Beobachtungsbereich
Prep for STAB....STAB ON!
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2011
- Messages
- 254
A bit of a background on this project before I get into the weeds so to speak.
As some of you may have been tracking in my posts as of late, I was a commander of a Leopard 2A6(M) on tour in Panjwaii.
My crew and I went into the heart of Taliban country on combined operations "breaking the door down" and "kicked them in the junk" on numerous occasions. We took incoming fire and dealt out speed and violence like it was coming out of a fire hose.
I had a driver that was 19 years old, a gunner in his early 20s and my loader and I were the grizzled old guys constantly making jokes about Geritol.
It was one hell of a tour to say the least. My driver had grown into a man. The look on his face when I asked him what it felt like to be a combat vet at his young age was rather funny. "I never thought of it like that Sarg". My gunner was chuckling.
I am proud of my crew and troop and all our efforts in Zhari/ Panjwaii. We did our little part in helping stamp out the insurgency and pave the way to a more secure Afghanistan.
How it will all end? Only time will tell.
All I know is we helped bring security to a place that I first saw in 2005/ 2006 that was completely deserted and the Taliban owned the ground. When I left in 2009, girls were going to school and businesses were massive. Bazaar-e-Panjwaii only had 2 shops open and no electricity in 2006. When I left there were over 200 and the town was lit up like a Christmas tree.
I call that progress, but I digress before this gets all political and that's not what this thread is about at all.
That being said, I'm now going to make an accurate replica of my old ride before time marches on and I can't remember the finer details.
My wife was trying to be a sweetheart and was going to surprise me this Christmas by secretly purchasing a Hobby Boss kit. One day I was over at Elm City Hobbies for the first time.... she followed me in. I spotted the kit and was going to purchase it....she spilled the beans.
One was already on it's way in the mail.
I had a chat with Scott about the Barracuda kits at length about it and what was available for doing one up properly. After a quick cost estimate it was looking to be a huge drain on funds.
My wife approached me a few days later after. I had done research on how much it was going to cost to order the most accurate kits as others online looked just like an abortion and not accurate at all. Making an accurate model was going to cost me big.
I opened the Hobby Boss kit when it arrived and it was good....just not good enough for my ride. It's missing a lot of field modifications and the accuracy of the slat armour is good if you find doing massive amounts of PE a head ache.
She saw the kit and after a bit of chatting, she told me "Go ahead and order them."
I was blown away to say the least.
Well, I've gathered all the kits I required over the past few months for this build - it was costly.
The base kit:
http://www.hobbyboss.com/a/en/product/armor/1_35/2010/1129/627.html
Barracuda kit conversion in resin:
http://www.perfect-scale.de/Umbau--und-Zuruestsaetze-1---35/Leopard-2A6M-CAN--Barracuda--213.html
Upgrade to the conversion kit:
http://www.perfect-scale.de/Umbau--und-Zuruestsaetze-1---35/Leopard-2A6-M-CAN-Upgrade-Kit.html?XTCsid=387826332aa76232f9fb267503175346
Slat Armour PE kit:
http://www.trackjam.com/RealModel/RMA%2035219.htm
Workable track from Bronco:
http://www.model-making.eu/Bronco-Leopard-2-MBT-Workable-Track-Link-Set-p-1-2124835.html
I'll be posting photos very shortly.
This build is going to be a long term one and the most complicated one ever for me. I've never dealt with resin and using Vallejo for the first time. I'm learning tons on here and from Scott at Elm City Hobbies.
In the interim I'm working on three other kits to get my skills back up to a half decent level as I pick away at the Leo2.
I'm hoping to have it completed by May 2012.
Thanks for reading.
Tips and pointers are always encouraged and welcomed.
As some of you may have been tracking in my posts as of late, I was a commander of a Leopard 2A6(M) on tour in Panjwaii.
My crew and I went into the heart of Taliban country on combined operations "breaking the door down" and "kicked them in the junk" on numerous occasions. We took incoming fire and dealt out speed and violence like it was coming out of a fire hose.
I had a driver that was 19 years old, a gunner in his early 20s and my loader and I were the grizzled old guys constantly making jokes about Geritol.
It was one hell of a tour to say the least. My driver had grown into a man. The look on his face when I asked him what it felt like to be a combat vet at his young age was rather funny. "I never thought of it like that Sarg". My gunner was chuckling.
I am proud of my crew and troop and all our efforts in Zhari/ Panjwaii. We did our little part in helping stamp out the insurgency and pave the way to a more secure Afghanistan.
How it will all end? Only time will tell.
All I know is we helped bring security to a place that I first saw in 2005/ 2006 that was completely deserted and the Taliban owned the ground. When I left in 2009, girls were going to school and businesses were massive. Bazaar-e-Panjwaii only had 2 shops open and no electricity in 2006. When I left there were over 200 and the town was lit up like a Christmas tree.
I call that progress, but I digress before this gets all political and that's not what this thread is about at all.
That being said, I'm now going to make an accurate replica of my old ride before time marches on and I can't remember the finer details.
My wife was trying to be a sweetheart and was going to surprise me this Christmas by secretly purchasing a Hobby Boss kit. One day I was over at Elm City Hobbies for the first time.... she followed me in. I spotted the kit and was going to purchase it....she spilled the beans.
One was already on it's way in the mail.
I had a chat with Scott about the Barracuda kits at length about it and what was available for doing one up properly. After a quick cost estimate it was looking to be a huge drain on funds.
My wife approached me a few days later after. I had done research on how much it was going to cost to order the most accurate kits as others online looked just like an abortion and not accurate at all. Making an accurate model was going to cost me big.
I opened the Hobby Boss kit when it arrived and it was good....just not good enough for my ride. It's missing a lot of field modifications and the accuracy of the slat armour is good if you find doing massive amounts of PE a head ache.
She saw the kit and after a bit of chatting, she told me "Go ahead and order them."
I was blown away to say the least.
Well, I've gathered all the kits I required over the past few months for this build - it was costly.
The base kit:
http://www.hobbyboss.com/a/en/product/armor/1_35/2010/1129/627.html
Barracuda kit conversion in resin:
http://www.perfect-scale.de/Umbau--und-Zuruestsaetze-1---35/Leopard-2A6M-CAN--Barracuda--213.html
Upgrade to the conversion kit:
http://www.perfect-scale.de/Umbau--und-Zuruestsaetze-1---35/Leopard-2A6-M-CAN-Upgrade-Kit.html?XTCsid=387826332aa76232f9fb267503175346
Slat Armour PE kit:
http://www.trackjam.com/RealModel/RMA%2035219.htm
Workable track from Bronco:
http://www.model-making.eu/Bronco-Leopard-2-MBT-Workable-Track-Link-Set-p-1-2124835.html
I'll be posting photos very shortly.
This build is going to be a long term one and the most complicated one ever for me. I've never dealt with resin and using Vallejo for the first time. I'm learning tons on here and from Scott at Elm City Hobbies.
In the interim I'm working on three other kits to get my skills back up to a half decent level as I pick away at the Leo2.
I'm hoping to have it completed by May 2012.
Thanks for reading.
Tips and pointers are always encouraged and welcomed.
