Scratch Build: TESB Probe Droid Despatch Pod (Leichter LR223)

marvin

Hi,

While waiting for my 8rads to arrive to move along on my 8rad pod I ordered five Leichters to make the Leichter variant. The Leichters arrived before the 8rads so I made more progress on the Leichter than on the 8 rad variant.

My basic modeling principles for this model are basically the same as for the 8rad pod:

• I'll be casting copies of parts where possible to save costs and to save parts for later use in other models
• I'll be modeling it only with the mounting points that I need to display my model and not necessarily with all the mounting points on the studio model
• I'll be painting it "real-world" instead of studio accurate. Basically I'd like it to look right in daylight versus under studio lighting

Again this is all information that I found in the other threads on this forum (thanks go out to Lee, Jason, Julien, Allan and probably others...) and is not my own work. Here's the list of kit (parts) you'll need:

• 5x Ferrari 312b Tamiya (5x nosecone)
• 5x 223 Sd Kfz 223 Tamiya (5x hull, 5x C19)
• 5x Sd Kfz 232 Tamiya (5x B5, 5x B18, 5x B27, 5x C37, 5x C40, 5x D15)
• 1x Jadgpanther Tamiya (5x treads)
• 2x Panzer III M/N Tamiya old tooling (5x B9)
• 2x Hasegawa Morser Karl (5x F27)
• 5x Flakvierling38 (5x A7, 5x A20)
• Plastruct LF-116 (5x)
• Plastruct LF-416 (5x)
• Plastruct VHE-150 (5x)
• Plastruct LF-3 (5x)

There's also some ID's that are unconfirmed:

• The rims that make up the engine bell (I used the Tamiya 1/12 Tyrrell 003)
• If there were any, the bits that go round the engine bell at the back
• The rods or t-strip that goes on the seams between the hulls on the front section

Thanks for looking!



Marvin

marvin

So I started with cutting the pentagons for both ends (and one in the center), making the mounting points the same way I did with the 8rad pod and glueing everything inside.

marvin

So after having four out the five Leichters in place I tried a trick I sometimes use. I backfilled the seams with a home made styrene putty . Basically it's just scrap styrene melted in styrene glue/melter.

You have to be careful in using this trick because you could melt through the plastic of the model, but if you apply the right amount you get both filler and glue in one and since it melts into the plastic of the model it's a very strong bond indeed.



I then glued on the last Leichter, filled the seams from the turret holes and glued on the plastruct domes. This is what you end up with.

marvin

and after some putty, a little sanding and general TLC I ended up with this. Now let the most fun part start: greebling the heck out of this thing! Still need to get an ID on some of the parts though but that is something to worry about later.

Mike J.

Looks great!


-Mike J.

MonsieurTox

Nice work Marvin !!

PM sent

Ive just told it to Marvin but I think it would interest some people, so I post it here for those building the Leichter pod. I found last month that the correct track links are not from the Tamiya Panther but from the vintage Tamiya Jagdpanther.

ralphee

Looks great Marvin, nice job so far.

Lee

almar bouwman

NIce, very interedted in this build. I wanted to build this one as well.

marvin

Mike, Lee, Almar.... thanks!

And Julien.... thanks a lot man for the information. I'm honored to be the first to use the correct tank tread on the Leichter pod just have to find a Jagdpanther first....

MonsieurTox

You're welcome Marvin The parts are almost identical (same shape), the Jagdpanther has just the 2 small pins on them which were missing on the Panther parts !

The Jagdpanther is not that hard to find, I need to buy one too for another TESB model !

Good luck !

marvin

Yes I got the panzer coming and am already looking for the panther. Does it have to be the old tooling?

Fun thing about this hobby is, although the initial layout if pretty huge, you quickly build up a stockpile which can be used for other models. I think I have about half of what I need to build the TIE Bomber from the kits and kit lots I bought for the pods

MonsieurTox

Yeah you want the old tooling !

Hehe yeah that's the problem... You buy kits for a model and found out that you have "most" of the kits to build another model... Then it appears that you need way more kit for that new model that you previously thought and have to buy even more models (some times the same you had because same parts are used ). You're collecting all the kits for that new model and... you think you can build another from your donor stock ! But 'youll find you need more and more and stock is still growing up !

almar bouwman

Marvin, I know there are kit lists floating around here somewhere but could you post your kitlist in the first post? Makes it a little easier.

ralphee

Julien is soooo right, you do think "hey i have almost all i need" then, another $200 bucks down the road, your still buying lol. Its all good fun though, its great Julien has found the right track links, awesome!

