Richard, thanks for the quick response! It's much appreciated. Now this thing can really take shape ....

Freddy, t(h)anks for your support and welcome! Great choice! A swedish Leo is still missing here. I've updated the list of participants on page 1.

Todd, also thanks to you and welcome! The photo you've posted looks like self made. Have you been a tanker in Canada?

With all the photos here, this seems to become a great thread and I think it's time for some acustic motivation. A sound you won't hear from an Abrams. And play it loud so your neighbours can also listen without opening the door!

Thanks for enlisting!

Have a nice Sunday!
Torsten

Gary, thanks for enlisting. That Meng kit must be a great kit. Surely more detailed than the Revell kit I will use (and more expensive). Here is a review. But that kit has only german markings, which is what you want to build, right? The Revell kit offers spanish, dutch, polish, austrian and greek markings beside 2 german. Don't know about the other 2A4 kits available.

Concerning some cool markings, in an older Tankograd "Militärfahrzeug" magazine (3/2013) I have seen photos from a 2A4 with the gun painted in the german flag black-red-yellow and some other unusal markings like a palm, sun and the word "Copacabana" in blue on the turret. Because of copyright reasons I can't show photos here. But I don't think there's a decal sheet for that version. This tank took part in the CAT (Canadian Army Trophy) shooting in 1989. CAT was the predecessor of the SETC (Strong Europe Tank Challenge), which was born in 2016 if I'm correct.

Torsten

I’ve enlisted too - couldn’t resist to.

I am not sure which versions I’m going to build, however. By December the Danish army is going to receive the first A7 updated Leopard 2 tanks. If I can get reference photos by may this will be my choice.
If not it’ll be the A4 version used in Denmark before they were upgraded to A5DK.

Or having a BBQ .... Same here, Peter
This summer we had a big and dangerous forest fire in the north east of Germany near the village of Lübtheen on a former military training area. It was dangerous because there are still tons of ammo lying in the ground from the Wehrmacht, Soviet Army, NVA and Bundeswehr. The fire fighters could not get close enough to the center of the fire so the Bundeswehr had to help with helicopters, engineer- and recovery tanks. The police came with 12 water throwers and also from the Berlin airports came some of the huge airfield fire trucks. Some villages had to be evacuated.
Sorry, all in german ....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEIIkVmGOQA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vO2YzvGCog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo1NXaLvKqM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLesQ9Ld0Vs

Please don't forget to enlist, Peter!

Torsten

Kenneth, thanks for your support and welcome to the kitty garden .... A denish Leo is also most welcome!

Torsten

Thanks Torsten.
Yes I was a tanker with the Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)on the Leopard C1 C2. I just missed out on the Leo 2s . The picture is not mine but it is of the Strats training in CFB Wainwright Alberta.
Cheers
Todd

So we can shake hands, Todd. I was a gunner and loader on a 2A4 in my first year of service 1985/86. With my unit in those days - 4./PzBtl 83 in Lüneburg - I was at the Castlemartin Training Area in Wales for shooting in 1986 and again 2 years later with a truck. The whole battalion was disbanded in 1992, less than 3 years after I left ....

Thinking about it, I'm torn between these two:

A "complex" camo scheme on a 2A4:


...and a simple monochrome scheme on a 2A6:


Hmmm.....

Hey Torsten always great to chat with a fellow black hatter and model builder. I can't wait to start your campaign and see what everyone is working on.

Cheers
Todd

Go the first one. It is a nice kind of a variation on the Gepard display camo I did for my Takom build back in 2017:

Tom, just a few days ago I was searching the internet for photos of this 2A4 in Leopard fur but didn't succeed. Have seen photos of it before. Thanks for posting! If the challenge is not too big for you, give it a try! Otherwise you still have that well camouflaged dutch 2A6 up your sleeve. Didn't know, that the dutch guys had an "Oranje" Leopard ....

Todd, yes, my black beret looked pretty worn after 4 years and it was more or less waterproofed. I had a little pin on it with the german and the welsh flag since my first Castlemartin stay and under the tank emblem I put some blue felt because blue is the colour of the logistic troops of the Bundeswehr and for 3 years I drove a MAN 5 to gl, supplying the tanks with ammo and fuel. The beret was quite unique. I'm not sure if it would be allowed today .... In the tank we wore always a leather helmet similar to the russian ones. It was not too heavy and reduced the noise in the tank. Communication was sometimes a bit rough though. Unfortunately it's no longer in use with the Bundeswehr but the Finns still wear something similar.

Peter, that's a great looking Gepard! Well done! I like the Gepard face on the radar. Once when I was on a training ground near Hamburg I saw a Gepard with a big Garfield on the radar sticking the tongue out. That was fun! Yes, that was all possible in the 1980's ....

