Border Model Leopard 2A6 Ukraine (BT-031) 1:35

[Mike]

Leopard 2A6 Ukraine (BT-031)

1:35 Border Model via Albion Alloys

 

 

The Leopard 2 is the successor to the earlier Leopard Main Battle Tank (MBT), and was developed in the 70s, entering service just before the turn of the decade. The original had a vertical faced turret front, while later editions had improved angled armour applied to the turret front that gives the tank a more aggressive look and provides much better protection, and more likelihood of deflecting incoming rounds harmlessly away.  It has all the technical features of a modern MBT, including stabilised main gun for firing on the move, thermal imaging, and advanced composite armour, making it a world-class contender as one of the best tanks on the market.

 

The original Leopard 2 variant entered service in 1979, but has been through several upgrades through its service life and the current production variant is the highly advanced 2A7+, with the 2A8 waiting in the wings. The 2A6 is still a powerful battlefield resource however, and likely to be so for some considerable time. It sports the Rheinmetall 120mm smoothbore gun with the barrel extended over the A5, which results in a higher muzzle velocity that improves its penetration power over its predecessor, allowing it to reach targets at a greater range and hit harder.  It also has an armoured ammunition storage space in the turret that is engineered to blow outward in the event of a detonation of munitions, which again improves the crew survivability further.  For close-in defence they are fitted with an MG3 machine gun, and the armour is installed to give it an arrow-head front profile to the turret, as well as several more subtle upgrades that follow on from the 2A5. Sales of the Leopard 2 have been good overseas because of its reputation, and Canada, Turkey, Spain and most of the Nordic countries use it as well as many other smaller operators.  Since the unlawful invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, many nations have been providing military and other strategic assistance to keep the brave Ukrainians able to defend their nation against the aggressor.  Although Germany initially appeared reticent to proffer their leading-edge A6 variants to a non-NATO nation, they eventually supplied A4 and A5 variants, but policy changes led to a small number of the more capable A6s being added to the roster, to be used as “tip-of-the-spear” at the centre of the attack to punch a hole in the front line and give the less capable tanks a helping hand.  Unfortunately, there aren’t sufficient numbers available of the A6 to spare from the nations that are supplying them, or more would doubtless be forthcoming.   The older Leopard 2 variants have been retro-fitted with Kontakt Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) blocks at key points to enhance their chance of deflecting a direct hit, although the A6 has more capable composite armour so this may be unnecessary.  However, it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to armed combat.

 

 

The Kit

The kit on which this boxing is based was first released in 2019, and has been augmented a few times already, but now comes in a new box with additional parts to festoon the model with Kontakt ERA blocks, which look to have been pulled from one of their Russian tank kits, as they are moulded in green styrene.  The kit arrives in a standard top-opening box with a painting of a Ukrainian Leopard on the front, and inside are seventeen sprues and two turret halves in grey styrene, seven more in green styrene, one in clear, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) that has been designed by Voyager Models, a turned aluminium barrel, a tree of black poly-caps, a length of braided wire, a small decal sheet, and the instruction booklet printed in colour on glossy paper, with profiles at the rear.  Detail is excellent throughout, giving you the opportunity to build either an A5, or early and late examples of the A6 variant that is the subject on the box top.  You also get workable track links and torsion suspension to create realistic-looking running gear that should also operate in a similar manner to the real vehicle.  As per the text above, there are ERA blocks supplied, although the drawings are a little vague, and at time of writing there it is uncertain whether the Ukrainian engineers will find the need for installation, so they could be left on the sprues, or you could use online photos and your own references if you are unsure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the rear bulkhead of the hull, which is already well-moulded, but is further detailed with light clusters, convoy shield, towing eyes and so forth before it is attached to the hull floor along with the sides, and a supporting bulkhead near where the firewall would be between the crew and engine bay on the real vehicle.  This part is purely structural however, and has stiffening web-work over both sides of its surface to create a strong shape ready for the next stage.  Various suspension parts are applied to the hull sides, followed by seven torsion bars with swing-arms moulded into the ends on both sides, plus the two idler wheel axles at the front, the drive sprockets and final drive housings already moulded into the side walls.  The road wheels are paired, and each one put together around a poly-cap so that the wheels can be added and removed as necessary, the same process applying to the idlers, and to the toothed drive sprockets at the rear.  There are two types of circular cooling vents on the engine deck, which differ between the A5 and A6 variants, using different styrene parts, and for the A6, adding PE meshes over the vents.  Two smaller raised vents are also made from styrene parts and a narrow length of PE mesh that wraps around the short vertical portion.  They are put to one side for a short while so that the tracks can be built up.  The track links consist of an upper and lower shell, with track pins and pivots sandwiched between them, which are built up in lengths of five links on the jig numbered 24 that is found on sprue P, gluing the central pivot to prevent them coming adrift during handling.  Careful application of glue to the main track link halves results in a set of track links that are as mobile as the real ones, with good detail.  I built up a short length of five links using six pivots in a few minutes, and can confirm that the parts are easy to clean-up, requiring trimming with a sharp knife, and the pivot sprue gates have been engineered in such a way as to make their clean-up a breeze.  A quick translate of the text next to the number 84 offers a translation into something like “84 links”, so use that as your basis for each run, while 82 is another number I’ve seen.  The track building process won’t be the work of five minutes, but it will be substantially quicker than a great many track systems I have used in the past.