Kit list as i recall should be.

5 x Ferrari 312b Tamiya.
5 x 223 Sd Kfz 223 Tamiya.
5 x Sd Kfz 232 Tamiya
1 x Jadgpanther Tamiya. Nice one Julien.
1 x Brabham BT44b. This is maybe still on the fence, others used a different kit for the main engine (rear rims)
2 x Hasegawa Morser Karl....check that, not sure if two is the correct number needed?

Add to that the Plastruct parts (lamps), and your about set? Julien? Im hazy

lee

MonsieurTox

Sounds good Lee ! I would just add 2 x Panzer III M/N and that's all ? That's your baby you know more about it than I do !
2 Karls is OK for the Leichter !

MonsieurTox

Humm another kit comes to mind, youo'll need 5 X Flakvierling38 !

ralphee

Hah, thanks Julien, yeah, as i said, im HAZY as hell on this, and lets face it, it was a GROUP effort bud, on both pods, we all chipped in. Forgot about the Flak's

lee

MonsieurTox

To be honest that's because I had a flak sprue laying on my desk next to the keyboard...

marvin

Almar, the guys beat me to it I included the full list including the plastruct product codes in the first post. Like I said in the first post, I'm still missing a few ID's:

• The bits that go round the engine bell at the back
• The part that goes over the T-shaped 8Rad part and flakvierling part which look like manouvering thrusters. I think this is the plastruct LF-412 or LF-3 but I'm not sure. Allan has a different part from what Lee used, but I don't know which is correct.

Lee, do you know what rims the other guys used for the engine bell?

Marvin

ralphee

Marvin, if you mean parts that are laid around the bell, there not cannon on mine and a few others, the real pod, well, were not sure, as we didnt have a dead on rear shot (i think) so its just a standalone bell if your going for cannon? Julien may chime in on what he thinks too....Julien ???

Small front manouver jets? Allan's are correct, mine were wrong, but ive since swapped them out, as better ref came later down the road, pretty much, my pod was built from the original pic with the Ion cannon in shot, so i had to make a few changes at later dates lol.

As for the main bell, i think we all used the Brabham, apart from Julien and Jason, who went with the Lotus MKIII. IMO the BT44b still looks closer, but thats your call buddy.

lee

MonsieurTox

Dont know either for the engine bell area, like Lee said, there is no good pic of the bottom. On mine I used a part from the Chieftain or Centurion, cant remember, because I thought it looked cool and because I had to hide this molding line !! (I used the rotocasted hull from REL). That's just artistic license and I think that every pod built is different here but that give them their own personnality and I like the way the other built them ! That's just up to you to dress this with what you think to be good to the eye !

Haha thanks Lee, I was not able to remember what part I used for the engine bell lol I built so many from, I think, every 1/12 kit I had... I havent tried the Ford 003 rims, I should give it a try even if I'm not planning to replace mine !

Here's again everything looks good but to date, none of us has the correct parts for the engine bell I think... But yeah, gonna try the Ford 003, really... found so many parts on several TESB models from this model that I thought coming from other 1/12 F1... I'm probably wrong though

marvin

OK, so no definite consensus on the origin of the engine bell rims. I'll see what I can use. If I get the Lotus III parts for my 8Rad pod I'll probably use those. Unless someone is able to hook me up with some Brabham rims off course. I'd also be interested in castings of the Brabham and Lotus rims if anybody has them...

I've edited the first post to keep all information provided by you guys in one place.

Marvin

ralphee

Julien, yes the 003 has a more stout rim, could be close.
Ive not found much in that kit since i bought it, but ive delved that much into it either, i know its a good BSG donor is all.

Lee

MonsieurTox

That's a great donor for the 32" MF and all the 1/12 F1 parts of the AT-AT are from this kit (including the rim wheel of the front Saturn V assembly and the brake calipers of the back !). Some parts as well used on the 8 footer !

I didnt know it was a BSG donor ! Anyway that's a must have !

marvin

Guys, I've been looking at our favorite auction sites, but how do I tell if the Jagdpanther 1/35 is the original issue and not the reissue?

Marvin