Things are slowly coming together on both models and starting with the Leopard the turret has had most of the bits added;
Unfortunately the kit comes with the earlier type of smoke dischargers. I found this out after gluing them in place so they were removed and the locating holes filled. Replacements are on the way from Leopard Club so when they arrive I’ll stick them on.
Meanwhile I made some progress on the Osprey as the sticking point was how to make the sensors on the rear fins. I did find a Black Dog update set but after looking at it, most of the stuff included in it I had already made.
The first job was to remove the block on the outer port fin and move it about 2mm further down. Also circular access panels and rectangular panels were scribed into the outer faces of the fins. I drilled a hole into the middle of the rectangles as there are mesh covered intakes and really I should have added these to the inner face but I had already glued the fins together.
The sensors were made from 1.6mm diameter rod with a hole drilled in the middle. Half of the rod was then removed at the end to recreate the lip found on the sensors with a smaller section glued on the bottom of the fins.
The larger sensor halfway up the fin trailing edge was a longer length of rod drilled out and cut the same way but with the lip on the top of the rod, this was then bent to shape. I then cut a section out of the fins for the rod;
The sensors were glued into place and blended in using strips of rod and superglue;
The only other bits to make from scratch are the RWR sensors underneath the forward fuselage and then I can get on with adding the last bits before painting the model. The cockpit still needs doing but for what you can see the detail is good enough, I just need to add seat belts, some levers etc then paint it.
Andy King's Model Blog 