ICM’s Leopard 2A6 in 1/35 scale is a Revell-Germany re-boxing kit. However, it represents a tank used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and includes a very attractive set of 5 figures with a dog. The box cover display shows the tank crew at rest with two members occupied with the running gear. The tank assembly consists of 246 parts and 45 parts are dedicated to the five crew figures and one dog figure. There are six marking options provided in this kit spanning different regions of Ukraine and periods between summer of 2023 and winter of 2024. Ukrainian national markings in different configurations can be applied over one standard German three tone NATO camouflage.

The box cover holds a reinforced white inner box that protects the kit’s seven plastic sprues (some sprues are multiple, like the one containing wheels), rubber elements, vinyl tracks, clear sheet for screens, and a decal sheet. The instruction manual describes 55 assembly steps on 20 pages. The downloadable instructions are also available online. The first page offers a short background about the Leopard 2A6 with tactical and technical specifications as well as a useful color chart with the equivalent ICM acrylic water-based paints and their catalog numbers. There is also a 4-page flyer describing the ICM paints, varnishes, primers, thinner, and paint sets. The last page of the flyer is dedicated to a table with the ICM color range. It also includes two QR codes to access information about paints and to download the equivalence table. The instruction manual has also a QR code for the subscription to ICM’s YouTube channel. The last 6 pages of the manual show the six marking options in front, rear, side, and top views.

Finally, there is a two-page sheet with instructions for how to assemble and paint the crew figures and the dog. The paint colors again show the ICM paints with their shades and catalog numbers.

Assembly

Chassis and wheels (steps 01-16): The assembly of the tank was quite enjoyable although the sides of the chassis, parts A2 and A3, had quite a bit of lash. Fortunately, it was fairly easy to clean it with a knife and a file. The construction starts with the chassis assembly of 5 main parts: two sides, bottom, top, and the rear plate. The fit was good except for the area where the top meets the bottom chassis at the front of the tank. There was a small gap about 1/8” which I addressed by adding a thin styrene sheet. The running gear was easy to assemble after cleaning the sprue attachment points. I did not attach the vinyl tracks as indicated in steps 15 and 16 of the manual as I wanted to paint the entire chassis first without anything interfering with good access to all areas on the chassis. It created some minor problems for me later as I had to use some force to slide the vinyl tracks through tight spaces where the running gear and return rollers are located. I also painted the tracks before installing them on the wheels. The vinyl tracks shorten the assembly, but they can also be a challenge. The provided tracks consisted of two parts per side, so the connection of the tracks requires gluing them in two spots. I tried to use Tamiya glue to bond them, but the rubber material did not yield to that. I ended up using the Green Stuff Works superglue to keep the tracks together and the bond was strong. The vinyl tracks also had some flash which I trimmed with precision cutters. The tracks had short shots (incomplete fill of the rubber material) on both track pieces. This condition can be seen on the attached picture of the tracks. I was able to hide the defect in the top area of the chassis behind the side skirts quite effectively.

Tools and side skirts (steps 17-28): After painting the chassis, installing the wheels, and attaching the vinyl tracks, I added pioneer equipment (shovels, saw, pick, metal bars) on top of the chassis as well as some other smaller parts including spare tracks at the front, rear view mirrors, towing anchors, and side skirts. The provided towing cables had a lot of flash and they broke into pieces when I tried to remove the flash. I replaced them with a twisted cord from my spares box. It was much easier to conform the cord to the shape of the chassis.

Turret and gun (steps 29-52): The turret assembly was easy as the fit was very good. The gun can be elevated and the armor shields on the sides of the turret can be extended out. Instead of a stretched sprue for the antennas, I used two Albion Alloy tubes of 0.3 mm thickness. Installation of window screens was tricky too as it required a good match of the size of the visors and optic instruments. I used a protractor as an aid in measuring the dimensions of the kit screens and visors. Installation of smoke grenades, a machine gun, and the turret hatches completed the turret assembly.

Engine cover and mirrors (steps 53-55): In step 53 the turret is placed on the chassis and can rotate. The round engine vent cover is plastic (the other one is molded with the chassis) and it has good detail. I have seen photo etched parts used for that part on other versions of the Leopard from other brands, but the quality of the mold is quite good here and PE parts are unnecessary. I installed the mirrors earlier in a folded position.

Painting

My review sample included ICM’s Leopard tanks Acrylic Paint Set (Item 3073) with six colors. Therefore, I was able to use the specific colors for the tank while the figure painting utilized other brand paints equivalent to the provided ICM paints. I painted the dog figure white and black paints from the provided set. Speaking of paints, I really liked how the ICM water based acrylic paints covered the surface when applied with a brush. I used distilled water to dilute them about 10%. Cleaning was also very easy using just running water. Application of the paint using an airbrush was a different experience. I had hard time adjusting the pressure to get a consistent thickness of the painted line. I diluted the paint 50% (ICM recommends 40-60% water or acrylic thinner). The paint would initially spray a consistent line and suddenly burst with a lot of paint in one spot. I tried using a distilled water, A.MIG-2000 acrylic thinner, as well as Tamiya X-20 thinner with almost identical results described above. I ended up wiping the airbrush’s needle and nozzle frequently which extended the painting process significantly. The A. MIG-2000 thinner seemed to work slightly better than Tamiya or water. I also found 13 PSI being the optimum air pressure for the airbrush application. I tried two different airbrushes and the results were the same. Usually, I am able to paint much thinner lines with these airbrushes but was not able to achieve that with the ICM paints. Fortunately, through a careful but long application of the ICM paints the camouflage scheme was done to my satisfaction. I sprayed the acrylic Future coat before an application of the decals and the decals conformed to the surface very well. They also responded very well to the Super Set and Super Sol decal setting solutions. After adding some weathering with AMMO pastels and Tamiya dark brown wash, I sprayed Testors dull cote lacquer over the entire model.

Tank Crew and the Dog Figures

The assembly of the figures was enjoyable as the poses were interesting and the fit was very good. The figure of the half sitting, half standing dog consists of two halves and is very nice. The painting reference shows a pixel camouflage on the uniforms. I did my best to imitate that in this scale. I drifted away from the suggested chocolate color of the dog in the instructions to white with black patches.

Final Notes

I really enjoyed building the Leopard 2 A6 in Ukrainian colors and the accompanying crew with a neat dog figurine. Despite some minor challenges with sprue flash and the vinyl tracks, the kit builds into a fine representation of the real tank. I liked the final result so much that I decided to build a diorama scene for it. I attached a couple of pictures of the diorama. I would recommend the kit to any modeler who wants to see the equipment of the brave Armed Forces of Ukraine. I am looking forward to more similar offerings from ICM.

My sincere thanks go to ICM for generously providing this kit and the paint set to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it.