Hi folks!
In 2011 I opened a thread at Aeroscale where I show continuously my latest aircraft models. As I have recently also started to build military vehicles I thought why not open also a similar thread over here at Amorama. I'm mostly interested in the equipment of the Bundeswehr (Germany Army) and would like to share my models with you. So today I can present you my new KPz Leopard 2A6M from Revell in 1/35, my second military vehicle ever ....




.... from 2001 the Bundeswehr was replacing their Leopard 2A5 with the 2A6, which had the new L55 gun, which is 1,30 meters longer than the older L44 gun. In combination with new ammunition this tank can be regarded as one of the most powerful in the world. Only 3 years later, the first Leopard 2A6M with improved anti mine protection was delivered to the Bundeswehr. Of 225 Leopard 2A6, 70 received this additional protection. The Canadian Leopards 2 in Afghanistan are all 2A6M. The tank is powered by a 47000 cc, 12 cylinder MTU engine with 1500 hp which gives the Leopard a maximum speed of over 70 km/h. The weight of the tank is 65 tons, which includes the 6 tons heavy engine ....




.... the Revell kit consists of about 220 parts and offers 4 decal options, 2 with and 2 without anti mine armor. I decided for a Leopard 2A6M of the 4./PzBtl 203. The kit goes together very well and has no fitting issues unlike the one from Hobbyboss. The tracks and the dirt fenders on the backside are made of rubber. It comes without PE-parts but on the other hand is twice as expensive as the Hobbyboss kit. But I would prefer the Revell kit again, as I did already ....





.... I have painted the whole kit with Revell Aqua Colors in NATO standard camouflage which is Bronce Green 65, Tar Black 6 and Leather Brown 84. Final coating was made with Matt Varnish 70520 from Vallejo. The kit is completly build out of box. The only thing I want to add later are antennas and a small flag. Though I'm no fan (and no expert) of weathering I used some pastel chalk of different colours to give my Leo a slight dusty look ....




.... I say "Vielen Dank" for walking around my new Leo and hope you have enjoyed it. Though I mainly build aircraft I want to finish 2-3 military vehicles per year and will continue to show the results here in this thread. Mostly Bundeswehr but also some of our NATO partners. And if you also like the sound of the Leo, then enjoy this. The real party starts at about 2:30 mins.

Happy modelling
Torsten

PS: If you wonder why I call this thread "zoo", well, that's easy to explain. Most vehicles of the Bundeswehr have animal names. Leopard, Marder, Fuchs, Luchs, Dingo ....

Looks great for your second military vehicle. Next time paint the track pads that contact the road wheels the same black rubber color that you used on the outside part of the pad. Also, I've never seen silver tracks, they probably should be a blackish-brown. Check out the spare track link on the front, I'd fill in the sink mark. I look forward to your next Panzer, you did a great job on this one!



Erik

Hi Erik,
thanks for your comment. Glad, that you like my Leo. First let me say that I really like your avatar! I wore this emblem 4 years during my army time 1985-1989. After that it looked "heavily used" like the whole black barett! Must look where I have it ....
You are right with the sink mark on the spare track, I just noticed it now that you mentioned it. I see what I can do now that the kit is finished.
For the tracks I used 2 different shades. On the outside I mixed 3 parts of Rust 83 with 1 part of Steel 91 (both Revell Aqua) and for the inside I only used Steel 91. The rubbers on the tracks ("Kettenpolster" in German) is painted with Anthrazit 9. I think I'm not too wrong, because if you watch this video you can see, that the tracks on the inside are veeery clean, bare steel. But take your time, it's nearly 30 minutes of wonderful Leo sound
I hope to start my next vehicle this summer as I have some campaigns running on Aeroscale at the moment. But it won't be a tank on tracks this time ....

Happy modelling!
Torsten

It's been quite a while since my last posting here, but today I finally can show you my latest finished model, the GTK Boxer, the new multirole armoured wheeled vehicle of the German Bundeswehr from Revell in 1/35 ....



