Very impressive scratchbuilding.........you have a great Leopard project going there.

Hello

@ Paul: sounds like it's the cherry on the cake. I'm putting a lot of work in it to get it accurate. Thanks for the comments.

@Robert: some of my older fellow soldiers done some cat and frat shooting. But at least you guys got some new tanks we still use our beast from back then.

@ Jason: Thanks for your comments.

I hope it will be next year april soon to get back started. To bad I had to leave abroad for 4 months now. I will keep you guys updated next year that is a promise.

Thanks Roel

I initially overlooked the correction to the commander's periscopes. Great with the addition of the brass supports for the mg ring.

Robert,

I would like to say I enjoyed my month in Baumholder after being reactivated for Desert Storm but they kept us pretty busy and we were stuck at the German army base just outside the main base.

Here's a good shot of an older Belgian Leo from CAT '89:
http://flashpages.prodigy.net/ptruhe/armorref/leopard%201be%20cat89%20edit.jpg

Paul

Hello everyone

It has been a while now since I posted here. But finally I'm back home and I had some time to continue my build. This is how far we are now: the hull has been finished for a while, the sabca gunners sight is finished, the turret got some more detailling, I rebuild the turretbasket at the rear. For the moment the build has to wait untill I receive new parts to finish it. I'm waiting for an aber set to detail the turret basket and last but not least a perfect scale modelbau track set & 105mm gun.

The pictures:




The sabca gunners primary sight in scratch & the real deal



The gun is still not attached untill the new 105mm gun is installed. Still a few details need to be added on the turret.
Thanks for viewing and the comments

Greetings Roel

Excellent work....plain and simply put.

The Sabca sight is super.

Great to see more Leopards being built.

Outstanding build so far Roel.

Great. Just the paint left? Out of curiousity what is the plate with the bolts for on the side of the SABCA?

Paul

Hello all,

Thanks for viewing and your comments. Yesterday I had some crazy thoughts in my mind, crazy enough to remove most of the turrets details like smoke dischargers, sensors for outside temperature and atmospheric pressure (little things besides the gunners sight on top of the turret) smoke discharger protective ring on the right and a piece of the turrets rear basket. This was all removed to create some structure of the casted turret using Humbrol liquid poly. In the afternoon I could reinstall all details and pictures of my work will follow soon.

@ Jason: Thank you very much for your comments! I did not count how many hours I had been doing that sabca gunners sight lost track of it . To bad this is my one and only kit I'm still searching for others because I want to build a Norwegian Leopard and maybe a canadian one to. The kits are getting very rare at the moment

@ Dave: Thanks for viewing and you're reply, I'm glad you like it!

@ Paul: Hey mate I still need to search those pics you requested but you will get them. Concerning your question: When maintenance is needed on the gunners sight, when a new one needs to be installed etc.... Crews can remove the 4 bolts on the side and the 3 bolts on top of the sabca gunners sight. On top of the sight 3 metal rings are installed, on the side a crane will be installed, al the little bolts on the side of the armoured case are removed and then the maintenance crew can hoist the armoured case in the first time and in a second time they can hoist the entire gunners primary sight out of the turret.
The paint still has to wait since I'm waiting for a new barrel and tracks.

I will keep you updated

Greetings Roel

Hello every one

I noticed I forgot to post an update here. So this will be a BIG update since I have last posted pics. A while ago I had some crazy thoughts in my mind, crazy enough to remove most of the turrets details like smoke dischargers, sensors for outside temperature and atmospheric pressure (little things besides the gunners sight on top of the turret) smoke discharger protective ring on the right and a piece of the turrets rear basket. This was all removed to create some structure of the casted turret using Humbrol liquid poly. In the afternoon I could reinstall all details and this is his current stats:






My update for tonight is the next one:


On the 3rd of may we had the modelforce fair in Helchteren where I could purchase some new goodies. I still needed these to finish up the model. The things I bought where a decal set from DACO, perfect scale modelbau 105mm gun and track set, Aber S-18 drilled plate and lion roar brass tubes.


A comparison between the two 105mm guns:


Almost immediately the aber set was used to cut the bottom mesh for the turret bustle. After this I removed some parts that were in for improvement. At the rear I removed an attempt I once made for the spare tracks. These will be replaced with perfect scale modelbau ones at a later stage. After I studied some pics I started removing some things I did not like or which were wrong. (This will stay a building project 4 ever :mad:) I added welded seems to the back, replaced some of the protection on the hull stowage boxes and the German style stowage points where replaced. Overall some small improvements where made.
Enough talk some pictures:






Next up are some important things such as the tracks, the gun and MRS mirror and the back of the hull. I can almost see the finish of this project just have to hold fast!
Thanks for viewing as always comments are welcome.

