Leopard 2A6
Voyager 1:35 Pro Series #35001
(for Tamiya 35271)
Review by Terry Ashley
The etched frets are the usual high quality from Voyager with different thicknesses of the brass frets for good detail definition and excellent relief etching such as on the side skirts and extremely fine etching for the engine intake mesh and grills as well as the many small brackets and fittings.
The metal parts such as the full barrel and smoke grenades are finely machined without any cleanup required while the resin parts are again cleanly cast with just usual casting blocks to be removed before use.
The largest part is the full length turned aluminium barrel which includes the nicely formed fume extractor and hollowed out muzzle. Added to this are six etched bands and the resin muzzle reference system on the muzzle band which will need a bit of care to get the flat side section lined up correctly in relation to the gun mounting.
The assembled barrel simply replaces the kit barrel and fits neatly into the kit gun mounting (part C11) without any modifications.
A full replacement set of unarmoured side skirts is provided as etched panels with replacement forward armoured panels in resin to portray a Leopard 2 on training as the full armoured skirts are usually only fitted on active duty. There are additional small resin mounting brackets for the skirts but the resin panels at the front don’t have the upper hinges which you can use from the kit panels.
The machined brass smoke grenades have small resin mountings with etched parts for the brackets and fine chain attached to the grenade caps and these simply replace the kit grenades (parts A22).
The etched parts include many very fine parts and some quite complicated assemblies with some also including the thin plastic rod provided that will require care and are not for inexperienced modellers, so with that in mind we move on.
On the engine deck the forward small intakes have the grills around the sides replaced with fine etched mesh with additional small clips and the two large fan intakes are fully replaced with multi-part assemblies that include the side frames with small clips the circular grills and very fine mesh over the top for what are quite complicated but nicely detailed assemblies.
All the tool clips are in multi-part assemblies that require the moulded on tool clips be cut from the kit tools before hand as well as the barrel cleaning rods replaced with the brass rod provided with additional etched and rod parts for the attachment brackets.
The front and rear mud flaps are replaced with etched parts that include additional small parts for the hinges and attachment fittings.
On the turret the rear mounted cable reel and large brackets are again provided in multi-part assemblies that are quite intricate and will require care during assembly and you have to cut off some of the kit detail to take the new parts. The mesh for the rear side turret baskets is also provided in finely etched brass which is a marked improvement over the mesh in the Tamiya kit.
On the roof the Loader’s hatch MG race is completely rebuilt with small lengths of plastic rod and the etched race with MG mounting made up of 13 very small etched parts that will test your skills. The practice on that assembly will come in handy for the large Commander’s PERI-R17A2 panoramic periscope which again has 13 etched parts added to it after cutting off some kit detail.
I assembled this part to test the waters and after assembling the basic kit
parts (C20, C21, C26, C45, C48 and clear ‘glass’) then cutting
off some raised details most went well apart from one of the front brackets
which I bent in the usual manner into the engraved lines only to find it should
have been bent away from the lines.
Bending them back the other way meant the parts broke apart leaving all the
small segments separate for quite a jig-saw puzzle to be put back together.
I eventually got there and the resulting periscope is very detailed including
the small wiper blade and looks very impressive but the work involved will
test your patience. The issue with the bend direction is not mentioned in the
instructions but should be if the parts are not to be bent into the bending
lines in the usual manner.
The large Miles II training system rack at the front is also completely replaced with an intricate assembly that requires many small bends and careful study of the instructions will be needed before bending the parts.
The instruction sheet has six pages of exploded view drawings which will require careful study as some assemblies are quite intricate and complicated but given the complexity of the set are fairly explanatory.
Conclusion:
This is certainly an impressive set that combines different mediums usually
found in separate update sets but is definitely only for the experienced modeller
due the many intricate and complicated assemblies.
This complexity does result in very detailed assemblies that certainly lift the detail level of the kit to new levels and anyone wanting to build the ultimate Leopard 2A6 or A5 for that matter then this is the set for you.
The inclusion of the metal barrel, smoke grenades and non-armoured skirts for an nice alternative to add more appeal to the set.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Voyager Models for the review set.
Page Created August 23, 2006