Tamiya Leopard 1A4: Like Going Home

 

I’ve neglected this blog for far too long, and have been so busy in recent years with my writing career that modelling has taken a back seat. I've completed only two models this year (though worked on at least five others), the first being the Dragon 1:72 Jagdtiger I posted about six months ago. Recently I got to build one that’s been on my to-do list for many years, Tamiya’s 1979 35^th scale tooling of the West German Leopard 1A4 (35112).

The Leopard 1 is still in service in 2025 with some sixteen armies around the world, with new upgrades on offer from many firms, so it’s far from a period piece, despite Australia having retired our Leos in favour of reconditioned M1A1s (not a universally popular decision) many years ago.

Okay, Meng’s much newer kit is far superior, but it’s also correspondingly expensive, and I do enjoy vintage Tamiya for its own sake. The kit is straight-forward though there are one or two bits that can bite you if you’re unwary. Construction follows the standard Tamaya pattern, running gear being suggested to be assembled first, though the wheels form a subset that can be built and detailed separately from the rest and added late in the process if you work that way—I do, as it happens. Upper and lower hulls are large single piece toolings, dressed with smaller parts.

The drive wheels housings are compromised by the kit sharing tooling with the popular early motorised version. I say compromised, they are inherently weak and need to take a lot of force when the tracks are joined and tension this comes into play. This has never been a problem, however, with superglue making a suitably strong bond.

When I began this project it felt like going home. Muscle memory would just about build it, especially as I built the Flakpanzer Gepard AA tank version back in the 90s, about my third armour kit ever. Construction proceeded without much difficulty, though there were details I wish I'd spotted. The co-axial MG in the turret is not moulded as a proper gun barrel, merely a protruding rounded shape, and I could have at least drilled out the port for appearances.

The tracks took a lot of work. One thinks that one-piece vinyls should be child's play, and they are, but the detail is very repetitious. There are 672 rubbed pads—that’s four per link times 84 links per track times two. After a sprayed base coat of rust/dirt browns, every single pad was brush painted rubber black (Tamiya XF-85) by hand, rather a daunting proposition. They were then treated with a Tamiya dark brown weathering wash to create depth, and oversprayed with an ultra-thin glaze of buff (two drops to forty drops of thinner) to create a dust coat. Lastly they got a few touched of MiG powder pigment to suggest fresher rust here and there, and the guide horns were drybrushed metallic. For all this effort, the effect doesn’t really show up in pictures—I might as well have not bothered... Fully half of each track is also behind the side skirts, so I could have detailed only the middle part and saved the effort!

The wheels were masked with a combination of rubber solution and disc stickers, then sprayed rubber black for the tires. I used the template method for the faces of the wheels, a 15mm circle template fitted nicely.

The main paintwork was a mixed shade for German Army Gelbolive, a formula I found at Armorama. XF-51 Khaki Green plus XF-57 Buff plus XF-74 Japanese Olive at a ratio of 4:1:2. This seems a very good match for the original. I made a batch darker with the addition of some black as a shade coat for the underside and behind the running gear, then another batch lightened with extra buff as a fade coat to mottle/pattern the upper surfaces. With all this done, I sealed the surface with Micro Flat. Where the decals would go I splashed with Micro Satin to bring up the lustre and improve adhesion, then resealed with flat over the decals once applied.

The kit decals were quite old but worked very well indeed. They took a while to part from the backing sheet, but snugged down surprisingly well and their finish was very close to that of the paint. They were slightly out of register, so when it came to the crosses, I took some from a Supercsale sheet that were within half a millimetre of the correct size, and these, surprisingly, were glossier and needed more attention to blend in.

The pioneer tools were a fair job in their own right, with a sprayed metallic, brush painted wood tone and hull colour on the clamps, Micro Flat over the hull colour areas, brown oil wash to create a patina on the model and a darkening effect on the wood.

Finishing techniques included Flory wash in the engraved detail, MiG pigments for dust and rust, and drybrushed metallic for abraded areas, plus the usual suite of oil techniques, being dirt spots and chipping, edge profiling and rust streaks.

