1/35 Heller Leclerc in progress
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
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Posted: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 - 01:02 AM UTC
Quoted Text
You're still doing a nice job but this is not the coax box. It is part of the MRS.
The coax is on the mantlet plate just above the driver hatch.
Keep on the good work.
Olivier
Thanks. I was thinking it might have 2 Coax, but that really clears things up. Thanks. I wasn't sure, because it seems like most laser devices (I am guessing that is what MRS denotes?) have some sort of armored hatch. Thanks again for all the great info Olivier!
Regards,
John
Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
KitMaker: 5,329 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 - 01:11 AM UTC
MRS stands for muzzle reference system and is primarily an optic device that measures the "bending" of the gun tube due to the heat and transmits the data to the fire control system.
Generally, you've got a kind of mirror at the busy end of the gun and some kind of sight on the mantlet. Most of the modern gun have fitted with a thermal sleeve that helps reducing this bending effect.
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Napoléon
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
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Posted: Thursday, December 29, 2011 - 02:51 PM UTC
Another small update. I got the engine deck area PE installed and finished drilling/cleaning out the Galix dischargers mount areas. Now need to fabricate something for them... Maybe some plastic round or tubes...
Cheers.
Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
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Posted: Friday, December 30, 2011 - 04:35 AM UTC
For the Galix launchers you can use some bits of styrene rod with a small diameter rod to make the rubber caps. Don't forget to add the securing cables. There are attached one end to the top of the cap and the other end at the base of the cut out in the cover.
Happy New Year !
Olivier
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Napoléon
Michigan, United States
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Posted: Saturday, January 07, 2012 - 12:52 PM UTC
Okay a bit of an update. I am using the Tamiya Leclerc road wheels on this kit, they look much more refined. But they sit a bit 'loose' on the suspension so I had to come up with a way to fix that. I ended up using some brass rod, which I had to drill out and cut each piece for all 12 road wheels. Here are some pictures of what I was doing.
Comparing the Heller wheels to the Tamiya ones
They are all finished!
Thanks for looking.
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
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Posted: Saturday, January 07, 2012 - 04:41 PM UTC
Spent a couple hours taping off the non-skid areas watching the Lions lose big in the second half... Will try to apply the sand-mix tomorrow. Here's what it looks like so far...
Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
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Posted: Saturday, January 07, 2012 - 09:08 PM UTC
I hope it's not too late but you don't need to apply the antiskid coat over the air conditioner at the back of the turret.
Impressive way of fixing the Tamiya wheels to the Heller suspension arms.
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Napoléon
England - West Midlands, United Kingdom
Joined: June 21, 2011
KitMaker: 87 posts
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Posted: Saturday, January 07, 2012 - 10:52 PM UTC
Here are three pictures of my leclerc it was built when Heller first rleased it a long long time ago.
They scanned negatives as they were taken before Digital cameras were about.
Pete
If you have a question about having something etched please send me an E-mail through my web site. Click here to visit my site:
Thank you
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
KitMaker: 627 posts
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Posted: Sunday, January 08, 2012 - 01:21 AM UTC
Quoted Text
I hope it's not too late but you don't need to apply the antiskid coat over the air conditioner at the back of the turret.
Impressive way of fixing the Tamiya wheels to the Heller suspension arms.
Thanks Olivier, in my Tankograd book it also seemed like the anti-skid should not be in that area in the middle of the turret between the hatches or not much on the rear engine deck. Do you have any pictures that show any misses on my taping?
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
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Posted: Sunday, January 08, 2012 - 01:23 AM UTC
Pete,
That is a really clean looking paint job! I hope my paint comes out close to that nice!
John
Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
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Posted: Sunday, January 08, 2012 - 04:42 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Thanks Olivier, in my Tankograd book it also seemed like the anti-skid should not be in that area in the middle of the turret between the hatches or not much on the rear engine deck. Do you have any pictures that show any misses on my taping?
Does this help ?
Last one is a SXXI Leclerc so the TC independent sight is different.
Olivier
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Napoléon
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
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Posted: Sunday, January 08, 2012 - 08:25 AM UTC
Olivier,
Yes, that helps a bunch on the turret. I think I pretty much got it right. Did my engine deck (really I am only applying to the areas where there is tape on all four sides, which really is not that much of the deck) look correct to your knowledge?
Thanks again. Love the pictures!
John
Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
KitMaker: 5,329 posts
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Posted: Sunday, January 08, 2012 - 08:14 PM UTC
John;
have a look at the various walkarounds in my site. Hopefully you should have enough pictures to help you.