.... the GTK Boxer is produced by Rheinmetall Defence and Kraus-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and the first vehicles were handed over in September 2009 to the Bundeswehr. It is planned that until 2016 Germany will get 272 Boxer in 4 different versions, as armoured personnel carrier, command vehicle, armoured ambulance vehicle and driver training vehicle. In the future the Boxer will replace the aged M 113 APC and the TPz Fuchs, depending on the mission. Further 200 Boxer will go to the Dutch Koninklijke Landmacht. The vehicle is powered by an 8 cylinder diesel engine made by MTU. It has 16000 cc with turbocharger and intercooler. 720 hp give the nearly 35 tons heavy Boxer a maximum speed of over 100 km/h ....


.... I have build the Boxer as an APC, as it looked like during its time at the GECON - ISAF, Task Force Mazar e Sharif, Camp Marmal, 2012. I have fitted the Boxer with the 40 mm grenade launcher, which is originally made by Heckler & Koch. The other weapon would be a 12,7 mm heavy machine gun. The decals come from the kit, but I also used some from the ATF Dingo ....



.... the kit consists of 220 parts which go together well. Most of the parts are needed for the driving module. Wheels and dirt fenders are made of rubber, which is not to my favourite. Revell offers 4 decal versions, one, as mentioned, for an ISAF Boxer and 3 other in NATO standard camo green/black/brown. I have used Revell and Vallejo paints. Final coating is made with Matt Varnish from Gunze. The camo is airbrushed freehand without masks. The kit is build straight out of box and finally I did some weathering with pastel chalk in different brown shades to give my new baby a slight dusty look. Very helpfull if you want to build this beauty are 2 booklets from Tankograd, No. 5039 Boxer Special with many great photos of Afghanistan Boxers and No. 5031 GECON-ISAF Wüstentarnung ....


.... I say "Vielen Dank" for stopping by and having a look. If you have comments feel free to do so.

Happy modelling!
Torsten

Hi Torsten,
your Heavy Metal looks very nice

Hi Torsten, both vehicles look pretty nice. You might want to experiment with the use of a pinwash on a future build. It'll help hi-light the panels, bring out a lot of details, and add some dimensionality to the piece.

Thanks for your feedback, guys! Much appreciated

Bob, what does the word pin wash mean? I cannot find it in the dictionary .... Guess, it's something about weathering, right? Well, as I have mentioned earlier, I usually build aircraft and the models leave my workbench without any weathering and I like it like that. Factory fresh with a dozen kill marks on the rudder, so to say .... So this are my first attempts with a little pastel chalk weathering, because I think vehicles must have some dust and dirt on and to me it looks fine. But in the future I sure will do better. I still remember how our tank and later my truck looked like when we came back from exercise ....

Torsten

After working 3 months on it with some interruptions I can show you today my latest military vehicle, the KPz Leopard 1A1A3 from Revell in 1/35 ....


.... in the 1970's the first 4 batches of the Leopard 1 received some upgrades which lead to different designations. Among these modifications were a thermal sleeve for the 105 mm gun, side skirts and a weapon stabilisation system. Between 1975 and 1977 the vehicles were furthermore fitted with an additional turret armour, made of rubber and metal fabric, developed by Blohm & Voss. In the early 1980's some tanks were also fitted with the PZB 200 (Panzer Ziel- und Beobachtungsgerät = tank aiming and observation system), made by AEG, which lead to a considerable improvement in night fighting capability. Some smaller modifications were also made like the so called "Heissösen" (lifting eyes) for lifting the tanks on ships and cleaning devices for the driver's periscopes. New radios were also installed. This all gave the first batches the designation 1A1A1 to 1A1A4. Don't ask me which is which .... The tank was powered by a 10 cylinder multi fuel engine with 830 hp made by MTU which gave the Leopard 1 a speed (officially) up to 65 km/h. The weight was between 42 and 44 tons, depending on the equipment. In total 4744 Leopard 1 were produced between 1965 and 1984 and it was used by many NATO armies and Australia. The last Leopard 1 of the Bundeswehr were taken out of service in December 2003 ....


.... I have built a German Bundeswehr Leopard 1A1A3 of the 3./PzBtl 324 in the late 1980's ....



