The Leopard (or Leopard 1) is a main battle tank designed and produced in West Germany that first entered service in 1965. Developed in an era when HEAT warheads were thought to make conventional heavy armour of limited value, the Leopard focused on firepower in the form of the German-built version of the British L7 105-mm gun, and improved cross-country performance that was unmatched by other designs of the era.
The design started as a collaborative project during the 1950s between West Germanyand France, and later joined by Italy,[1] but the partnership ended shortly after and the final design was ordered by the Bundeswehr, with full-scale production starting in 1965. In total, 6,485 Leopard tanks have been built, of which 4,744 were battle tanks and 1,741 were utility and anti-aircraft variants, not including 80 prototypes and pre-series vehicles.
Item No |
84504 |
Item Name |
Leopard C2 MEXAS (Canadian MBT) |
Bar Code |
6939319245045 |
Scale |
1:35 |
Item Type |
Plastic Model Armor Kit |
Model Dimension |
Length: 273.7mm Width: 96.8mm |
Total Plastic Parts |
630+ |
Total Sprues |
15 sprues , upper hull , lower hull and turret |
Chromeplate Parts |
n/a |
Resin Parts |
n/a |
Metal Parts |
copper cable |
Photo Etched Parts |
3 pcs |
Film Accessory |
n/a |
Released Date |
2018-12 |
More Features |
the kit consists of over 630 parts
- Two-directional slide moulded lower hull & turret
- 160 individual tracks links
- photo-etched parts included |
The Leopard 1 is a modern 2nd generation German Main Battle Tank. The first prototypes of the vehicle were created in 1961, and serial production continued in 1965-1979, ending with the production of over 4,700 tanks. The Leopard 1 is powered by an 830hp MTU MB 838 Ca-M engine. The vehicle is armed with a single 105mm L7 A3 semi-automatic cannon and two 7.62mm MG3 machine guns.
The Leopard 1 was created in response to the demand for a new Main Battle Tank announced by Bundeswehr in 1956. The new car was to replace the American M47 and M48 tanks. Design work and testing of the structure was extended until 1965, which may be partly explained by an unsuccessful attempt to establish cooperation with French companies on a new car. Ultimately, however, a highly refined tank was created, with good armament for those times, good armor, low failure rate and - as it turned out - very susceptible to modernization. During serial production and operation, several development versions of the tank were created Leopard 1. The first was the A 1 version with a new gun stabilization system. A version of the A 3 was also created, with a completely new turret design and better armor. In 1974, the production of the A 4 version was launched with a new SKO (fire control system) and even more perfect turret armor. The last mass-produced version was the A 6 with an improved SKO in relation to the A 5 version and better hydraulics. There were also modernizations made by foreign users, e.g. the Leopard C2, i.e. the modernization of the Leopard 1 tank made in Canada in 2000, consisting in strengthening the armor and using the turret from the A 5 version. Due to its high combat value, the Leopard 1 was exported to many countries, including: Brazil, Belgium, Chile, Greece, the Netherlands, Turkey and Italy. In some of them (Italy or Greece) it is still in service.
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