Tom Cromwell provides an In-Box review of the Leopard 2A5 German Main Battle Tank from Italeri.

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Thanks!

A good review Tom of a model that is usually overlooked (I do have this kit somewhere, don't tell anyone).

Darrren,

I've also got their original Leo 2 kit in the stash, and it all started as a slippery slope from the Leo 1A4... (I've resisted further slippage into Chally 2s and M1 Abrams so far, but this modern stuff isn't as bad as I used to think!)

Tom

Italeri should be commended, for providing decals for two countries. I've always believed that if more than one country used the plane or tank, it should come with decals for more than one country. But what's with the trend, among some manufacturers, of supplying the tracks in four lengths instead of just two? This is a practice that needs to go the way of the dinosaurs. It makes the tracks a lot harder to work with.

I first saw these two-part tracks with Italeri, but Tasca do it too. So far I've replaced most Italeri ones with AM, but the Tasca ones look like they might be ok...

I suppose at least the 2-pt tracks fit in the box without getting curled up at the ends!

Tom

The four-part tracks are indeed a pain, but with care the joints can all be hidden fairly well. The real problem is that they're nearly as stiff as the polystyrene parts. I couldn't see a way of persuading them to join together and stay on the running gear without forming a great big loop, so I went straight for the AFV Club replacements. If you can find a way of getting Tamiya or Hobby Boss tracks on their own, they're much more flexible and come in one piece, so they'll do nicely. Even Esci's old link-and-length jobs are better.

The Matchbox boxing of the Revell version of the Italeri Leopard 2 is even worse. The tracks look as though they've been melted - almost no detail at all. So that was two AFV Club sets ...

Yeah, I've got the new Bronco indy links lined up for this one! (Found them cheap at a show...) The stiff Italeri ones can be made to work if you "train" them into tight curves at the ends where the sprocket and idler will go. I bend them over a bit of dowling, add a rubber band to hold the loop, and leave it in the car on the dashboard for a week - the sun heating the car each day softens the vinyl and it takes a set in a curve. The result is a "flattened loop" of track that will sit properly around the wheels, but remember you can't then roll it along...

(I've heard folk suggest bending the track to shape and dipping it in hot water for a moment, but I've had bad experiences trying it...)

Tom

Nice review and a good help deciding what LeoII to buy (It won't be this one). The cammo plan for german and dutch vehicles might well be the same, at least in Wiki sideshots look very close



Oh and the review finally explains why MBT-70 failed

withdrew from the MBT 70 joint US-DDR project over spiraling costs in 1969

Explains why East Germany (DDR) had a development boom back then too.

Oh, b****r! Those gremlins got into my typing fingers again! Glad you pointed that one out - I'll put in an edit request PDQ. Of course, now it's all one country...

Tom

Too late, now the truth about MBT70 is out. MI5 will no longer be abel to keep a lid on it.

OBTW: What is that Lynx MK7 doing over my yard? And why are they throwing down ropes?

...of course as "alternative history" I can just picture the result of a US-East German tank project - an Abrams turret on a T-62...

Tom