Scale: 1/72 | Models used: Revell – Leopard 2A6 (kit nr. 03180), White Stork Miniatures – Tank crew (F72123)

This Leopard 2A6 is on the move, while it’s tank crew is scanning the area, looking for potential targets. The Ukrainian forces have been supplied with Western equipment, like these German Leopard tanks. Developed by Krauss-Maffei in the 1970s, the tank entered service in 1979 and replaced the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the West German army. Now in use with the Ukrainians, they have to prove themselves on the modern field of battle.

Ukrainian Army Leopard 2A6 main battle tank equipped with a 120mm L/55 smoothbore gun during field operations, highlighting advanced Western firepower and long-range engagement capability in Ukraine. Picture source: Wikimedia.

This Revell model kit has a tooling date from 2011. Despite this, the build was a pretty nice experience. One challenge; fitting the enormous turret on the hull. Because the hull is made from softer plastic it has the potential to bend a bit, so I needed to be careful there. Once in place it can rotate in the desired manner, so there were no problems afterwards.

NATO camouflage schemes are pretty interesting to apply to a 1/72 scale model. I hope I achieved the look. The dust layer and filters which I applied are also helping out a bit. The tank crew (nice figures from White Stork Miniatures), were painted with the digital camo uniforms. 

For these Eastern European dioramas I use the same method. Start with the dirt texture, place a lot of different kinds of grass and seafoam and the last step is to place the steppe grass tufts. It creates this vibe you get from the ‘Stalker’ video games.