I had the advantage of a research source showing the very same vehicle as the kit depicts—a 1984 partwork whose first issue featured a centre spread of the Leo by the talented Kieth Fretwell. On reflection, the kit might have actually guided the illustration, which even shows the wading -kit tower on the commander’s hatch. Which is included in the kit as optional parts. I did not bother rigging a radio antenna, as photographs are quite contradictory. Many Leos are photographed without radio masts at all, others have stub antennas only. If I get a definitive source on this I can always add it later.

The Leo looks good, was a fun build—I wish I could have spent a little longer on it, I could have caught some problems before they happened. But it’s a good addition to the modern armour collection. I look forward to doing Revell’s Marder IFV in the same scale, using the same pre-NATO-camo Gelbolive.

If and when I replace my studio lights, I’ll take better photos.

Thanks for looking,

Mike

In Appreciation of Palmtop Panzers

Many years ago I dismissed 1:72^nd scale armour as too small to take seriously, calling them “palmtop panzers.” Well—even then I had a sneaking interest, as I’d seen some wonderful dioramas in the scale, but working so small evoked memories of Airfix OO/HO scale (87^th ?) back in the 70s, and for a 1:35^th scale modeller it was hard to imagine going back to the little guys.

But the wheel turns eventually, and I tackled a small scale armour kit for for a group build in the second quarter of 2024. I did some stash-diving and pulled out Dragon’s 1:72 Jagdtiger, and at once could appreciate that they had packed in much of the detail one expects to find in a larger kit. The mouldings were sharp and attractive, a photoetched fret was included for the engine deck grills, and assembly was generally straight forward.

Small scale equals a quick build—the main structure was done in no time. The painting was the big deal, really, as order of priority comes into play no matter the scale, and I found I was investing the model with all the same techniques as I would apply to the larger, standard size kit. This was especially true of the running gear, which was sprayed, clear-coated, shade/dirt coated on the back of the wheels, wash-detailed, then treated with graphite to simulate the resilient steel rims. The one-piece tracks were sprayed with a deep umber acrylic mix, drybrushed with metallic and finished with MiG pigment dust... In other words, all the same tricks that I would use at larger scale.

This kit is of the Henschell suspension type, with eight pairs of roadwheels arranged on double bogie units. The bogies were keyed for proper alignment but the fit was loose enough for the keyways not to be effective. I ended up push-fitting the bogies and idlers, then looping the connected tracks into place and meshing the drive sprockets into the tracks, then securing them to the final drives with a spot of superglue.

I chose a scheme from a Squadron volume, and only long after committing to it did I realise the vehicle in question had Porsche suspension—nine axles, like the King Tiger (P), not eight. Hey-ho, I’ll build this subject again at 1:35^th scale and do it more justice!

If I have a specific criticism of this kit, it’s the alignment of the hull top and bottom. I must have tried twenty times to find their natural mate-up, but couldn’t. There are two internal pillars meant to mesh with receivers, and two mysterious screws which are not mentioned in the instructions but might have something to do with the pillars... As nearly as I could manage, I still needed to file away the top of one of the pillars to get the parts anywhere near fitting, and this left a fore-and-aft misalignment of about 1.5mm. The result was an “overbite” at the front of the hull, and a gap where the engine deck meets the transom (which I doctored with a strip of 010” plasticard. It’s not too noticeable at small scale, though in real life it would be a four-inch mismatch!

I sprayed Tamiya Acrylics overall, using the new-take shades, XF-87 and -88, which behaved very nicely. I lightened them at a ratio of three parts colour to one part white, to obtain a scale colour effect, as I was very conscious of how small the thing was going to be. After a little touching up to fix overspray, I overcoated with Microscale Flat, leaving a low lustre to accept the decals, which were then sealed the same way. Dragon provides two styles of balkenkreutzer and a large selection of turret numbers in both red and black, so you can get close no matter what subject you fancy.

