Steve Abbey tackles Revell’s 1/35 rendering of the Bundeswehr’s stop-gap M48A2GA2 main battle tank
BASIC BUILD M48A2GA2 MBT
Even when the newly developed Leopard 1 was introduced in 1965, the US M48 Patton main battle tank (MBT) and its 90mm gun continued to form the backbone of the German army for many years.
Although outdated by the late 1970s, significant numbers remained in service because its Leopard 2 replacement was still being developed. It was therefore decided to upgrade the combatperformance of 650 M48s, these being re-designated M48A2GA2.
The original 90mm gun was replaced with the British L7 105mm unit (also fitted to the Leopard 1), while a new targeting searchlight improved night-fighting capability, and the commander’s position was enhanced by a Leopard 1-style cupola. Delivered initially in1978, the eventual arrival of the Leopard 2 resulted in the upgraded M48s being assigned mostly to reserve tank battalions and five companies of the German Territorial Army’s armoured reconnaissance battalions. They remained in service until German reunification in 1990-91.
What’s in the box
This newly tooled model was supplied in one of Revell’s typical side-opening boxes, which contained 261 parts on…
