Review : Military Leopard 2A7+ Main Battle Tank Model Building Blocks

 

Today I’ve got something very exciting for brick-building fans, veterans and military enthusiasts.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to our blog. It’s Victor from the Gulo Gulo team here. Gulo Gulo sets are not only one of the top alternatives to Lego, but compatible with Lego as well.

What we have here today is this impressive model vehicle in all its glory. First things first, we’re going to learn about its details.

— Set details —

This one is called Gulo Gulo Leopard 2A7+. It consists of 898 pieces and came out in 2021. So this is a modified version of the Leopard 2A7+ Main Battle Tank. I could not be more excited. So let’s not wait around. I’m just going to take it out of the package and show you guys what we’ve got.

And now for the moment of truth: it is a huge package, which also includes not only the pieces, but also an instruction manual, a sticker sheet, a brick separator, the weapons and 4 nice little figures. In total, we have got 13 bags.

— About the Leopard 2A7+ Main Battle Tank —

The Leopard 2A7+ has a host of improvements and is the most complex and most advanced member the Leopard family has ever produced. Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) designed to develop the Leopard 2A7+ next-generation MBT for the German Armed Forces. It was first shown to the public during the Eurosatory 2010, featuring the label “Developed by KMW — tested and qualified by the German Ministry of Defence”.

The Leopard 2A7+ can operate in low-intensity conflicts and high-intensity warfare. The tank’s protection has been increased by modular armor; the frontal protection has been improved with a dual-kit on the turret and hull front, while 360° protection against RPGs and mine protection increase the survivability of the tank in urban operations. The modular armor’s system components were first used by Canada in Afghanistan. It can fire programmable HE munitions and the turret mounted MG3 has been replaced with a stabilised FLW 200 remotely controlled weapon station. The mobility, sustainability and situational awareness have also been improved.

— Completion —

Hey, guys. Welcome back. So as you can see, I’m finished with Gulo Gulo Leopard 2A7+. So that was a lot of fun. This thing took me about three hours to make and I certainly enjoyed making it.

I started off by building our bottom for the structure here. At first, I still felt a bit sleepy when my day began. Then I was playing with these toy bricks in the corner — methodically adding one piece after another, bound together by axles, and built a solid bottom. However, as I put the whole set together, it looked so awesome that it made me more awake.

— Features —

You know as a side note, as an MOC enthusiast, I discovered that I definitely saved time and money when I got my MOC sets delivered from Gulo Gulo. I did a lot of ordering on Bricklink and sometimes I spent over $100 on an order and that was not even 400 pieces worth of bricks, maybe 300 pieces. And not only that, but also I usually spent a couple of weeks buying the pieces separately from five or ten different sellers at shipping costs, of course and then trying to piece them together. After that, if you were to build it on your own, good luck figuring out the instructions because I’ve done that before. I wasted two days or even four days trying to build something exactly like a Gulo Gulo set. However, considering that Gulo Gulo has a little figure custom, an instruction manual and everything, getting a set done is just plain easy. All you need to do is buying it and building it with the instructions.

Though this is like a little Lego, like most Gulo Gulo sets, a smaller build needs to be completely redesigned. As a result, Gulo Gulo Leopard 2A7+ is kind of unique and like a piece of art. Plus, this model tank is an outstanding kit, real similar to Leopard 2A7+.

Now let’s dive into all of the features of of this thing.

— The Turret —

Here we go then. First of all, at the top, the turret actually in its own way is quite realistic.

The detailed pieces of the barrel are really nice. These pieces that fit on there are very helpful for barrels of the guns.

The main barrel does raise and depress. It’s so important that it can depress because it is designed to be able to go to high spots and then point down. Like most tanks, it should be able to do that in the modern era. The actual Leopard 2A7+ has got the 120 millimeter L55 smoothbore gun from Rheinmetall.

And then, there is the square flat-shaped cover that goes over the top of the barrel attachment, thus eliminating a weak spot in the front of the turret. It raises and lowers on its little hinge. I like that piece because it is so rare.

Also, I love the the wedge plates to either side of the barrel attachment. Each of them does hook on via two studs here. The designer of this model tank literally managed to make it all connect perfectly. And I guess that’s extra armor on the front of tank. Its main difference to its predecessor is that it makes use of composite armor offering significantly better protection especially in the front of the turret. It is well protected against most rounds even in high-ranked engagements.