As with 1:35^th scale Dragon armour, you end up with loads of spare parts—a sprue of detail parts was clearly in common with other Tiger kits, and one ends up with hatches, tow cables, U-connectors, spare bow MG, AA MG, track plates and more.

Overall, I’d have to say I really enjoyed this kit, and it won’t be my last “palmtop panzer.” I must finish the Revell Pz. III I was referring to all those years ago, and I have several more Dragon kits, collected over twenty years back. It’s a good job I have them in the stash—I checked the price of small scale armour and you’re looking at $40 or more at hobby shop rates these days!

Photos were taken with my phone and processed through Irfanview. Still hoping to renew that studio lighting and get back to fully controlled miniature photography!

A New Bit of Kit

 I’ve not put on a new piece of “plant” in a very long time, but circumstances recently compelled me to update. For something like 35 years, I’ve run my airbrush on a cylinder of compressed air, which has worked very well indeed, however complications with supply forced a rethink. When the yearly hire cost of the bottle crept up toward a dollar per day, I knew I needed a cheaper alternative.

I’ve resisted the idea of a compressor for years on two counts—the noise they’re liable to make, and the cost. I looked at units years ago and they were still substantially more expensive than bottle hire, but, lo and behold, there are more modest units designed specifically for the hobby/craft marketplace that are not so expensive, and, being meant for domestic or public-contact business applications, also run quietly.

It turns out I didn’t have to look far. This is the Artlogic AC1418, which is compact and tidy. I originally looked at the 1318 model, but on having a chat with the customer service folk at Airbrush Warehouse, I found the 1318 was not recommended for use with syphon-feed airbrushes, like my Paasche VL. The 1418 has a 3-litre collecting tank, which smooths the delivery, and this is certainly essential. The 1418 was on special, only $20 more than its smaller counterpart, so I was very much into pocket.

The unit weighs only 4.15kg, and is small—370 x 170 x 350mm. It neatly occupies the same floor space that the gas bottle used to, and is less obtrusive in the room (I can get to drawers without moving the cylinder now!) Operation is very straight forward, and the first thing that impressed me was how quiet the unit it. It generates only 47 dB with the pump running, which is no louder than a normal conversation!

Default setting on the pressure control valve was 35psi, which turned out to be way higher than I’ve been using all these years. My CIG gauges (yes, they’re so old they predate Australia’s Commonwealth Industrial Gasses concern being taken over by British Oxygen Corporation!) read in flow (litres per minute) rather than pressure, while the compressor reads in psi, and there is of course no objective way to convert between those measurements. A comfortable spraying pressure for my settup seems to be a touch under 20psi. I dialled it way down in the first session of experimentation, and will take it even lower for some applications.

The Paasche connector’s quarter-inch thread screwed straight onto the compressor outlet, and didn’t even need thread tape. I find the AC1418 easily delivers more power than my usual applications demand: I could see using the higher end (up to 60psi) for painting something big, a large-scale tank or battleship kit, or perhaps doing airbrush art in which I’m laying a solid base colour onto a large panel area—say a solid black over which to do spacescapes. I used to do paintings like that back in the 80s, with my old Badger 350—but I “blacked-up” the board with a 1” brush in those days!

I’ve done several sessions of work so far, and I must be using the unit well within its capacities. The instructions caution the user to let the compressor cool down before touching, but so far it’s only been mildly warm. Also, this is my first time working with a moisture trap, and I have yet to see any liquid collect in the trap chamber.

The price was very attractive. The unit plus courier costs came in at under Aus$200, and I’m very happy with that. I’m optimistic that this will be a new lease of life on my hobby and art. The next step is to renew my workshop lighting—the old strip light gave up the ghost years back, so it’s high time to get back to bright, daylight-type illumination for both working and photography, and the real kicker is that I can probably do it and still be into pocket against the savings on a single year’s tank hire . This blog could do with some serious revitalising, and soon I might just have a work flow worth talking about again!

Cheers, Mike Adamson