with flat/satin/etc. clear.

I forgot to mention the camo nets were cut out of thick kitchen aluminium foil using a Silhouette Portrait, perfect for this kind of stuff! Took a while to get the shapes and pattern right though

Arnaud

Thanks Matt. Where do you see silvering? I did apply gloss varnish and MicroSol, and I don't see any silvering but I may very well have missed it!

So I had to Google 'Silhouette Portrait'. Never heard of such a thing! So you can actually cut out flat material according to a computer pattern - rather like printing but cutting? Fascinating!

Any chance you could show it in action? Judging from the pictures it seems to be working out for the camo net.

It may just be the resolution, but the first and second photo both appear to show silvering.

The Silhouette printer is a bit out of my price range. I think I will go with the sharpened tube method.

Nick, yes that's what the Silhouette Portrait does. It can also cut masks

Matt, the sharpened tube technique works well but when the nets are cut to size for a particular MBT, such as the Leclerc or the Aussie M1A1 AIM, the Silhouette makes a very good job to cut a precise contour in a repeatable manner.
However I must admit I bought it with a voucher my former work colleagues gave me when I changed jobs. I would probably not have represented the model this way otherwise since the machine cut the full netting in about 4-5 hours

Arnaud

Perhaps I can pass some of it off as a commission expense.

looks good to me, I don't see any silvering, outstanding job on the camo netting. I made the mistake of wasting 15 bucks on the AFV camo netting.

What do you mean Matt?

Thanks G!

The base is in progress, will post pics asap

Arnaud

Hey Biz,
Looks good.
I did a Canadian Leopard with barracuda and posted it a while back.One comment was the barracuda apparently comes in sections and needs support between ???
Ironically I was looking at it today and thought a few small strips of masking tape will fix it.
If you look hard at the first photo you can see them.

Tom

Out of interest, what software did you use that's compatible with the Silhouette Portrait?

Nice LeClerc, BTW

Thanks Greg.

The Silhouette software is downloadable online, I believe it is the only one which will work with the machine.

Tom: You are right, there are reinforcement beneath the external layer. I shied away from the added complication, hoping no-one would notice

Arnaud,

Can you please give me more information on the software you used to make the net. I know someone with the printer you used and if there was a specific design or template you used I would very much like to try and make some nets of my own.

Thank you

Hi James,

The software is provided for free online, actually I started playing without it even before I had the machine, just to get a feel of how it worked. It's fairly straighforward to use. Uses a lot of RAM for intricate patterns (eg camo nets )

Arnaud