Grtz Roel

Your update is excellent Roel.....fantastic Leopard 1 variant.

After you finish this you'll have to find another 'super' project.

Is the Daco decal sheet for Belgian armor? Never heard of that brand.

Paul

Great scratch bulding! It looksw mint!

looking foward to the next update budy!

This is the most detailed Leo 1 I've ever seen! Superb work!

Lars

Hello everybody

@ Jason: Thank you very much Jason I hope to update you guys soon ith the end pictures.

@ Paul: Hey Paul I will let you in on a little secret I plan to build a French VAB Valorisee from a Heller kit. Just going to use the basic hull bottom and top from heller. everything else will be scratch and a PE set from eduard. Daco is a Belgian brand that makes decals for Dutch and Belgian aircraft with typical decals. They also produce 1/35 and 1/72 decals for Belgian army vehicles. You can make any vehicle from almost any army unit you want. This should be there website.

@ Jaymes: Thanks for viewing and posting here mate I hope to get the model finished soon.

@ Lars: Thank you very much for your comments Lars. I'm glad you like it so much.

Sorry guys still no end pictures but they will come I promise. When I got home yesterday from work today in the late afternoon I finished my second set of tracks for the leopard. I made a little compilation on the computer to show you fellow modellers how the are fitted. You need a lot of patience to fit the tracks but the are a perfect match. Like the real leopard the model has on one side 83 and the other 84 single link tracks.

The pictures:


The kittracks:

Perfect scale modelbau tracks:


A picture of the kit tracks and the replacement tracks was included to show you the differences and the fitting on the model. Like Jim Carrey would say the fit like a glove!

Grtz Roel

Blimey! those tracks look nice!

Nice track set Roel, they remind me of the old HKCW Leopard I sets.

That is because they are.....and they are excellent.

Glad to see that they're still available, they are great sets (I've a couple squirrelled away for my C2 and AS1 builds).

@ David: as Jason pointed out they are the old HKCW tracks and are now sold by Perfect scale modelbau. They really are a great update on the leopard.

Tonight I can finally present my last build update with the model completely done. But when you think you have got it all right, the pics made, uploaded them on your computer you see you've forgotten the hatches on the turret. So everybody forgive my mistake and consider these pics as a final update
I have to wait with painting untill the sabca gunners sight has been molded. That is why you will notice around 20 screws are missing on the GPS. They will be added as soon as my mold is ready and the armoured cover for the GPS is back in place on the model. The gun is not fixed yet to make the painting go easier. I added a bunch of small improvements to the hull and turret but that is for you folks to find out
Enough said here are my final build pics:







That's all thanks for viewing and comments are always welcome.

Greetings Roel

Wonderful build Roel. Looking forward to when the paint goes on.

Is something coming out in resin soon?

Paul

@ David: Thanks for having a look and posting a message. I have to wait with the paint untill my gunners sight has been molded.

@ Paul: Hey Paul as a matter of fact there is Some of my fellow modelers from my modeling club convinced me to cast the turret and gunners sight in resin. To bad the paint has to wait untill this is ready.

Cheers Roel

Good evening everybody

A few days ago I had a second attempt to airbrush my leopard since the first attempt turned out to be a disaster.
After the first attempt there were to many staines and a lot of overspray. So I had to sand most of the paint off and restart all over. I'm glad things went well last week after a 6 hour paint job. The colours I used were revell enamels mixed with a few drops of humbrol gloss varnish. The model was spray painted with a badger 155 airbursh.
As you can see on the pictures the gun and commanders hatch are not yet fixed. The ammo crates, the windsensor and jerry can holder need are going to be painted with a brush. Stupid me has glued everything in place.... Still learning from the masters you know

Anyway the pictures:








Yesterday evening I began a third epsiode of spraying paint since I forgot to do the front right side armor and mudguard.
Something that is done regular on the real tanks gave me and idea to cover things up easy. The right mudguard and first side armor panel were painted in a green colour. Some bad driving has damaged these parts and they were replaced by new ones. Unfortunately (or lucky me :o ) new parts or replacement parts in the Belgian army are green and they should be painted in camo when they are put on the tanks. Due to a lot of bad driving and low budgets that does not happen. So it's easy to make it look like the real deal on the model.
This time a mix of revell dark green and Humbrol light green with a few drops of clear gloss were used.
Before


After



Next up is the weathering within a week or 2 so the paint can dry.

Thanks for viewing everyone and comments are welcome as always.

Greetings Roel

Hey Roel,

Fantastic work on the camouflage. You have a great project coming together very well.