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Napoléon
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
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Posted: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - 04:30 PM UTC
Olivier,
Thanks your site helped a lot. It will be a detailer's dream!
I got the anti-slip on, waiting for it to dry before I remove the taping. Here is a picture with the tape still on...
Sorry it is hard to see the texture on the turret, due to the white background color. Should be able to see well once I remove the tape and primer it.
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
KitMaker: 627 posts
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Posted: Thursday, January 12, 2012 - 12:24 PM UTC
Okay, another update. I used some Tichy Train Group bolts for the MRS cover. Also, I got some Styrene rods cut and in place for the Galix smoke dispensers. Still have to mount some wire or something to represent those cap 'holders'.
Definitely not perfect, but looks more convincing than the blanked off areas that were there OOB.
Thanks again for looking. Hope you like it.
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
KitMaker: 627 posts
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Posted: Sunday, January 15, 2012 - 02:06 PM UTC
I must say that I had quite a difficult time with these Galix launchers. I don't think I did that great a job, but I guess if you don't try you don't get better! I added the restraints to the caps and next plan to work on the rear area of the tank around the fuel lines and such. Thanks again for looking.
Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
KitMaker: 5,329 posts
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Posted: Sunday, January 15, 2012 - 07:22 PM UTC
Don't worry too much about the Galix launchers. They look very good and far better than the poor Heller rendition of them ;-)
Keep on the good work. The fuel lines are not an easy part but you can deal with them with some good pictures. You can throw away the poor Heller vinyl part for them and use fuse wire instead.
Olivier
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Napoléon
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
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Posted: Monday, January 16, 2012 - 03:52 AM UTC
Olivier, thanks for the kind words.
So okay, here are a couple pictures of the rear of the tank. I used some wire for the fuel lines, and also added some details for the fuel dump (?) piece in the center. I added some styrene tubing and strip to detail the Heller part.
Also added some strip to the exhaust tube. Will add the handles that go on the back a little later, so the camo will be easier. Hope it looks ok.
Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
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Posted: Monday, January 16, 2012 - 08:45 AM UTC
John,
unfortunately the fuel lines are not twinned all the way to the connection into the hull.
Here are two pics that could help
Sorry for coming late with the info.
Olivier
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Napoléon
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
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Posted: Monday, January 16, 2012 - 09:39 AM UTC
Hmmm, so it looks like the 'join' under the 1st drum support? Since it looks like they are separate between the 2 right side supports.
Thanks for the pictures. I couldn't tell that on the photos that I had before. Thanks.
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
KitMaker: 627 posts
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Posted: Monday, January 16, 2012 - 11:58 AM UTC
Here is a bit of a rework. Hopefully looks good. Still thinking about 'moving' the twinned wires between the 2 brackets.
Warszawa, Poland
Joined: October 10, 2011
KitMaker: 95 posts
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Posted: Monday, January 16, 2012 - 12:01 PM UTC
Hey! You're doing great job on this not so nice kit! Keep it up! Cheers!
Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
KitMaker: 5,329 posts
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Posted: Monday, January 16, 2012 - 07:05 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Hmmm, so it looks like the 'join' under the 1st drum support? Since it looks like they are separate between the 2 right side supports.
Thanks for the pictures. I couldn't tell that on the photos that I had before. Thanks.
John,
I haven't the right picture at hand but I remember having one that clearly show the connector on the left side of the far right drum support. This is just a round piece of metal.
On the supports, you should have a kind of plate on which is stowed the ratchet strap that holds the drum. I don't remember if Heller provided some as I guess the only option is to put the drum on which is pretty unlikely from all the pictures I saw.
Here are some pictures of the real support.
Heller have over simplified this part. It's a pity as the French army never used the fuel drum even in operation like in Lebanon so you can really see how it looks.
Olivier
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Napoléon
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
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Posted: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - 02:18 AM UTC
Olivier,
Yes, Heller simplified a lot of things on this kit! Thanks for those new pictures. I might try and make up a wratchet support of some kind to put on the top of the support, because I am leaning towards not using the drums.
Jaroslaw, thank you.
Michigan, United States
Joined: October 17, 2010
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Posted: Wednesday, January 18, 2012 - 01:39 AM UTC
Okay, I spent a surprising amount of time doing this one bracket. The funny part is after I got it together, I can't see the extras with my bare eyes! This getting older thing sure is funny...
So, here are a couple shots of the fuel bracket. I added some de-tacked Tamiya tape to a PE bracket (part of the Heller part) that I used for the wratchet device. Problem (?) is that you cannot see the tape that I have 'bunched' up under the PE. At least not much of it. Is this method effective?
