The potent Leopard 2, mainstay of the modern German army, traces its lineage back 50 years to the Leopard. Known now as the Leopard 1, the main battle tank served many nations and was modified several times. Revell Germany's all-new kit represents the earliest incarnation, with an exposed cast turret, no fender skirts, early tracks with chevrons, and a gun without a thermal sleeve.
Options allow the model to be built as either a German tank from the second production batch, 2.Baulos, or a vehicle from 4.Baulos, in German, Dutch, or Belgian service. Detail differences between the batches as well as the nationalities are clearly shown in the color instructions. These directions are a welcome new feature for Revell Germany’s kits with easy-to-read assembly diagrams including bright red location arrows and color callouts.
Molded in gray plastic, the parts show decent detail, including recessed panel lines and fine engine grilles. The texture on the cast turret seems a little heavy, but painting mitigates the effect. Lifting rings and handles are molded in place. Few ejection-pin marks mar the surfaces, but there are some sink marks and mold seams to be eliminated.
Small items, such as the tools and the turret basket, are outstanding. No clear parts are provided for the vision blocks, periscopes, or lights.
The multipart hull requires filler between the side panels and the belly, but the resulting structure is solid.
I scraped mold seams from all of the road-wheel arms. They are separate, but surgery will be necessary to articulate some of the arms, which are molded with shock absorbers. I left the wheels and tracks off for painting.
Revell has you drill open a couple of holes at the front of the upper hull for any version other than the 2.Baulos tank. But the instructions omit what goes in those spots; attach two lifting hooks (parts D88).
The upper hull doesn’t fit very well, and I used a bunch of rubber bands to clamp it overnight. After gluing the side panels and the exhaust grilles to the hull, I had to fill and sand to blend them with the body. I used the parts for the German 4.Baulos tank; the optional side panels for the Dutch tank and the early cast exhausts may fit better.
The remaining hull details, including tools, boxes, and vents, went on without problems. I bored out the solid headlights and filled them with 2-part epoxy after painting.
The vinyl tow cables were not a lot of fun. They are flexible, but prominent mold seams along each side are almost impossible to remove without damaging the soft material. They also are too short to lie across the tank naturally. You could leave them off, but most of the brackets are molded with the cable; I cut those from the cable and glued them on the model. If you leave the cables off, fill the long attachment grooves on the exhausts; they are not on the full-size vehicle.
The turret fits better, but I needed filler to blend the rangefinder extensions; stippling Deluxe Materials Perfect Plastic Putty restored cast texture around the joins.
The fit of the loader’s hatch is squishy, so it’s difficult to align. I had problems with the vinyl power cable for the searchlight, and ended up leaving it off. Solder wire would make an easy replacement.
The two-part gun fits well and can be elevated, but the beautifully molded mantlet dust cover fixes the position.
I airbrushed the camouflage with Testors Model Master enamels, then hand-painted tools and other details.
To ensure paint stayed on the vinyl tracks, I primed them with a generous layer of Pledge FloorCare Multi-Surface Finish. Tamiya acrylics finished the job. After joining the ends by melting the locating pins with a hot knife, I added them with the drive sprockets.
The tracks fit well and the detail is good, but there are ejector-pin marks on the inside faces of many of the links.
The thin decals responded to Microscale’s setting solutions and needed just a little extra Micro Sol to settle into the cast texture.
“Mixed bag” is the best description of Revell Germany’s new Leopard. The instructions, decals, and most of the molding are first rate, and most of the fits are good. But some things, especially the lack of clear parts, and the vinyl tow cables and tracks, feel like a throwback.
However, it’s an enjoyable build that produces the best-looking, most-accurate early Leopard on the market. The fit challenges provide good training for new modelers, and the kit provides a solid foundation for superdetailers.