Introduction

When it comes to replicating the Leopard tank in all of its various forms Perfect Scale Modellbau must be the company that has done the most to help modellers achieve this goal. Perfect Scale Modellbau has 41 products ranging from conversions and detailing sets all the way through to full kits. Their products are in 1/35th scale and a combination of resin and/or photo etched parts. This review looks at a product released by Perfect Scale Modellbau to accurately depict the Leopard A5 turret and is designed to fit the Revell/Italeri base kit. The Leopard 1A5 went into service in 1987 and I believe a small number are still service in Germany according to reference material.

Contents

The kit is packaged in a sturdy cardboard box with a label that tells you what the product is and has a picture of the finished turret on it. Inside the box you will find;

• A solid resin cast turret packed in bubble wrap
• A zip lock bag of resin castings
• A photo etched fret
• An A4 sheet of instructions

Review

The castings supplied for this product are of a very high quality, with a number of them having a great deal of finesse. The finesse of the parts has resulted in some breakages due to I believe rough handling by the postal service. The reason I believe it was rough handling is that the broken parts are packaged in the zip lock bag. Due to the breakages I fired off a polite E-mail to Perfect Scale Modellbau listing the damages that had occurred and two weeks later the replacement parts arrived safe and sound.

The castings appear free of moulding faults such as air bubbles and resin that has not hardened properly to my eye. However the pictures I took have shown up a couple of very small air bubbles, and they are so small that I suspect paint will fill them without need for further filling. There is flash present on a few mouldings but is to be expected and easily cured with the minimal of work. The resin parts do look as if they have release agent on them in places and so it is best practice to wash the resin with washing powder to remove all traces of it.

The instructions supplied with the kit only consist of a single A4 sheet of paper with the instructions printed on both sides. Printed on the instructions is a full parts list which as can be seen I used to tick off the contents. The construction portion is minimal but then there are not a lot of parts in this product.

The accuracy of the model is really a job for an expert but I will go through some of the great detail in this offering. The loaders hatch is present on the right hand side as is the panel that opens in the add on armour. The jacketed 105mm main gun is a great casting with fantastic detail moulded on it, in particular the clamp detail on the thermal jacket of the gun. What I now know to be a rain guard is faithfully reproduced and runs from the mid sides of the turret and around the back. The thermal sight and optical sight are reproduced under their armoured housing in front of the commanders hatch. The guard rails that product the smoke dischargers and the mounts for them also are also high points of the model.

The stowage bins for the gun cleaning rods that are attached to the sides of the searchlight bin, are not present in this kit but there is photo etched detail for the base kit parts. The photo etched fret is small but sufficient and is very similar thickness wise to the photo etched parts supplied by Eduard. The photo etched parts present in this product should be sufficient to satisfy most without overtaxing a persons ability.

Conclusion

Of the two Perfect Scale Modellbau products I have looked at, this is by fair my favourite because it is a good introduction to the use of resin parts. The parts will be easy to remove from the casting blocks, they are very well cast, and the instructions are clear enough for most to follow with relative ease, and will build up into a realistic and as far as I can tell accurate Leopard 1A5 turret. The model covers most of the skills that will be needed to work with resin parts, but at the same time will break you in easily to the use of this media type, I do not know if this is by design or by luck. If you want a great looking Leopard 1A5 in your collection I very highly recommend this product to you without reservation.

Reference

New Vanguard - Leopard 1 Main Battle Tank 1965–95 - ISBN: 9781855325203