Carrera Revell Leopard 2A7V (03355) 1:72

[Mike]

Leopard 2A7V (03355)

1:72 Carrera Revell

 

 

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 variants had improved angled armour applied to the turret front that gives the tank a more aggressive look and more importantly provides enhanced protection, with a higher probability of deflecting incoming rounds harmlessly away.  It has all the technical features of a modern MBT, including stabilised main gun for accurate firing on the move, thermal imaging for night-fighting, and advanced composite armour, making it a worthy contender as one of the best tanks in the world today.

 

The original Leopard 2 has been through several upgrades through its service life and the current production variant is the highly advanced 2A7 and 2A7V, all of which have been re-manufactured from earlier models, with the designation 2A8 being given to a tranche of newly-manufactured tanks that utilise 2A7 technology.  The 2A7 is not intended to be used in a close-quarters or urban environment, and is different from its stable-mate, although both are derived from the 2A7+ demonstrator.  Most of the improvements of the 2A7+ were incorporated into the 2A7V, which has extensive modular armour, advanced technology and anti-mine packages fitted to improve crew survivability.  It sports the Rheinmetall 120mm smoothbore gun with a longer barrel than the A5, which results in a higher muzzle velocity, thus improving penetration power over its predecessor, allowing it to reach targets at a greater range, and hit closer targets 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 can be fitted with a stabilised FLW remote weapon station instead of the usual MG3 machine gun, and appliqué armour is installed to give an arrow-head front profile to the turret, as well as several more subtle upgrades that follow on from the 2A5 and 2A6, such as all-round protection from incoming RPG rounds, a common weapon encountered in asymmetric combat such as the Middle East.  Sales of the Leopard 2 have been good overseas because of its excellent reputation, and Canada, Turkey, Spain and many of the Nordic countries use it as well as many other smaller operators.

 

 

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 with additional parts.  The kit arrives in a deep end-opening box with a painting of a 2A7V ploughing through heavy snow in an alpine environment, and inside are a surprising eight sprues of various sizes in grey styrene, a small decal sheet, and the instruction booklet, which is printed in colour on matt paper and has the painting profiles on the rearmost page.  The high sprue count is due to the distribution of the required parts across the sprues, leading to a relatively high number of parts that will be left on the sprues after the build, for example two turret-tops and an upper hull will be left over, plus a substantial number of detail parts. Detail is good, and it should produce a creditable replica once completed after careful painting and weathering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with removing three strakes under the rear of the hull floor, then gluing the sides to the underside and supporting the structure by adding an internal T-shaped bulkhead within the hull at roughly the engine firewall position, adding an extra part to the right side vertical, and closing up the rear with a well-detailed bulkhead after removing the ends of the same strakes removed from the floor, and fitting an armoured panel beneath the crew compartment floor.  Much of the suspension is moulded into the hull sides, adding extra parts to enhance this, then fitting the swing-arms, stub-axles and inner return rollers to the sides, then making two drive-sprockets, two paired 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, and fixing the outer return rollers in place against the outer face of the guide-horns.  A riveted appliqué panel is mounted under the glacis plate, fitting towing eyes, brackets and spare track links to the rear bulkhead, and making up two towing cables with moulded-in eyes.  Once the tracks are in place, the upper hull is mated with the lower, installing the towing cables over the rear of the vehicle, followed by a four-part appliqué armour package over the glacis, with moulded-in light clusters, and a pair of mudguards at the front, plus a sensor package in the centre at the very front of the vehicle.  The glacis plate has the driver’s hatch installed, more towing shackles under the front, plus more lights and their protective cages.  three-part side-skirts with appliqué armour blocks are next, attention then turning toward the massive low-profile turret.

 

The turret is started with the floor first, adding a bustle plate at the rear, and cheek panels to the front, then the barrel body is inserted into an internal 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 inserted in the lower turret on separate trunnions, using no glue on the pegs 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, adding appliqué armour panels to the sides of the mantlet, including an arrow-head part to the sides of the similarly-shaped mantlet armour, adding surrounds to the commander’s cupolas, inserting a trio of lifting lugs around the turret roof, and a large bustle box at the rear.  The TV sighting box can be posed with the doors open or closed by either placing the single door part over the opening, or cutting it in two, positioning the two doors on either side of the box, as per the scrap diagram nearby, then mounting two aerial bases on cylindrical pedestals near the bustle, plus a sensor in front of the commander’s hatch.  The rear of the bustle is enclosed by adding a panel with two racks of track grousers moulded-in, plus an L-shaped side panel on the right side, and a shallow box on the rear left of the turret roof.  The smoke grenade barrels are mounted on a shallow shelf, making two pairs that fit in the space between the bustle and frontal armour, adding an MG3 mount to the gunner’s cupola, and a two-part 360° periscope to the commander's, then fitting the two-layer hatches, with a choice to pose them open or closed.  A triangular railed stowage area is fitted to the roof behind the gunner’s hatch, a lid for a stowage box behind the sighting system, and a cowl over the system itself, fixing a ring around the gunner’s hatch, extra stowage boxes and grab handles around the sides of the turret, and the afore mentioned smoke grenade discharger assemblies.  A fire extinguisher and long narrow box (for cleaning rods or aerials) are attached to the bustle, then the turret can be twisted into position in the ring on the hull and locked into place, deciding whether to position the travel lock flat on the engine deck, or by using a different part that you slide over the barrel first, the turret can be reversed and secured in place facing backwards for travel, fitting the muzzle portion to the end of the barrel to complete it.  The final parts are two wing mirrors that can be deployed, or folded flat out of the way for battle or operations in cluttered areas.

 

 

Markings

There is a single option included on the small decal sheet, which is painted in a three-tone NATO camouflage that consists of wavy-edged areas of green, black and brown.  From the box you can build the following:

 

 

 

The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas.  This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film.  It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain.

 

 

Conclusion

A well-appointed 1:72 kit of this effective Main Battle Tank that is amongst the best in the world.  While there isn’t a plethora of decal options, almost all Europe-based Leopards would be painted in the same scheme.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

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