.... this Revell kit is from 1997 and has a nice detailing. The fitting of the 280 parts reaches from good to very good. I didn't have many problems while building the Leo. Only the additional turret armour gave me some trouble but I fixed it and I'm satisfied with the result. I didn't use any aftermarked products, so the tracks are the vinyl ones from the box. Easy to assemble ....


.... the paints I've used come all from the Revell Aqua Series again. Main colour is Gelboliv 42, which comes close to RAL 6014, the colour of Bundeswehr vehicles in the "before 3-tone NATO standard era". The tracks are painted with Steel 91 on the inside and a steel/anthrazit/rust mixture on the outside. Though the few decals looked quite old on the transfer paper, they went on the model without problems. But the Iron Crosses on the turret side were not printed well, so I had to use a small brush and correct them. Finally a mixture of several brown and grey pastel chalks give my new Leo a slight dusty look. A prominent feature on all Leopard 1 are the often deep black exhausts, where I have used black pastel chalk. I think I did quite well on that ....

.... finally a family photo of all my Leos so far. From left to right, Leopard 2A6M (Revell), Leopard 1A1A3 (Revell) and Leopard 2A4 (Hobbyboss). They were all build between 2013 and 2015, one per year.
I say "Vielen Dank" for walking around my new Leo. Any feedback is welcome. Now enjoy the wonderfull sound of these Belgian Leopard 1 during an exercise in Germany a few years ago.

Happy modelling!
Torsten

nice job on all three of those builds, nice job with some rather tricky kits.

Nicely weathered and slightly worn, I'd be proud to toss them on display in my house

It has been a bit quiet in this thread over the past months but I don't build that many military vehicles. Of 11 finished builds this year, 8 were aircrafts and only 3 vehicles. Today I would like to show you my latest vehicle which I have already finished in October but I completly forgot to take photos of it. This tank has already been on 2 expos. It's the Raketenjagdpanzer (tank destroyer) Jaguar 1 from Revell in 1/35 ....


.... between 1978 and 1982 the Bundeswehr coverted 316 tank destroyers with SS 11 guided missiles into the Jaguar 1 with the more powerful HOT weapon system. Furthermore additional armour was added to the front and sides, an NBC protection system and track skirts. The HOT missiles could accurately strike targets at a maximum distance of 4000 meters. The Jaguar had 20 of these missiles on board, 8 of them could be automatically loaded very fast from a drum magazine. From 1993 on, 181 Jaguar also got the NZBG (Nachtziel- und Beobachtungsgerät/night vision equipment) giving them good night combat capability. The redesigned and much larger aming device is a conspicuous feature. The extremely speedy and manoeuvrable Jaguar 1 in the tank destroyer units were counted to the tank units but had been autonomous. The independent tank destroyer companies were disbanded in 1996, the number of Jaguar 1 were reduced and brought to support the anti tank defenses of the Panzergrenadierbataillone (mechanized infantry battalions). 90 of the redundant vehicles were given to the Austrian Army. Meanwhile the tank destroyers have been completely retired from service in both countries. The Jaguar 1 was powered by an 8 cylinder diesel engine with 500 hp which gave the tank a max. speed of 70 km/h with a range of about 330 kilometers. The weight was 26 tons ....



.... Revell offers 3 decal versions (2x Germany, 1x Austria) and I have build a Bundeswehr Jaguar 1 from the PzJgKp 360 (Panzerjägerkompanie) in Kühlsheim 1995 ....



.... building this kit gives no problems at all. As usual I have build it completely out of box, using also the rubber tracks which are not that bad at all. For painting I have used again Revell Aqua Color paints, mainly Bronce Green 65, Tar Black 06 and Leather Brown 84. Mat Varnish comes from Gunze. Some weathering with different pastel chalks finished this enjoyable build. The decals are also taken from the kit. If you look close enough on the front armour plate, you can see one of the Beagle Boys of the Walt Disney cartoons with a missile in his hands. The german translation for them is "Panzerknacker", which could be translated as tank buster which gives the connection to this tank ....


.... I say "Vielen Dank" for stepping in and walking around with me. I hope you've enjoyed it. Any comment is welcome. Merry christmas everyone and a happy new year!

