At least they put a bit of effort into it. Looks ok at face value
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I intend to do a what if ukraine got leopard 2A6 from the netherland using the revell kit,tho I might take the border kit too at some point. And on money grabbing models, aren’t all models (including those outside the ukraine war) money grab since model makers still seek to make profit
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I also would assert that the Tamiya offerings would be massively more appealing if there was a new set of seated Ukranian infantry figures to crowd up the decks of both tanks.
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Thanks for posting.
Another ‘what if’ - until pics of the real tank are published. Kontakt-1?
The smoke dischargers seems to be correct this time. Aerials are not updated at least on the box drawing. For more details right side need to be shown.
Border kit had the cooling fan brackets more up to date when it came out, just for those who are interested.
Biggest issue in the Border kit was the instructions - sort those and they are in business. Its a better all round kit than the Tamiya I reckon.
I was fuming when they showed me how to make a Polish 2A5… by using the 2A6 parts. There were loads of other mistakes in the instructions as well. Even the decals were wrong. I had a mare with some masking putty as well so it wasn’t my best build, but it came out ok in the end.
I will be buying this one again to do the Ukrainian 2A6.
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That looks nice mate.
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Cheers mate
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Nice, look like border kit have instruction issues, it’s the same with their tiger I.
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Well, the Kitty Hawk instruction writers must’ve gotten new jobs with Border.
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Hahahaha i thought the same thing!
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It is not the kit at issue. If they waited until the vehicle was fielded and then used the actual markings then so what. When you are just making up the markings and placement and selling as actual then there is a foul.
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I don’t really see how what if are a issue here. I do what if russian tanks captured by ukraine and they’re not a problem either (my meng T90A per example)
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If you buy a model labeled as XYZ Mk 34.5 and build it as something else then that is your personal choice. Your property, your decision.
If I sell you a model labeled as ZXYb2/15 and you believe that you can build a reasonably correct representation of a ZXYb2/15 in Bordurian markings and then you find out that the kit is actually the
old ZXYa3/2 and the markings are incorrect then I have fooled you into paying for something which isn’t what you thought it was.
The first case is personal freedom and the second case is misleading marketing or maybe even fraud.
What if I sold you pieces of polished glass and told you it was diamonds?
What if I sold you pieces of polished glass and told you it was glass?
I could charge you the same price in both cases and let you decide if you want to pay
that price for simple glass. If I make you believe that it is diamonds you might think that
your are making a fantastic deal, diamonds at a tenth of the real value …
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I don’t think what if’s like border or tamiya leopard 2 count as misleading fraud, and I don’t think the comparaison with diamonds or glass is good, those are verry different things from model kits.
The heller leopard 1A4 and gepard don’t count as fraud either despite them proposing fictious ukrainian markings too. The company can also make the choice to depict what if vehicles, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. ICM did it for their mig 29 'ghost of kyiv", yet I haven’t seen anyone complaining about the markings, so I don’t see why it’d be wrong for border to do what if ukrainian leopard 2A6 if mig 29 get a pass.
Edit: I’d be more critial on the kit itself being innacurate than the what if markings
I was under the impression that we were discussing the Tamiya kit?
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If Tamiya or another company announced a WWII German Panzer III or Tiger with the wrong markings and an incorrect version, people would be going nuts.
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The model has arrived in Japan with Scalemates showing two stores selling it for about $27.50 US. Manufacturers suggested retail price is about $36 US. To me, that seems reasonable for a 2003 era model with some new decals.
Tamiya and Tamiya USA both have English language web pages with product descriptions for the model.
“This model kit recreates the Leopard 2 A6 Tank with molded parts and accessories from Item 35271 1/35 Leopard 2 A6. This edition includes new decals depicting the Ukraine army flag, complementary painting guide and new packaging.”
As best I can tell, 18 West German Leopard 2A6 tanks were delivered to Ukrainian troops on March 27, 2023.
So, the people at Tamiya are selling an old model with some new conjectural markings, which they call “complimentary”, for a tank recently delivered to Ukrainian troops. A quick search did not reveal any pictures of the tanks in service. I notice the conspicuous absence of the word “accurate” in the model description. Model company marketing writers love to use that word. Someone took some care writing those descriptions, walking a fine line between truth and untruth. Marketing people do that.
I continue to predict these will sell well to the kind of modeler who wants to get there first and/or does not care so much for perfect accuracy and/or is on a budget and/or wants an easy build. Later, when pictures become available, the people at Tamiya will most certainly release another version with more accurate markings. Later still, a version may appear with accurate markings and special parts. It all seems quite normal to me.
Reviews will appear very soon. People who worry about accuracy will wait for those, discover the kit contains an old Leopard 2A6 model with some conjectural markings, complain, and then forget about the whole thing. Meanwhile, a bunch of people with different priorities will purchase the model and, I sincerely hope, have fun with it.
As an aside, Airfix continues to sell Academy Grants, Lees, and Stuarts to happy Amazon customers. Remember the reviews for those? A couple nights ago, I watched some YouTube reviews of the “excellent” Tamiya Grant. They made me laugh.
Again, I am not advocating for the people at model companies to deceive model builders or sell inaccurate models. Some molds need to die. I would love if every new model was new tool, cheap, easy to build, and perfectly accurate. That is not going to happen. I feel cheap models with less accuracy have a place and if those sales fund development of a new super model, well that’s just great. Also, cheap models serve as gateways to the hobby.
Accurate models of Ukranian Leopard 2A6s will appear, some day. We will need to be patient. I have plenty of stuff to build until then. How about you? Some of the new Airfix models look really good. I never thought I would write that!
I am really not trying to pick a fight here. I am just chatting. If you find my opinion dumb, that’s fine. Please do not get mad at me. I just have a different point of view. 
Edit: The first competitor to the Tamiya offering has arrived on the scene:
Leopard 2A6 – Main Battle Tank in Ukrainian Service
It does not look very accurate to me.
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To build an UKR L2A6 former-German…
Tamiya has wrong smokedischargers, wrong arial/arialmounts and is missing a ‘plate’ right hand turret rear top behing TkCdr hatch. Cooling ring not up to date, others.
Border has the smokedischargers and cooling ring correct , otherwise like Tamiya.
About Border’s Kontakt-1 ERA I can’t say anything.
An ex-Portuguese is something different.
Accuracy is in the eye of the beholder - there’s no plastic model ever that is 100% accurate to the 1:1 version. What Tamiya is selling is a good guess at a tank transferred to Ukraine, just as the original version was a (well-informed but not perfect) guess at a tank used by Germany. Each of us has a different point at which it becomes ‘good enough’ to purchase. Folks that just want some blue and gold in their cabinet that looks nice will be happy, while those who seek an absolutely accurate Ukrainian Leopard have probably already rebuilt a different Leopard with a ton of scratch pieces and custom decals and avoid this model completely. Everyone else will have to make their own decisions.
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On the border, I read the 2A6 german release has instruction issues. These innacuracies seems to be not so hard to rectify for the tamiya