Re posted to correct forum

1. Leopard 1A4. When did the Germans start adding the ice cleats to the front slope? The Tamiya kit is old but good just not sure of the accuracy for the time frame.

2. Which is the better current Leopard 1A5 kit Takom or Meng? I understand this is subjective of course.

All Leopard 1A4s had the grouser racks on the glacis plate.

I think the Tamiya kit was based on a pre-production Leopard 1A4 and thus missing the grouser racks.

Go with the Meng Leopard 1A5 kit. A bit more money than the Takom kit but you will not be disappointed with the details.

I built the Tamiya kit ages ago, and the main omissions were the grouser racks, searchlight cable, tow cables (& brackets), and antennas on the turret. The one antenna bracket is on a bulge in the turret side, which I did with a bit of tube & filler IIRC. Not a horrible kit by any means, but I still prefer the Italeri version over it. The newest Meng 1A3/4 kit looks interesting too.