 

 

The upper hull is mated with the lower hull with the tracks in place, and has various detail parts fitted, including the driver’s hatch and surround plus vision blocks, track grousers and pins mounted on the glacis plate, a choice of two aerial bases, and front mudguards.  A short two-link length of assembled track is placed between the grousers, adding barrel cleaning rods, towing eye and more grousers over the glacis and front fenders, fitting pioneer tools and frames around the engine deck, after dropping the four cooling vents into position before you do.  A bow saw and pry bar are mounted on the right rear of the deck, fitting a travel lock to the centre, fixing light clusters to the glacis along with a wing mirror on the left side.  The two towing cables are made from four styrene eyes, one at each end of a portion of the braided wire that is included in the box, although no length is given, but it’s not difficult to estimate this with the eyes tacked in place on the engine deck.

 

The side skirts differ between variants, with pseudo-colour diagrams helping to choose which portions to include or remove.  The drawings are a little confusing, so take your time to ensure you get it right.  The same is true of the smoke grenade launchers on the sides of the turret, differing in layout between variants, whilst keeping the same eight barrels throughout.  Speaking of the turret, it is provided almost complete, consisting of upper and lower halves, fitting the rear wall to the upper portion, whilst inserting five vision blocks around the commander’s cupola from the inside.  All barrel options begin with the inner and outer mantlet, barrel shroud and fume extractor hump, but to depict an A5, a styrene barrel and muzzle must be used, as illustrated below in faux colour.  The A6 early and late both utilise the turned aluminium barrel (or a styrene one if you prefer), plus the longer muzzle section to depict the substantial extra length of the new gun.  The coaxial machine gun is moulded into one side panel, the other fitted to the side of the mantlet, and covered by a top-section that has a curved cut-out to accommodate the barrel.  Step 15 seems to be a little upside down, as the top drawing shows the barrel already inserted, while the lower diagram shows the process of trapping the barrel assembly between the top and bottom halves of the gun assembly, fixing a cable roll and dividers in the bustle, with a cover over the top.  The gap between the mantlet and the deflection fairings is covered by a three-part panel, building up the loader and commander’s hatches from multiple layers then inserting them into the top deck.  Various lifting hooks, grab handles and a pair of aerial bases are fitted around the turret roof, making the MG3 on a two-part pintle mount for installation on the commander’s cupola in due course.  Another page of false-colour images show the location of a training exercise beacon if required, cutting off the stub from the deck, and drilling a hole to accommodate it.  The diagrams also show how to mount the hatch in open or closed states.  There is a surround fitted over the commander’s vision blocks that incorporates two multi-part sighting boxes at the front and rear, which are built with clear lenses to the front, and the turret behind the hatch can be left to rotate if you are careful with the glue.

 

The turret is covered at the front by a set of angled armour panels that give the tank its arrow-head look, and behind those are your chosen configuration of smoke grenade dischargers on an appliqué panel, then at the rear are two tapering stowage baskets, which have PE mesh on all sides, the outermost section folded around the contours of the tubular basket’s framework.  The left side of the turret front has an optional set of specialist grenade launchers that are used in training situations to simulate firing of the main gun.  They have the incredibly long-winded name of “Kanonenabschussdarstellungsgerät” that is shortened to KADAG.  The barrels are separate from their support, and require the removal of three bolts from the armour panel they fit on, but to show the tank without them, the same base part is used, with a simple cover glued over the top.  The completed turret is then lowered into the hull, lining up the bayonet lugs and twisting to lock it together.

 

The ERA blocks are shown as an optional final two steps in the instructions, attaching a gaggle of them to the front of the turret, the glacis plate, and with moulded sets of blocks applied to the skirts.  The layout of the turret and glacis plate blocks are vague, so if you intend to deploy your model with them applied, check your references, and if you can’t find any pictures of the A6 wearing them, take an educated guess based on those worn by the A5s and A4s that have already seen combat.

 

 

Markings

There is one page depicting the decal option from all sides, and the markings consist of hand-painted white crosses of various sizes, and four Ukrainian flags in blue and yellow in two sizes.  From the box you can build the following:

 

 

 

The decals are printed anonymously, but are suitable for the task, and there are only two colours plus white, with just the blue and yellow of the flags juxtaposed, but they appear to be in good register.  The colour call-outs are given in AMMO codes, which are easy to get hold of almost everywhere, but there are plenty of paint conversion sites, tables and probably apps by now that will assist you if you need it.  The main colours are NATO standard, so should be easy to find elsewhere.

 

 

Conclusion

A well-detailed model of an excellent tank that is going to do good work repelling the invader from Ukraine so they can get their country back and go on with their lives.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Available in the UK in all good model shops.

Review sample courtesy of