Torsten

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann celebrated yesterday the 40th anniversary of Leopard 2 at their plant in Munich.
https://www.kmweg.de/uploads/media/KMW-40-Jahre-Leopard-2-01.jpg

Thanks for the link, Hans-Hermann. That's a wonderful photo, so many Leopard 2 "generations" side by side, from the A0 or A1 (on the far right I think) to the A7+ (the one in tan).

Look, what postie gave me today when I came home from work ....

Both magazines about the 2A5 are also standing in my book shelf already.

Okay guys, what we need for this campaign is a ribbon. My idea is the silhouette of the 2A4 (maybe like that norwegian Leo in the first posting on page 2) and the number "40". Any other thoughts?

As I cannot design a ribbon I would ask someone else to create one. Would that be okay for you?

Have a nice modelling weekend!
Torsten

Thinking about enlisting....
I'm curious about a new manufacturer, "Border Models" and their 3in1 offering, an A5/A6/Early A6. Does anybody know about the "big 3" quality, fit & accuracy from this company?
TIA !!!

Like this?



or



or maybe

I have enlisted with the HB 82401 that I already had on hand. Looking at the reviews here I have ordered the Perfect Scale Modellbau upgrade and barrel for the build.

I've seen that the starting date is March 2020.
I have the Meng 2a7 at hand would love to start the built in december.
any chance we can start right away?

Best,
Stephan

More pictures of the Leopard celebration.
http://tank-masters.de/?cat=4

Nice! The one in the middle, with the leopard silhouette!

Excellent Peter! Thanks a lot for your quick work. Much appreciated! That's exactly what I had in mind. The angular turret is typical for the Leopard 2 ....

Any objections to take this as our ribbon?

Ooops! The gif doesn't show up. Anyway, I favour the turret with the yellow 40.

ivanhoe6, it would be great to see you here. I have checked 2 reviews of that kit you've mentioned. Detailing seems to be great but they don't mention the fitting. Here is a review from Leopard Club. While detailing is great, Border Models didn't care much about the painting schemes. Some are not correct. So the Polish Army doesn't have the 2A6 with the longer L/55 gun but the 2A5 with the shorter L/44 gun. You can go back to page 2 here, where I have posted a photo of a polish Leopard. That german 2A6 in desert camo is pure fiction. The experimental camo scheme of the 2A5 is real. In March 2018 a 2A5 of the Bundeswehr Gefechtsübungszentrum (Combat Training Center) was painted that way for urban operations. There are a few photos in the magazines of Tankograd. What I also find a bit strange is, that on the decal sheet you find decals for a 2A6HEL (Greek Army) but it's nowhere mentioned, not even in the painting intructions .... I also found a review in german language. Over here the kit costs something around 55 Euros.

Ryan, thanks for enlisting and welcome to the home of the Leopard. I have updated the list of participants on page 1. I've built that Hobbyboss kit back in 2013 and you can see my efforts here on page 2. Can't remember bigger problems with it.

Stephan, no, I'm sorry. This campaign starts in May not in March and I believe many of us have already a few campaigns running or planned for 2020. So, e.g. I have already enlisted in 4 campaigns next year, 2 in the first half and 2 in the second half. We don't need to put ourselves under pressure. Not with our hobby. If you can wait with your 2A7 until May, it would be great, if you don't want to wait, start right away. It's up to you.

Hans-Hermann, thanks also for that link. Some excellent photos by Ralf Zwilling. So I guess we'll see some of them in the next "Militärfahrzeug" magazine. And you're sure, you don't want to build a Leo 2 with us next year .... ?


Happy modelling!
Torsten

Torsten,

I have looked at your build a few times and it does look good to my eyes. While the HB might not be the best compared to others it fits what I want out of the project with the PSM easy fixes.

Torsten, many thanks for the link & review of Border's version of the Leo! Even the German review was excellent with all the images and my limited German.
This looks like my Christmas gift to myself.

Tom, if I had an extra kit laying around I also would do the Netherlands version.

But I am also about to do a pink panther panther for giggles so I feel ya.

Ryan, you'll be surprised what you'll get when you've glued all parts of that kit together and have painted them .... I'm sure it will look like a Leopard 2A4. And if that's what you want, everything is fine. I don't care much about reviews, I sit down and build the kit. Afterwards I can argue about the pros and cons. So a build blog is worth so much more.

Thanks ivanhoe6. I'm glad I could help a bit. I'm no influencer, not even an influenza .... but I'm sure no one of us would stop you if you lay your hands on that 2A5 Urban Operations .... Okay, it will become a masking orgy but in the end you'll have a cool looking tank in your shelf of pride. I know what I'm talking about, I had such a masking job this summer on my finnish K9 Moukari.

I would like to remind everyone of you who is willing to take part in this campaign not to forget to enlist ....