Leopard 2A5DK
Comments
1 1 February 2020, 12:45
Ingo FIts raining here and i can not take the final pictures of my T-80BVM project, therefore is will start a new project. This time it will be an Leo 2A5DK.
There will be a lot of scratchbuilding as i am aiming for the one of the latest versions of this beast.
Started this one at the beginning of the week and almost trashed it at the start. Long story short: The APU part was badly warped and i could not do anything to correct it. Not with bending, not with warm/hot water.
As a modellers, what do we do? Yes right, improvise and scratchbuild. 🙂
1 February 2020, 12:51
Ingo FWelcome on board mate. You going for the Hobby Boss kit or Tamiya + AA Conversion?
1 February 2020, 18:24
Ingo FAfter a month of building i finally finished the hull of the model. Dark grey colored parts are from Accurate armor coversion set, black are from the sparebox an belonged to Mengs Leo 2 A4 and A7. Sand colored are from the new Meng A7+ Leo. White are plasticard and some cooper plates.
24 March 2020, 20:34
Ingo FWho said that this one will be new tank? 😉
I am not going full retard on this one, but it will be dusty with some scratches on the side armour and so on. According to the pictures i have, almost all DK Leo 2s have rusty tracks. Anyway the rust color will be less pronounced after weathering.
3 May 2020, 21:03
Patrick HagelsteinHi Thomas, two things about rusty Leopard tracks: First off, factory new these tracks look rusty from the outset. This is actually a brown colored rust inhibiter applied to the metal parts. So, although it looks rusty, it is actually to prevent rust while being stored. Then secondly, once the tracks are mounted this protective coating wears off leaving the metal bare. Bare metal has a tendency to attract fly rust, the very orange dusty rust that can easily be wiped off. That's why you see bright orange rusty tracks on vehicles just parked a couple of days before. During travel over sandy or muddy terrain that fly rust quickly wears off revealing the shiny metal again. So, just from a modeler's perspective, rust is something we can play with without being 'too rusty'. 😉 At least when it comes to tracks. Rust covered painted vehicles only a couple of months in the field is a whoooooole other discussion. 😄
4 May 2020, 19:20
Patrick Hagelstein[img1]
Maybe not the best picture, but here the bright orange spots are starting to appear.
4 May 2020, 19:23
NeulingLooks very good, Ingo. Can you tell why some parts are painted beige and not camouflaged?
17 May 2020, 19:20
Ingo FThanks Neuling. As far as i know, the sand/beige colored parts are originaly from the tanks that were used in Afghanistan by Danish Army. I quess there are two options for this tank. First the parts were added later on without being repainted into danish gree color. Second : this tank was part of the QRF during Danish ISAF Mission in Afghanistan and they did not bother to repaint it into the QRF sheme as it was under Barracuda netting. In this case i think its option one.
The only think that i do not understand is why the plate that is bolted to the turret front is sand colored.
This part is for the gun simulator and is not on the tanks that were in Aghanistan.
I picked this one as it was different from the other tanks and is not overall green/black collored. 🙂
17 May 2020, 21:28
Patrick HagelsteinThat is indeed odd... The operational add-ons make perfect sense as there was an imminent need for that stuff and hence in an arid environment, why not paint it sand color in the first place. The gun simulator is strange though, but it is exactly as pictured in the cover picture. Some questions can only be answered by Danish Army guys, I guess. 😉 Either way: beautifully done! Simply amazing how all the colors and surfaces are tied together.
20 May 2020, 21:15
Patrick HagelsteinIn the Trackpad In the Field book about the Danish Army Leopard 2A5DK in Afghanistan by Kim Hartvig Sørensen on a couple of pictures there is something mounted on the left turret front. It is mounted on top of the Barracuda netting, but also covered in it's own Barracuda cover. Maybe the bracket for the gun simulator has a secondary use and was therefore delivered in sand color?
20 May 2020, 21:26
Ingo FThank you Patrick. 🙂
Maybe they were just to lazy to remove the brackets or there is indeed a secondary use for them. 😄
21 May 2020, 10:03
