Catalog Number: | 35387 | Manufacturer: | Tamiya |
Published: | Wednesday, May 22, 2024 | Retail Price: | $62.00 |
Scale: | 1:35 | Reviewed By: | Michael Reeves |
Tamiya- German Main Battle Tank Leopard A7V
For the First Look review of the kit, head here: https://www.amps-armor.org/SiteReviews/ShowReview.aspx?id=15273
Kit Construction
The build begins with assembling the lower hull tub-- made up of bottom, two sides, and a partition that inserts into the rear third. Steps 2-8 attach the underside land mine armor, bump stops, suspension arms, return rollers, wheels and other side parts.
Steps 9 & 10 have you assemble the tracks and attach them to the hull, but I held off on those until I had more of the hull parts on. I knew the bottom was straight up NATO Green, so it made sense to me to paint the lower hull and sides with wheels first, then attach the tracks. So step 11 has you attach the rear panel- along with the pintles and other assorted bits.
At this point the tracks assembly began. The tracks are link and length, but Tamiya did the best job I have ever encountered in designing them. The links are three piece affairs- with a lower and upper piece sandwiching the connector between them. Care needs to be taken in the gluing and you will have a moveable piece that makes fitting around the sprocket and idler wheels easier. The links then click and actually hold together for the most part.
This is usually my least favorite part of the build, but it was apiece of cake.
Steps 12 and 13 attach the upper hull together. Fitting the two side pieces was done from front to back one length at a time to make sure things lined up well. The driver's hatch and glacis added armor is next. A piece fit over the hatch that allows it to slide from side to side which is a pretty neat feature.
Steps 14 and 15 have you assemble and attach the side skirts...the photo shows the same process of gluing from one end to the other. I hadn't finished the front end gluing when I took this picture-
Steps 16 & 17 has you attach the tools and then the upper hull to the lower. I held off on tools to ease with painting. It took some finagling to get the two attached as the pegs are hard to see as you put the top side in place- I had to peek through the circular openings to see where things were. Step 18 adds on additional hull front armor, as well as infrared lights and headlights and the Spectus II driver sight system front sensor head. Steps 19 & 20 add yet more hull front armor as well as the folded up mirrors and mud flaps.
Step 21 adds the PE engine grilles and step 22 the spare track link mounts and tow cables. Steps 23-26 involve the turret assembly. Masking stickers are included for all of the hull and turret periscopes, but they are very difficult to remove after you paint. Next time I would mask them off with some armor putty. The main sight includes sandwiching two clear parts in between the turret and the top piece.
Steps 27-29 are dedicated to assembling the gun base, the barrel, and attaching it all to the turret. Again, the kit does not come standard with a metal barrel, but you can order it as an Detail Up separate accessory (#12694). The barrel was included in the review sample so I used it here. The plastic sleeves from the kit box attached with no issues and it all looks great when assembled.
Steps 30-32 are involved in assembling and attaching the climate control unit/NBC protection system, storage box, and antenna case which you can see in the above three pictures. The turret basket come as PE parts that you mold with an included bending jig in steps 33-36. I annealed the PE first before bending and attaching the plastic parts, along with the fire extinguisher to the rear sides of the turret. In addition to these, an included folded waterproof sheet and other panels were attached. Steps 37-40 involve adding more storage boxes, turret fences, and cupolas and hatches.
Step 41 has you bending more PE for the side baskets using the included jogs that will actually become the frames for the baskets after you bend them. Step 42 is dedicated to the smoke grenade dischargers and steps 43-45 focus on more turret side parts and the turret is attached to the hull in step 46. The last few steps involve the MG3 machine gun, antenna bases, and the two half figures for the loader and commander. I did not attempt the complicated paint scheme for their uniforms, but assembling them was a breeze and they look pretty good. Decals for the beret and uniform patches are also included.
Painting and Weathering
There are not too many options for varied schemes- a separate color insert gives you a little history, a labeled diagram of the tank, and a 5-way view of the scheme- from the left and right sides, front, rear, and top (both with and without turret). This is a boon to help in masking the three tone NATO scheme of green, black, and brown. Different markings include just three different fender and rear end codes and markings, as well as stencils for the top deck based on two 393rd Panzer Battalion and one 104th Panzer Battalion Leopards. I used Tamiya paints for the scheme and AMMO weathering pigments and washes for weathering.
Conclusion
This was one of the most enjoyable builds I have had in a while. Everything fit extremely well, the tracks assembly was a breeze, and the general size of the kit lends itself to quite a bit of freedom of expression in regards to finishing. If Tamiya keep releasing newly tooled kits of this caliber, I will be first in line to grab them up. Decals for the figure uniform patches and digital screens are a nice touch- as are the included half figures to fill in their hatches.
Highly Recommended for Beginner to Advanced builders.
Thanks goes out to Tamiya for this review kit.
Reviewed by Michael Reeves
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