Finally got it done. This started off as my entry in the Cold War Cook Off campaign. Moving back from overseas and starting a new job put it on the back burner.

It is a Revell Of Germany kit. I went for price over the quality of Tamiya.

My goal was to build this vehicle. Which explains the lack of cleats and other doo-dads on the glacis, and my choice of mud and dust on the running gear.



How did I do?:










The photos were taken outside on a bright, sunny day and on an overcast day, which may explain any change in colors.

Since tha campaign I also repainted the camo. My original brown was too red and both colors' the edges were too soft:


What does everybody (or anybody) think?

Well it certainly looks the part ...very good rendition of the real thing ...I don't know very much about modern AFV's but you build looks clean ...The only thing I noticed was your paint has clogged a bit of the mesh on the turret basket...but this might just be the picture..If I were you I'd throw up a bit of wet mud on the back end and skirts just for a little contrast with the dust....Other than that ...I agree ...you have finished your Leo... Good job


Rick

I think it look great although I don't like the pink backdrop.

Nice job Keith, one small correction and it has nothing to do with your build. What you have there is the Leo 2A6. You can tell because of the longer barrel. The A5's barrel is noticeably shorter. Nitpicky I know, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Mike

Mike,
Uhhh, I knew that.
The kit comes with both barrels and I swapped them out for this 'photo shoot.' (to match the one in the photo)
I just forgot to change the nomenclature!
Here is a shot of the kit, pre-weathering, with the short barrel installed. It is the barrel I display it with since it won't fit in my display case with the long barrel!

good looking model, you have made me decide to get the Leopard A6 model next instead of the M1A2. Think i shall go fo the Tamiya one though....what make of paints did you use, tamiya arcylic?

A very unique looking tank, indeed. I really don't know that much about armor but I would say that you captured the look of the tank in the photo well. I have to agree about the pink background. It is a totally out of place color for this subject and it actually contributes to some color contamination of the bottom of the tank and the tracks.

White or gray are good neutral colors for modeling. A light or medium blue also looks good for aircraft.

Keep up the great work!

Thanks One and All!

RICK--I guess I am not finished! I took a needle to the mesh and tried to clean it up. I am still new to this whole busslerack/net/screen/PE thing.

WILL--The M1 is a good lookin' vehicle too. I use Polly S and Model Master paints to airbrush with. Tamiya is good for brushing, but my Badger 150 doesn't seem to like it too well.



SCOTT/ALAN--The blanket is actually burgundy. I tried a green one and it was not enough of a contrast. I had a white posterboard and white sheet I would use, but they were tossed out during our last move. Long and short: I will dump the girlie color (no offense to girls) and go with a white or gray.

Keith, good looking build. You mentioned that the edges of the colors were too soft. Heres something for you to try for that hard edge camo pattern. Very complicated, and scientific as well. Silly Putty. Yep, Silly Putty. It is inexpensive, will conform to any shape you want to form it into, leaves a nice crisp edge and is easy to remove and use again and agin. IF, by chance a small amount gets lodges somewhere that is hard to grasp, simply take a small ball of silly putty and dab at it. It sticks like nobodys business to itself and will get the offending piece up easily.

Of the two variants, I prefer the long barreld version. Once again, nice looking build. And I can sympathize with those pesky bustle rack screens/mesh. "Q"