-= NATO III =-, number 5

Another Leopard 1A4 , just could not skip those!

Came nearly complete, but “nearly” usually turns out “empty paypal”

Anyway at the end of the day :)

But was is a decent one to start on, but did take a lot of tlc to get ready to do some battle

As this was number 3 in NATO ( got to get my armour platoon complete ) i did want to have a commander in the line.

And, this became the platoon commander's ride, marked with the C on the sides of the turret






Militairwarenhuis.nl ( Hugo ) was so nice to provide me with some aftermarket parts:

AFVmodel Periscope guard (metal)

AFVmodel Barrelholder (metal)

AFVmodel Mirrorset (metal)

Wecohe MG3 (metal)





The restoration story :

Ok, job started, first disasambled the whole lot, as it had been run and 20 year old dirt was leaving a bit of a mess

Also the dried out lubrecants were became some kind of rubber like deposit

Hours cleaning & ultra sonic shaking later, wayyyy better

For the body bits, many parts had to be repaired,

Using as much of the original parts, glueing it all back together.

Also some spares from stock had to be used together with the aftermarked bits

The Canvas/rubber gunshield was recoverd with hot water & made useble again with a soaking in acid free vasalin

Also the deteriorating (a vintage armour habbit)
Where at least partial saved with the vasalin threatment.

It was crucial to recover both, as spare parts, especially these one, are non-existing

Also the remains of the orginal decals were carfully removed.

With the lath, i could remake some bits, as the beam light brackets.

One of the top hatches has to remain 1/2 way opened, as there was no way to open it up again without damaging the hatch parts. (who are unfortunatly, not replaceble)

So, after a quite extencive restore job, this dog of war is now ready for a airbrush job

I am just waiting until house-airbrusher Peter is back from holiday

And, as he returned from Tailand now, he now has it for a full paint job.

And, in the end.. 9 months later, details are sorted.. Done !