There are two hatches on the top of the main turret. They both do open and close.

So we have a hatch for the loader.

We also have a hatch for the commander. These holes are quite deep, so you can have your little figures sit or stand in there.

We’ve also got the gunners EMES-15 primary sight in front of the hatch for the commander. The gunner’s station of the real Leopard 2A7+ MBT is fitted with an EMES 15 stabilised main sight with integrated night vision.

And then, it’s also got the commander’s periscope behind the commander’s hatch. It rotates really smoothly all the way round. The commander’s station of the actual Leopard 2A7+ incorporates a new PERI RTWL stabilised glass optical periscope for day and night reconnaissance over long distances. The periscope consists of a third-generation Attica thermal imaging device, a daylight CCD camera, an image fusion function, fibre optical gyros, and an eye-safe laser range-finder.

In addition, behind the hatch for the loader, it’s got a roof-mounted remote weapon station fitted with, I’m assuming, a Browning M2HB heavy machine gun, which raises and lowers and also moves from side to side. The weapon station rotates as well. This modular remote controlled light weapon station provides active self-defence from a variety of targets.

At the front end of each side, you do have a function here where you open this a flag-shaped piece with flared edges and you can access the interior. Though there is no interior detail, it’s kind of interesting.

It also has a little sticker indicating the Iron Cross on each side of the turret. I think it looks really neat.

Near the Iron Cross, I think this part represents a camera of the situational awareness system. How detailed that is!

What you will notice as well is that it’s got the smoke grenades mounted on either side to help conceal the tank from enemy fire.

And on the rear of the turret, it’s got a couple of antennas. These are short and sturdy.

We’ve also got the storage space here in the back. It is very detailed.

We’ve even got the cooling system next to the the storage space. They just thought of everything in this set. I’m in love with it. The turret and chassis of the Leopard 2A7+ are both fitted with a cooling system.

The turret does spin around for a full 360°. That’s great.

As you can see, you can lift off the turret as well. So this is pretty much what you get. Underneath the tank, we’ve got just the chassis.

— The Chassis —

The detail in the chassis is just as realistic as that of the turret.

Looking at the front side, the detail is really nice.

There are two headlights in the front. They are two little square clear pieces, but look very nice and certainly seem real.

There are three nice-looking stickers in the front as well. Two of them have two different numbers on them respectively. I guess these signify our number, which tank number this is. On the left, there’s a sticker that says 217 and the one right in the middle says V-131 154.

And on the right, I suppose this sticker was intended to give you the look of a sign. I’m not sure what it exactly refers to.

Here are two nice little rear-view mirrors on both sides behind those stickers.

And then, if you look down towards the bottom here, you can see that there’s this opening door here in the front. So this spot here is what the troops would enter and leave the tank from and of course, usually that closes up for protection.

Taking a look at the sides, it is cool-looking.

At the front end of each side skirt, it does have again the function here. So if you open this tile with two clips, you can access a patch of the track links inside. How open it is!

Another cool feature with the sides is there are several stickers on the side skirt, one of which indicates a white arrow.

Another sticker has got a white horizontal stripes pattern.

There are also another two stickers that have two different tank numbers on them. These stickers all look very cool.

On the bottom, you have eight road wheels and a drive sprocket. Every road wheel turns pretty well.

As for track links, I am obsessed with these track links. The quality of them is actually pretty much the same as that of the Lego track links, but these are much more inexpensive than Lego. There are about 124 track links in total for both of these. However, one design flaw is that the track links don’t roll on the surface. Somehow the track links and the road wheels don’t go together properly. When I was playing with the tank in the air, the track links rolled, but as soon as I put it on the surface, it could barely roll.  

Looking at the back side, the detail and the building techniques used are awesome.

You can also open the engine compartment door here to reveal a nice little engine down in there and you could pull it out as well. So there’s the inside. 

And there’s the engine. It’s pretty simple but of nice design. And that’s like a hidden detail and a hidden gem of the set. 

And then, the coolant air outlet grill is composed of these slopes with four slots. That looks very realistic.