Happy modelling!
Torsten

Hi Torsten!
Thank you for sharing this! I hadn't seen it before. My favorite Leopard is the one with the vertical turret sides. It reminds me of the Tiger I.

Ausgezeichnet!

Gary

Very nice.
And where are the beasts of WW2?

Gary, thanks for your comment! The Leopard you mean is the 2A4, which is still known as the "real" Leopard 2, because it was the first. It's also my favourite, of course also, because I was 1 year on it during my 4 years army time in the 1980's. In the meantime it is completly taken out of service in the Bundeswehr (since 2008). Most of our Leopard tanks now are the 2A6, some older 2A5 and already a few new 2A7. But Leopard 2A4 can still be found in active service in the armies of Finland (though they switch to the 2A6 now), Norway, Poland and some others. I still have 3 Leopard 2 in my stash, waiting to be build .... And if you also like the engine sound of them, well, then enjoy it!

Val, thanks also for your feedback but I have to disappoint you. No WW 2 tanks in this thread. I'm more interested in the modern stuff. But on the other hand, I build mostly WW 2 aircraft, if that does meet also your interests.

Torsten

In January I started my first campaign here on Amorama as it was the 50th anniversary (is it already really that long ago?), that the first Leopard tank left the assembly lines at Krauss Maffei in Munich. So I took part in the Leopardmania 50 Campaign and in late February I finished the Leopard 1A4 from Tamiya in 1/35. At that time it was the only Leo 1 I had in my stash ....


.... the Leopard 1A4 with its characteristic welded turret enjoyed only a short life in the Bundeswehr. Between 1974 and 1976 only 250 were build (Krauss Maffei 215 and MaK 35). From 1987 onwards it was already phased out. It got a new fire control system which could be seen as the forerunner of the FLA in the Leopard 2. For the first time the racks for the snow grousers on the glacis plate were standardised ....


.... I have built a Leopard 1A4 from the 3./PzBtl 304, based in Münsingen in the 1970's ....



.... this kit from Tamiya is pretty old, inside the hull it says 1979. But for the age of nearly 40 years the fitting is still very good, well, it's Tamiya quality. The only minor fitting problems I had when I attached the upper hull to the lower hull. At the front you can see a small step but I can live with that. It's not so important to me. The kit is build out of box except for the towing cables which are not included in the kit. I bought them at the Leopard Workshop. They are a bit too long for this kit but that's okay. Also the snow grousers surprisingly are not included in the kit. They were given to me as a gift from Michael Shackleton. That was very generous. Thank you again for that! Building this kit gives no problem at all, everything fits well and is done within a few weeks ....


.... painting this baby is also no big deal. After a white primer I've chosen Revell Aqua No. 42 Gelboliv over all, which comes close to RAL 6014, the colour Bundeswehr vehicles had until the early 1980's. I used the vinyl tracks from the kit and airbrushed them with Steel 91 from Revell on the inside and a mix of different metallic paints on the outside. The rubbers on the tracks are handpainted with Anthrazit 9, also from Revell. After a final coating with Flat Clear H20 from Gunze some weathering was made with brown and grey pastel chalks. As usual with the Leopard 1 the exhausts are weathered with black pastel chalk. The decals are from the kit and were no really good. It was quite a struggle to make them look as they look now. Most of them were brittle and especially the Iron Crosses on the turret caused some trouble and extra work. A nice feature though is that little leopard on the backside of the turret.
Again I say "Vielen Dank" for walking around my latest Leo and hope you've enjoyed it. Comments are welcome. Recently I bought the new Leopard 1 from Revell but building it is not on my list for this year.

Happy modelling!
Torsten

hell yeah!!!!! nice job on all of the builds, and everything so far is spot on, and well done.

Great work!

Thanks for your feedback, andromeda673. I'm glad you like my scale model kits. I'm already working on the next kit which will be the TPz Fuchs or Armored Transport Vehicle "Fuchs" ("Fox"). But that will take a while ....

Happy modelling!
Torsten

hell yeah!!!! I have a new soft spot developing for modern German armor now.