Hello,

i'm new to tank kits in 1:35, but have a pretty good experience in modell scalling.

I want to start with the Leopard 1.
Have seen kits available from Revell, Italeri, Tamyia and Meng Modells.

Question is which kit should I use. The Meng kit of the Leopard A3/A4 is more detailed as I read but is it worth the price? Costs about double the price of the other kits?

Whats your advice?

Great to see another Leopard modeller!

Are you wanting to add aftermarket details or are you satisfied with an out of box build?

What version of the Leopard are you wanting to depict? Will it be a Bundeswehr Leopard or another country?

All the available kits have pros and cons.

Tamiya
Italeri/Revell-Germany
Meng
Takom

It's my first tank so I think to start with an out of the box build is the best.

I'm not fixed to a specific version at the moment. And yes I wil lbuild a BW Leopard...

Just want to build a nice modell...

What I read till now:

Revell: Contra - not available, not detailed as Meng
Italeri: Contra - old kit, not detailed as Meng
Meng: Pro - Detailed, but exepensive
Takom: not heard about that so far....

Hello Sam,

at the beginning i would prefer the Revell one.
Your are right. The Leo 1A1A1 Kitnr. 3017 is not on the market at the moment.
But the 1A5 Kitnr 3115 is available. Revell states that this kit can be build into one tank of the first 4 lots.
The only problem seems to be that the kit comes only with decals for the 1A5.
The kit is pretty nice. The only real inaccuracy i know are the mouting points for the add on armor. They are at the wrong location. But whom does it interest?
It's hard to see after assembly.

Scalemates Kit timeline

Review Revell Leopard 1A5

Happy modelling
Harald

I would recommend the Italeri or Takom Leopard 1A5 kits if you aren't wanting to spend a bunch of money at get a decent out of box build.

Are you aware of the Leopard Club site?

http://leopardclub.ca/

Hello Harald,

the 3115 Revell kit is 1:72......i want to stay in the 1:35 scale


The Takom kit seems to cost the same as the Meng kit. Is the Takom kit better?

oops. sorry for that.



Judgeing to that review below: yes
Tacom Review

Leopard kit listing:
http://www.scalemates.com/search-solr.php?fkSECTION[]=Kits&q=Leopard+1

As Jason suggests will the Italeri kit be a good choice for the money.

happy modelling
Harald

Hi Sam,

Welcome to the Armorama community!

I am still quite partial to the old Italeri/Revell kits (they share the same hull parts), but would recommend the new MENG indy-link tracks and the Perfect-Scale photo-etched intake grille set to give the kits a boost. You'll probably still come out cheaper than a Takom or MENG Leopard!

Availability is a challenge - I tend to pick them up cheap at model shows (from "second-hand" dealers) or online at ebay.

The Leopard Club website is definitely worth a look!

Hei and welcome to Armorama, always glad to meet new comers to this site, especially members interested in the best tank ever - the Leopard 1.

Asking which one is best might seem a simple question- however, it's not. For some of us this question means, how will I make the most accurate model regardless of cost and skill level involved. For others it would be interpreted, how do I make an accurate version in a out of box build? I fear though, that your question might be, which kit will give me a Leopard 1 model I can manage as a newcomer?

The first two question have already been answered. I'll try to offer advice on the later. You can find Italerie's Leopard 1A4 many places in Germany for 20€ and Tamiyas for a little more. They are both good beginners kit. The Tamiya might be slightly more easy to build for a beginner, however the Italerie one is much more accurate. Personally I would recommend Italerie's version.

If you feel ready for some details, and ready to pay extra money too, a set of tracks would be a good investment. Meng set of workable Deil tracks are cheap, accurate and easy to build.

But like previous answers I'll recomend to go to Leopard Club's homepage. They have reviews of most Leopard kit.

Any way I whish you a good build and congratulate you with your choice of the Leopard tank

If you are looking into takom leo1a5, I suggest waiting to see how the upcoming Meng 1A5 stack up. The engineering of the takom kit in my opinion falls short of what might be expected in a modern kit in a number of ways. Its accuracy is in many ways also no better than italieri.

Meng may have bungled some accuracy issues in the 1A4 kit, but the engineering of the kit was superb.

If it will be your first tank, I would advise the Tamiya Leopard 1A4, may not be the most accurate or the best detailed, but it builds easily and looks nice (I made one many years ago).

Shouldn't be too difficult to find a fairly priced one in Germany.

Cheers,

Christophe

I see Modellbau Koenig has it for 17,50€.

http://www.modellbau-koenig.de/Militaermodellbau_1_35/Panzer/Panzerfahrzeuge_-_ab_1945/Kampfpanzer/Bundeswehr_Leopard_A4_i13_13768_0.htm

Cheers,

Christophe

Hi Sam
I run the Leopard Club website. If you are looking for free advise, I would have a look here first: http://leopardclub.ca/LeopardLists/1-kit/

This lists everything you need to build a Leopard 1 with links to reviews or manufacturers websites.

I have writen an article on which was the best Leopard 1 kit, but this was done before the latest from Meng and Takom. However, you can find my reviews of these kits on Leopard Club too: http://leopardclub.ca/reviews/.

The article is available here: http://leopardclub.ca/FactFile/FF001/

I also have a FaceBook page where you can get in touch with other modellers: www.facebook.com/leopardfibel