We’ve also got two nice rear lights lurking right behind the slopes. They are red clear pieces, representing the LED lights and that looks correct.

On the bottom is really great part usage. I love all the detail with all of the slopes, tiles, cheese wedges and stuff like that. This thing is just fantastic.

As for the color scheme, this dark bluish gray is the closest approximation in real life. I think the most modern variants are kind of the really dark olive drab color, but this dark bluish gray is one of the closest approximations in toy bricks for when they’re out in the field, they’re completely covered in dirt.

Last but not least, it’s really just a solid tank.

 

— Four nice little figures —

And of course, in addition to the model main battle tank, four figures are also included. They are really nice builds. I love them. 

These little figures are the Leo crew. You’ve got basically two and two. These are the two lower-ranked people who have fewer ammunition pouches. These are two in the middle that have more ammunition pouches and two weapons, so they must be slightly more important or at least better armed.

Who’s this happy fella? There’s your commander. He is called Viktor. He’s carrying two guns, with, I’m assuming, a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun in one hand and a Heckler & Koch USP semi-automatic pistol in the other. Oh, there’s actually a really nice level of detail on the helmet with probably a flashlight. He has also got a headset. I don’t know why this guy is smiling. Perhaps he’s up to something. From a historical perspective, the expressions on the faces are a little difficult to understand and then of course, it’s easy to make a joke about how they look.

And then, here’s a female loader. Her name is Vi. She’s carrying two weapons, with, I’m assuming, a Heckler & Koch AG36 Grenade launcher in one hand and a German survival knife in the other. In addition to that, she’s wearing a lovely red beret, which has very nice edging. I like the detail here. She is a pretty lady with big sand blue eyes and red lips.

The next lady is the driver. She is called Jinx. I guess she is carrying a Haenel RS9 sniper rifle. She has got a hairpiece, so as you can see, she’s got a long ponytail along with side bangs. However, her face is forbidding, even hostile. She has a self-satisfied smirk on her face with yellow wide eyes and her left eyebrow raised.

Next, this gentleman is Jayce, the gunner. I guess he’s carrying a MG 3 machine gun. Though he is wearing the same helmet as the commander’s, again, he’s got individualized printing, which is nice. So Jayce’s got a very stern look. He has got a very nice goatee and some stubble. I’m always a big fan of both of those. They look quite stylish. He has got really stylish goggles, too. These are printed goggles, which has got a nice texture.

As I often said, I really enjoy the level of detail that they print and again it’s nice there’s no stickers on these little figures. The uniforms are printed in the standard German camouflage — some green shades, some brown and some black. They are a very realistic approximation of actual German camouflage and in particular there’s a really remarkable level of detail in the printing of the torsos. There’s printing on the vests, sides, arms and backs. On the camouflage trousers and boots, it’s the same thing. So these little figures have got pretty much all-over printing.

— Summary —

All in all, Gulo Gulo Leopard 2A7+ is the most adorable model tank I have ever seen. What a lovely, lovely, lovely thing! In fact, it is almost perfect. The tank itself looks awesome just like the real Leopard 2A7+. The details are outstanding. This particular model vehicle has got the roof-mounted remote weapon station, the new commander’s scope, the new situational awareness system and so on. Besides, it has also got a few functions. Different sort of little doors open, so you can access the interior of the turret, a patch of track links inside and the front portion of the chassis. Of course, it does have the depressing and elevating barrel and you can rotate the turret.

As I’ve shown you guys, one thing that needs improving is that the track links don’t roll on the surface. Since I’m not going to be using it that much for anything, still it’s fine. I still love it. However, other than that, this model tank is not only like a little Lego, but also a unique and cool-looking model. The more I look at it, the more I do love it.

The kit is very very nice. It’s also got four nice little figures, which is a definite plus. The detail on these figurines kind of makes up for the lack of detail on the interior of this thing.

Furthermore, this kit also helped me save time and money when it comes to getting an MOC done. There are not too many of parts and it is not very difficult as well so that you can finish it in a few hours without having to buy the pieces separately from different sellers at shipping costs. I actually had a really good time building it, so I would highly recommend you picking one of these up if you’re interested in MOCs.

Here is the link to get this:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001667976653.html

So thank you for reading, guys. I hope this review was a help. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.

Bye-bye. Adios.