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Re: Here Kitty Kitty - Tamiya Leopard A4
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 7:31 pm
by Stikpusher
Thanks Bruce. I suppose since such a major portion of my early adulthood was spent around or in AFVs I do have a strong bond. The paint scheme will be easy- the Bundeswehr equivalent of Olive Drab, Olivgelb... LOL!
Re: Here Kitty Kitty - Tamiya Leopard A4
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:26 am
by speedgraflex
Wow! 1/16 version!
I wonder what ILM’s Model Shop used on the Sandcrawler....

Re: Here Kitty Kitty - Tamiya Leopard A4
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2018 9:08 pm
by Stikpusher
The running gear on the sand crawler was from a Churchill tank. But where that came from is best guess. Tamiya has not yet released their 1/35 Churchill when ILM was doing the original film. I don’t know if anybody made another large scale Churchill at that time.
That 1/16 Leo is beautiful, isn’t it?
Speaking of Leopards and Star Wars, one of the early drafts for the Hoth battle had the Imperials using dressed up Leopard tanks as it was to be filmed in Norway and that was what the Norwegian Army used at the time. I recall seeing it in a sketch for pre production story board.
Re: Here Kitty Kitty - Tamiya Leopard A4
Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2018 2:42 am
by speedgraflex
Re: Here Kitty Kitty - Tamiya Leopard A4
Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2018 5:59 am
by Jeeves
Never knew that- cool!
Re: Here Kitty Kitty - Tamiya Leopard A4
Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2018 2:20 pm
by Stikpusher
Lots of useless arcane information in my thick skull somewhere....
First row of scratchmade ice cleats and holding rack done...
Not exact, but it works... better than the emptiness before...
Re: Here Kitty Kitty - Tamiya Leopard A4
Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 12:49 am
by speedgraflex
Re: Here Kitty Kitty - Tamiya Leopard A4
Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 6:53 pm
by Stikpusher
Ice grousers and rack done... each grouser is a piece of strip and I-beam styrene. Each rack frame is C-channel in 3 parts....
and now back to our regularly scheduled Tamiya quick easy build...
Re: Here Kitty Kitty - Tamiya Leopard A4
Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:55 pm
by speedgraflex
Stikpusher wrote:The running gear on the sand crawler was from a Churchill tank. But where that came from is best guess. Tamiya has not yet released their 1/35 Churchill when ILM was doing the original film. I don’t know if anybody made another large scale Churchill at that time.
That 1/16 Leo is beautiful, isn’t it?
Speaking of Leopards and Star Wars, one of the early drafts for the Hoth battle had the Imperials using dressed up Leopard tanks as it was to be filmed in Norway and that was what the Norwegian Army used at the time. I recall seeing it in a sketch for pre production story board.
Carlos,
Would the sandcrawler uh “bogies”? come from Tamiya’s 1/16 Sherman?
Also: scratchbuilding looks amazing, bud.
Re: Here Kitty Kitty - Tamiya Leopard A4
Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 9:48 pm
by Stikpusher
Thanks Bruce. I have yet to pin down where ILM came up with the sandcrawler running gear. It looks like the stuff off a Kennedy Space Center transport crawler inverted and modified, or some sort of construction equipment. But Easy 8 suspension it’s not.