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Leopard 1 AEV

Perfect Scale Modellbau's Pionierpanzer 1(PiPz 1) mit Inneneinrichtung - Leopard 1 AEV 1

Introduction

Not too long ago, I had the opportunity to dig my teeth into Perfect Scale Modellbau's Pionierpanzer 1(PiPz 1) mit Inneneinrichtung - Leopard 1 AEV 1. This is a full multimedia model kit designed around the Leopart I AEV. Based largely on the Bergepanzer, the Pionierpanzer 1 is s an engineering vehicle with the Leopard I as its platform. This vehicle was designed to assist troops in overcoming obstacles and building defenses. Equipped with a dozer blade and teeth to scarify even the most frozen ground as well as a boom with crane capabilities as well as a ground auger attachment, this engineering vehicle can build or remove just about anything it comes across.

Contents

The Pionierpanzer 1(PiPz 1) mit Inneneinrichtung - Leopard 1 AEV 1 from Perfect Scale Modellbau is sold in two versions, with and without the interior. The kit I used is the one with and interior. This is a full resin and photo etch kit consisting of the following:

• 339 – Grey colored cast resin parts
• 1 – Photo etch sheet
• 1 – 30cm x .3mm wire
• 1 – Length of stranded coper wire (tow cables)
• 1 – Length of styrene rod (1mm)
• 1 – 60cm x 1mm soldiering wire
• 1 – Decal sheet
• 1 – 6-page instructions

The build

At first glance this kit has some exceptional detailing. All of the parts look crisp and for the most part free from flash….other than the normal flash seen with most resin kits. After examining a bit closer throughout the build there were some areas that I found some small bubbles in the casting. In most cases these were not opened leaving a hole in the surface. These small holes do crop up in many resin casts and are easily fixed usually with a little putty or even the occasional filling with super glue.

Most of the cleanup and construction of this kit was problem free. The parts fit well and in most case nice and snug; however, the instruction do leave a lot to be desired. Although the parts are nicely organized on cast blocks the parts legend seems to have a numbering system that was random at best. These instructions would be better served with a progressive numbering starting at the beginning of the instructions with the lowest number to the highest when the kit is almost complete. Case in point would be the first construction of the kit where The hull, part 2 needs to have parts 9 & 10 installed as well as parts 96 and 112. When you go back to the legend to find the parts they are not sequentially located on each cast block. This was a little frustrating until I got the hang of looking for the shape of the part and then highlighting the parts as I used them to ensure I would not waste time looking at things that were not there.

As I mentioned, there are some nice detailing to this kit with regards to the lower and upper hull. The suspension almost looks to be a direct copy of some previously released Leopard I tank suspension. These needed a little extra clean up before installation. I found with the wheels, that these were cast nicely; however, I did find a better replacement with the Leopard Club’s Road Wheels and Idlers. These replacement wheels have detailing on both sides of the wheels as all other makes of wheels do not. Please note: The Leopard Club has discontinued this line of wheels and idlers and are now offering an even better replacement with a 3D rendered base for casting.

Throughout the construction there is a bit of a battle with the instructions as the pictures provided as well as the part locating arrows are mostly unclear. If you have some experience with making models, the instructions are merely a guideline for construction and are typically there for reference only but in most cases, the references I found to be better was a quick of google search for the part on the real AEV or searching through various Leopard Club publications on this subject.