hi guys
so here it is , the update on the Leopold gun itself
it has taken me a while but the gun is ready for the diorama
there are still things like figures and maybe some of the big 28cm rounds that can go on there but that will be part of a other updte as i plan on putting more small items on the other parts of the build aswell and that way i can show the different ways i do those things
but before i really start waffling away ,here is the build of the Leopold
Enjoy (hopefully)
well this was basicly the starting point of this entire build
my 3 or 4 year old Dragon Leopold
it was badly painted , damaged and the weathering was awefull
you can even see the decalfilm around the gun's name
but after a good wash with some dasty (degreaser) wich lasted for 2 weeks (soaking) it was clean or something like it as the paint made some permanent stains in the plastic
once it was dry i primed it using "ammo for mig" grey primer
this was followed with a pre shading done with tamiya flat black (xf-2 i think)
for me this is more a experiment as i don't do pre shading on my other builds
not that i think it is bad but i never tried it before
as i want a chipped effect on some places like the wooden beams that make up the walkways on some areas
i started with a mix of English uniform and white from the vallejo modelcolor range in a 4:1 ratio
this gives a nice base color for the wood
same step but close up
i then dry brushed the wooden beams with vallejo modelcolor smoke
this a kind of glaze paint (very thick) and was brushed on with long strokes to get an even effect on the entire beam
in the mean time i applied the other color that needs to be applied before the basecolor
the rust base is a mix of mahogany brown and red (bermillion on the bottle) in about a 6:1 ratio
the darker stains are made with germn camo black brown and where applied with a sponge
all the colors are from the vallejo modelcolor range
the rails for the ammo trolly where painted with mr metal stailess steel and then buffed to get a shiny finish
and this is the result before the base paint
i only did this on the generator box as the main body of the gun will get a sponge chipping later
for the chipping effect i used Humbrol maskol
i did this because for some reason my AK chipping fluid had eaten through the wood paint twice
so as i was losing my patiance after 2 repainting jobs i picked up this bottle from my supply drawer
i applied it with a cocktail stick in pretty thick coats to make it easy to peal off later
i then paited the entire build with tamiya dark yellow
i had ordered some bottles of mr hobby aqueous for it but after seeing the paint i thought it ws a bit dark and i will save it for other builds
so 2 new bottles of tamiya where ordered
in the end it has taken approx. 30 ml of paint (before thinning) to cover this thing inside and out
normally i paint 3 to 5 pieces of armor with that amount depending on the size
i then painted on the large stripes or bands of red brown
i used the tamiya paint for this aswell
all still the same step
i removed the maskol from the wood at this point
and now it is ready for the markings
the markings are Archer dry transfers
i never worked with them before and i think this is a good alternative for decals
altough i only did flat surfaces
they can be tricky though and you will need to take your time with them because once they are on ,they are on
no way of moving them like you can do with a decal
i then started with the chipping
the color i use is the german camo black brown from vallejo and this was applied with a sponge
this was also done to the buffers on the front and rear
but i did this step twice
first with the black brown and then with gunmetal grey (vallejo)
because these guns where hauled by locomotives to their firing position they would bump onto the locomotive due to a delay in the breaking system
this bump causes the paint on the buffers to fall off as this is the point where both vehicles hit eachother
but the left shows the black brown and the right the finished buffer
some bdly painted dails and gauges where painted on the raised details of the generator box
i used vallejo white (base) red , bright green (pressure levels) and black (the pin that point to the given value)
the chipping continued on the front section floor and safety rails
all in places i think the crew would be often
and on the rear ,where there should be more activity so more damaged paint
the results before the wash and streaking effects
i think i have done a better job then a few years ago but it is not here just yet
after this the entire model was coated with a layer of future floorwax
this was not sprayed on though
i find the effect more to my liking when i brush it on
i have read it around here somewhere but i can't remember who had the idea in the first place
i applied mig productions dark wash around all the details and in between the wooden walkways
and this is how it looks after i cleaned the excess wash
i use a number 2 flat brush for the cleaning and let the wash dry for about 30 to 60 minutes before i remove it again
ofcourse you will need the thinner that is for the same kind of products as the wash
so enamel thinner on enamel wash and so on
after the wash it was time for the streaking effects
for this i used streaking effect for dark yellow vehicles by AK interactive
this doesn't show all that well on the red brown but can be seen
i prefer to use just 1 color for this as i don't like the look of 2 different kinds of dirt running down the side
ofcourse rust streaks are an exception as that is different from dirt
and there where a few streaks of rust applied aswell running from chipped areas and from the bases of the safety rails
after some cleaning with AK white spirit and the number 2 flat brush
a better view of the same part
the streaking was also done on the sides of the boogies
the rear boogie
it also shows the pretty messed up ladder but this was the best i could do s the thing was broken and damaged once i cleaned this thing
some streaking on the side of the generator box
i also started the rusting of the exhaust stacks
i only did the pipes because the mufflers and guards are already chipped and i am happy with the way they look
for the rust i mixed a bit of russian earth pigment (mig prod.) with tamiya x-20a and brushed it on the exhaust
i then stippled on some standerd rust pigment in a random way
this is also from mig prod. and mixed with x-20a
to blend the colors i applied a third layer
this is again a mix but this time of x20-a and old rust pigment
with the end in sight i started with dry pigments
for the dusting of the lower parts i used mig prod. vietnam earth
this gives an almost rusty look but this color shows better on the dark yellow base
i used european dust on the other railway subjects but those where painted grey
the places where the crew would be walking around where dusted with mig prod. european dust pigments
this also helps to blend in the various colors of paint and the chipping
and that completes this build up to this point
so now i have a few photo's of this build as a kind of reveal as this is only part of the complete build
and that is all i have for now
i will be picking a bunch of figures from my stash to use in this diorama
along with the 2 sets of Leopold crew figures
for some reason both dragon and trumpeter forgot it took 10 to 12 men to operate this gun and not 6 or 8
but anyway
thanks for watching and i hope you like it so far
untill next time
cheers Mark
Impresive construction Mark . I look forward to more mate !!! 
