Not that I am anywhere near as good as what I have seen posted here, I figured I would share some of my current in progress work. I am working on the Heller Leclerc (the original kit) with the Terre Models RT-6 RT-8 conversion set. I might also use a set of Tamiya road wheels to replace the kits ones. All the bad press about the Heller kit had/has me a bit scared, but I figured it can be a learning experience. Hope this doesn't disappoint too greatly.

hi,
you can see mine here :
http://anneso.ri.free.fr/montagesdetailles/leclerchiver/leclerc.html

with single camo in KFOR...
bye

Hello John,
this is not too bad
The Heller kit is not as good as the Tamiya kit but it is buildable and with some patience can turn great.
I would advise you change the tracks for Bronco ones.
You also may find helpful to have a look at my tweaklist (in my site section Reviews/references). It is based on the Tamiya kit but you'll see some details to add if you intend to go the rivet counter's way.
BTW there is no RT6 or RT8 but T6 and T8.
R stands for retrofit and only concerns the T5 that were retrofitted to the T6 standard thus becoming RT5.

Keep on posting !
Olivier

Thanks for the comments. I have gotten primer on her, and 'placed' the main gun, but obviously more work and clean up to do. This Heller plastic is very soft and seems to want to 'split/tear' quite a bit. Adds to the challenges, but the Leclerc is such a cool looking tank that I wanted to keep on!

Olivier, I have the Tamiya tank in the stash, but thought I would go with this one first, especially since I had already purchased the Terre detail/conversion set.

A couple more pictures...





Hope you enjoy. Cheers.

John

great inspiration for my build

greetz

A minor update. Was able to get a couple hours in today. Gotta love the weekend.

Quick question on the side skirts. On the Heller kit, the part is 'hollow' at the front. Would it make sense to add some sheet styrene to 'fill' it out?

Here are a couple more shots. Added some add on armor pieces on the sides of the hull and the fuel drum mounts.






Hope you all had a great weekend!

Yes you can But it would be necessary only if you show the skirts tilted upward (to embark on a train platform or to wash the running gear).

Olivier

Olivier

Great, thanks for the reply.

John

A picture is better than any word


And two pictures are better than a single one


Olivier

Olivier,

Thanks for the photos. The skirts on the Leclerc are just plate, right? Not reactive, right?

Thanks again.

John

John,
I really don't know the kind of armor of the skirts but I doubt they include reactive armor.

Olivier,

In a couple of the articles that I have read on the Leclerc, I have not seen anything about that on them either, but figured that I would ask.

Thanks again and I appreciate your assistance and tips.

John

Hopefully this is a quick question, on the Heller instructions it is calling the roadwheels faces as black. In many of the pictures it is hard to tell if they actually black, dark green or whatever. Any confirmation that could be provided would be appreciated.

Thanks,

John

Roadwheels are definitely black and not NATO black which is more a dark grey.

Olivier

Okay,didn't get the road wheels done yet, but was working on the turret a little bit. I drilled out 1 side of the smoke dispensers, because I thought those flat indentions just didn't look right.

Just started this side, so it gives you an idea of what they looked like OOB.


After:

Sorry, double post of the previous picture, here is the correct one.

Thanks for looking.

I built this kit as my second 1/35 armour kit and I had no idea that the Heller kit could end up that well. Great work John!

Mark

Olivier,

Thanks for the confirmation on the wheel color.

Matt,

Thanks for the nice words. I hope it keeps looking nice. Gotta be patient with it, that is for sure. I guess it is good that I don't have lots of build time, so it forces me to that patience!

John

I wanted to show those that haven't seen it the Terre Models set is really nice. A bit of work, don't get me wrong, to install it on the Heller kit, but worth it I think. So here are a couple photos of the Drive sprocket and trying to get it ready to mount. The first photo shows the Terre sprockets compared to the Heller one. Notice on the back of the sprocket on the Terre kit is solid, so out to my new drill press to drill out the back. The 2nd picture shows the result. I would like to make it more like the back of the Heller sprocket, but might stick with this result. See if the Hardware store has a drill bit that would help 'thin' it out. Ideas?





If I can't, it is off to priming and painting the wheels and sprocket! Hope to post more soon.

Regards and Holiday Greetings to all,

John

John, If there is no difference between the Heller and TM inner parts why don't you simply glue the TM outer part on the Heller inner one ? That will save you some extra time and no one will notice it when primed and with the tracks on.

Wish you a Merry Christmas
Olivier

Olivier,

If I had thought about it a little more first, I would have! It was very super-glued together, and I didn't want to break a part. So, I got them to look like this, not perfect, but a little better.

Merry Christmas to all on Armorama!



Cheers,

John

Nice job on the back of the sprocket. The Bronco tracks look good too.

Merry Christmas to you and all the members !

Been working on a few things over the last couple days. Got the road wheels and suspension area painted black. Adding some detail parts to the hull and working on the main gun. The Heller kit (the original one anyway) has a incorrect COAX mount/box, so I am trying to make it look more like the T6 ones. I am waiting for some Tichy Group resin bolts/nuts that I ordered to come in to add to the assembly. Thanks for watching.

Just out of curiosity, do you plan on using any of the kit's PE, or do you have an aftermarket set?

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

Yes, I am going to use the kits PE. I have just kept putting it off. Almost started working on it last night, but didn't feel like going to the attic for my tile that I use to cut the PE on... Lazy, I know.