Looking good Dan & Brian!
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I’ve finally tackled the mantlet cover - surely a must if this had ever seen service; not my finest sculpting effort so don’t look too closely. I’ll try some gentle sanding in the morning(!)
I’ve also used the Magic Sculp to contour the Gunner’s hatch which I’ve had to scratch (not shown).
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Just for future reference to those who might be dipping into the Campaign, I plan on adding camouflage nets somewhat akin to this Leo 2:
Any shortcomings on my mantlet cover efforts - and indeed - any other glaring errors/bad techniques, can thus be concealed(!)
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Good question about that: would it have been American-style like you have it here (may want to add M60-type bellows around the barrel, too, BTW) or German-style that just covers the gap between turret and mantlet?
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Yes - a tricky one; apart from the weather also vital for NBC protection - all that liquid blister agent has to go somewhere. Of course, in this narrative it would be the German version that (I’m assuming) the Dutch would acquire, so more likely a sparser mantlet cover really would be required, however, I’ll save that for my Bundeswehr version.
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Thank you
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You could always explain it as the Dutch Army being familiar with the covers from the Centurion and wanting much the same on their Gvt 70[1] rather than the smaller cover the Germans used.
Let’s assume the name got translated to Gevechtstank 70, based on the 1969 Leopard manual being for the Gevechtstank, rups: Leopard m/kanon 105 mm ↩︎
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Ah - I think you’ve pre-empted a question, in that I was going to ask what would be the likely abbreviation of the MBT-70 in Dutch - I’m assuming that’s the answer!
So, just to be 100% sure, is it a mix of lower and upper case? I need to get it right for the nameplates I always affix to my models.
Thanks in advance - and also for the reasoning for my chosen mantlet-cover style!
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Sorry Jakko, I missed the footnote - all crystal clear now.
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Admittedly a subjective view, but in the cold light of dawn - or at least my kitchen lighting - the mantlet cover hasn’t come out too badly at all I feel:
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Coming along very nicely indeed, Brian. Like the mantlet cover.
I’d probably not followed this properly, as I now realise this will be a Dutch version. Must pay attention more!
This has set my mind wondering (and wandering!) regarding other potential NATO countries adopting this, back in the day. Belgium, Italy, Spain …. the list could go on.
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I was completely unaware of the possibility of a Dutch version, until Jakko very helpfully piped up. All very much What-If territory, but also in a way “Why Not?” The permutations are endless I suppose; I have an extra kit which I will depict as a true-blue German version although I might just tinker with a 120mm gun version, bearing mind that Leo 2 would then not have been developed - in What-If land.
I also have 2 x Commander Models’ versions in the stash, so one of those will certainly be in MERDC as if deployed in USAREUR, with just a few visual mods such as a searchlight change and perhaps smoke dischargers. As you know, I do like to populate my models, and this is relatively easily accomplished with the Dragon kit (although infuriatingly there’s one hatch moulded shut) but the resin US kit is a solid hunk of resin, so I’m not sure how to tackle that; anyway, a project some way distant!
As you identify, other nations could make for some interesting models on the display tables; even a Brit one perhaps? Hmmm.
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Right Folks, I’ve hit a bit of a problem here. I’m in the process of installing the distinctive Dutch pattern smoke dischargers. I’m using the ones from the Revell Leopard 2A6, shown on their instruction sheet here:
Here’s the constituent parts Blu-tak’d together:
But of course, for the Leo 2 they fit against a completely vertical surface (and look just fine); if I apply them flush to the MBT-70 turret (which isn’t vertical), they look a bit odd - although if this makes mechanical sense let me know:
If I move them out so they’re perpendicular, which sort of makes sense in a way - they still look odd:
I could add some sort of bracing strut - say a continuation of the protective frame of the launcher to the turret side, roughly shown here (in blue) which might reduce the oddness:
or, even scratch a platform, roughly shown here:
and still consider adding a continuation strut of some sort.
Any comments/ideas welcome.
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I’d go with the bracing struts and the kit shelf. Bear in mind you need to aim them out enough so they don’t ricochet off of the 20mm barbette!
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Yeah, I was kinda going that way myself, or possibly with a blanking plate (vertical) behind the launchers and then some struts.
Don’t worry Tom, re the angle of the dangle - they’re only Blu-tak’d and I’ll check with CSI-type rods to make sure there’re no own goals!
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You do know the dead space behind the bracket is a magnet for all kinds of unauthorised stowage!
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So true; I also came up with this - sort of á la Jagdpanzer Kanone. There’d be 3 x of them. Well, there is all that space on the turret top:
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Having cast around for a bit, I realised that one of my earlier hoarded pics provides an answer - or at least in a way. The actual launchers are not flush against the turret side on a Leo 2, but still stand proud a little; see below:
So, whilst it may look a little odd, that might be the way ahead; I’ll do some more faffing around and see.
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I think it would be more likely that the German name, whichever that might end up being (KPz Keiler?), would be used in Dutch too. Especially because, if it was called the Gvt 70, you can bet every soldier would have called it the GVD 70 (click on the expansion of the abbreviation there).
is it a mix of lower and upper case?
I would assume so, though knowing the KL’s consistency in these things, it might just as well have been gvt, GVT or GvT. The 1969 Leopard manual appears to only use the designation in full (“gevechtstank”) with no abbreviation I could see on a quick browse-through, and the same goes for the (undated, but early 1980s) preliminary manual for the Leopard 2 and the 1984 “actual” version of that.
For a nameplate, I would go with full Gevechtstank followed by either 70 or what you figure the German name for it would have been.
Likely, I would fit them flat against the turret using the Revell parts for the base, but you would need to turn the front launcher on the left outward, because it would hit the base of the 20 mm turret otherwise. Or fit them more towards the front, if there’s room below the missile tracker housing.
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Jakko,
Many thanks for your help in all this; I wouldn’t have gotten very far at all - though of course, you provided the inspiration in the first place(!)
I too thought that any German Kpz-70 would ultimately be called Keiler - or possibly Eber. Thanks to for the abbreviations; as it happens “GVD” was one of the few phrases I discerned from my RNLA compatriots when working at HQ Northern Army Group!
Regarding the smoke dischargers: I think I’ll have to fit them flush; every other option is getting too complicated.
Thanks again.
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