ICM Leopard 2A6 Armed Forces of Ukraine (72820) 1:72

[Mike]

Leopard 2A6 Armed Forces of Ukraine (72820)

1:72 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd

 

 

The Leopard 2 is the successor to the earlier Leopard Main Battle Tank (MBT), and was developed in the 1970s, entering service just before the turn of the decade. The original had a vertical faced turret front, while later variants had improved angled armour applied to the turret front that gives the tank a more aggressive look and provides superior 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 enough available of the A6 to spare from the nations that are supplying them, or more would doubtless be forthcoming.

 

 

The Kit

This kit is based upon a tooling that was initially released by Revell in 2011, and has since been re-released several times in their boxes, and is now in an ICM box with additional styrene and PE parts.  The kit arrives in a top-opening box with a painting of a 2A6 wearing slat armour around its turret, while the lower tray has a captive lid, and inside are six sprues of various sizes in grey styrene, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, although it has a more coppery tone, a small decal sheet, and the instruction booklet, which is printed in colour on glossy paper and has the painting profiles on the rearmost pages.  Detail is good, and the addition of PE slat armour will give it a more realistic look with careful painting and weathering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with drilling holes in the lower hull sides, then gluing them to the underside and supporting the structure by adding an internal T-shaped bulkhead into a slot within the hull at roughly the engine firewall position.  Much of the suspension is moulded into the hull sides, adding extra parts to enhance this, then fitting the swing-arms, stub-axles and return rollers over the sides, then making two drive-sprockets, two pairs of idler wheels and fourteen pairs of road wheels to complete the running gear ready for installation of the tracks, which are moulded in two lengths per side in styrene.  After gluing the four parts into two lengths, the instructions advise heating the tracks in hot water so that they will bend around the rounded ends of the runs, of course taking care not to burn or scald yourself in the process.  You are advised to wrap them around the upper run first, hiding the joint on the lower run, cutting superfluous links from the tracks to keep them taut.

 

Once the tracks are in place, the upper hull and rear bulkhead with moulded-in radiator grilles are glued in place, followed by three-part side-skirts, and a set of grousers applied to the fenders above the front mudguard.  Towing shackles are fitted low on the rear bulkhead along with the convoy shield, and adding pioneer tools to the engine deck, which includes a pair of towing cables with moulded-in eyes.  The glacis plate has the driver’s hatch installed, more towing shackles, and two L-shaped palettes of track grousers arranged around the shackles and headlights, with a two-link run of spare track-links in the centre.  A stowage box is applied further up the glacis under the gun barrel, attention then turning toward the massive low-profile turret.

 

Firstly, the single-part barrel is inserted into the mantlet block, bracketing it with side plates, the port side having the coax machine gun moulded-in.  A long narrow top plate is then fitted, and the completed assembly is put to one side while the turret body is made, starting with the floor, adding a bustle plate at the rear, and cheek panels to the front, so that the barrel can be slotted between the cheeks on separate trunnions, using no glue if you wish to leave the barrel mobile.  The turret roof has an insert added from inside under the TV sighting box, then it is glued over the lower turret, and the side detail panels are fitted, inserting a trio of lifting lugs around the turret roof.  Appliqué armour panels are attached to the sides, including an arrow-head part to the sides of the similarly-shaped mantlet armour, adding surrounds to the commander and the gunner’s cupolas, then fitting the two-layer hatches, with a choice of posing them open or closed, plus a wide vision block to the front of the commander’s cupola.  The TV sighting box can be posed with the doors open or closed by either placing the single part over the opening, or cutting it in two, positioning the two parts on either side of the box, as per the scrap diagram nearby.  Tapering stowage cages are made for the bustle by cutting a small section from the long flat part, folding the styrene around, and securing it with glue and a separate inner face.  The smoke grenade barrels are mounted above and below a shallow shelf, making two pairs that fit in the space between the bustle cages and frontal armour, adding an optional MG3 mount to the gunner’s cupola, and a two-part 360° periscope to the commander's.  For one decal option, two rectangular PE parts are applied to the rear of the bustle cages made earlier.  The turret can be twisted into position in the ring on the hull and locked into place, which is the end of the basic build, to be followed by the new parts.

 

The PE fret includes both slat armour for the turret and additional panels to fit on the side skirts and at the front of the glacis plate.  There are styrene brackets for the turret sides, consisting of three sizes, tapering toward the rear, which supports the slat armour after bending the first section slightly inwards.  The flat panels are glued in place without bending, but if you check your references, you will notice that they become bent and damaged over time, which is easy to replicate with PE parts.  A styrene travel-lock can be slipped over the barrel before inserting the muzzle tip, locking in place between the circular vents on the engine deck, and a pair of wing-mirrors are applied to the front of the vehicle, either deployed, or folded-in for their protection during combat.

 

 

Markings

There are four decal options included on the tiny sheet, all ostensibly camouflaged the same, but with differing individual markings applied to each vehicle.  There’s no information given regarding the dates and locations that these units are depicted, but that’s hardly surprising, given the fact that it’s an ongoing conflict.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

 

 

Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

A thoughtful reboxing of Revell’s kit, depicting actual in-service machines, rather than a quick reboxing.  The base kit is good, and a more accurate build will result from using the extra parts.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd.

 

Review sample courtesy of