- 03193
- Price around 26.99 GBP (Feb 2013)
Review by Geoff Coughlin
Our thanks to Revell for supplying our review sample. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit http://www.revell.eu/ or email ukbranch@revell.de
Reference…
A little bit of inspiration here…
A bit of background…
The Leopard 2 is a main battle tank developed by Krauss-Maffei in the early 1970s for the West German Army. The tank first entered service in 1979 and succeeded the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the German Army. Various versions have served in the armed forces of Germany and twelve other European countries, as well as several non-European nations. More than 3,480 Leopard 2s have been manufactured. The Leopard 2 first saw combat in Kosovo with the German Army and has also seen action in Afghanistan with the Danish and Canadian contributions to the International Security Assistance Force.
There are two main development batches of the tank, the original models up to Leopard 2A4, which have vertically-faced turret armour, and the “improved” batch, namely the Leopard 2A5 and newer versions, which have angled arrow-shaped turret appliqué armour together with a number of other improvements. All models feature digital fire control systems with laser rangefinders, a fully stabilized main gun and coaxial machine gun, and advanced night vision and sighting equipment (first vehicles used a low-light level TV system or LLLTV; thermal imaging was introduced later on). The tank has the ability to engage moving targets while moving over rough terrain.
- New Tooling
- Optionally the A4 or A4NL version
- 5th Construction Lot
- Finely detailed surfaces with non-slip coating
- Easy to install Vinyl Chain
- Smoke Grenade Dischargers for the A4 and A4NL
- Rotating Turret
- Gun
- Hatches may be mounted in the open position
Initial assessment…
There are many reviews of Revel armour kits (especially Leopard versions) in your Here Now area of SMN and it’s a feature of the vast majority that they are well moulded, detailed and cover an impressive range of subjects; enter the new tool Leopard 2A4/A4NL in 1:35 scale.
Moulding quality is to a high standard with very fine levels of detail across the board. The attached images should speak for themselves and you can decide what you think, especially as armour is probably your area. So I offer a basic insight into this Revell kit that’s widely available and this will be good news to all of you that are interested in armour modelling in this scale.
The package…
Seven sprues moulded in dark green plastic form the basis of the model, a set of instructions, and small decal sheet with clear acetate strip make up the package.
Click on the images below to enlarge the photos:
Sprue trees…
This is a big model, as is the real subject (check out the YouTube videos that accompany this review). You can see that the hull top is very clean and crisp, as is just about everything else. The detail is cleanly and accurately moulded onto the textured surface and will look excellent when spray painted and given a subtle wash and maybe filters (see your Techniques Bank for how to apply these weathering techniques). The moulded detail throughout is good and although I can’t give an opinion on accuracy, what you get certainly looks consistent with some of the images I have seen on YouTube and elsewhere.
The fact that the few vehicle tools are provided separately from the chassis is expected as a given in this scale and welcomed.
Other highlights include…
The detail on the hull top, range of small detail equipment accessories and fittings and simply the subject are all positive features of the kit. You’ll see from the images attached of the completed manufacturer’s kit that it will look impressive when completed. The engine grills are moulded plastic although the real tank seems to have very fine mesh grills. As supplied they may look ok when painted and washed, but you may be able to locate replacements or add more subtle items yourself.
The tracks are supplied as one-piece rubber items and moulded detail is good – at least you won’t have to assemble lots of tiny individual track links but again, I know rubber tyres and accessories are not everyone’s cup of tea. They do still look and feel good though, so I think they are OK. In fact, if you add the side skirts them much of the track section along the upper run will be invisible, so what’s provided looks alright.
Some sink marks…
Yes, do watch out for these, especially on the main gun and some of the smaller parts. This is very odd, given that this is a new-tool, although I suppose some of the tooling may be a little older now.
Decals…
There’s a small sheet with the respective number plates and unit badges for the four German options only contained in the kit. The quality looks good overall, although there is carrier film visible around most of the items, but applying them to a glossy finish should ensure that doesn’t show. I might be tempted to trip the excess away.
Versions are:
- Leopard 2A4, 3./PzBtl 64, Wolfhagen, 2002
- Leopard 2A4, 5./PzBtl 24, Braunschweig, 1993
- Leopard 2A4E, División Blindada Brunete
- Leopard 2A4PL, 10. Brygada Kawalerij Pancernej
- Leopard 2A4NL, A Eskadron, 43 Tankbataljon
- Leopard 2A4Ö, PzBtl 33, Zwölfaxing, 2005
- Leopard 2A4GR, Thessaloniki, 2006
Instructions…
These follow the usual Revell format with Revel colour references, parts and sprue layout diagrams followed by a 59-Stage build (no less) and finishing sequence. The sequence looks to be logical to me but of course you will want to leave off all the small, delicate parts like the aerial until near the end of the build to avoid damage.
To sum up…
This is really a very impressive package and I reckon that you’ll be made up if 1:35 modern armour modelling is your area of interest. Most of the mainstream manufacturers are releasing plenty of current AFV models and this can only be good news for us modellers! Levels of detail are excellent for the scale and fit looks to be clean and pretty trouble-free.
SMN Quick Summary
| FEATURE | STAR RATING (out of five) |
|---|---|
| Quality of moulding | **** |
| Accuracy | **** |
| Instructions | *** |
| Decals | **** |
| Subject choice | **** |
| Overall | **** |