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Takom recently released their Versuchsträger 1-2 kit. Some years ago I had first come across this vehicle when I bought a stack of old issues of a defence industry trade magazine from the late 1970s and thought it would be very cool to have a model of it, but scratchbuilding one didn’t appeal to me. I was therefore pretty excited when I learned earlier this year that a 1:35 scale plastic kit of the vehicle would be coming out, and bought it very quickly after it did.
As some background on the real vehicle, Versuchsträger translates literally as “Trial Carrier”. These vehicles were built in the mid-1970s as trials vehicles to see if having two guns would improve the chances of getting a kill on a target, due to being able to fire twice in rapid succession. Two were built: the VT 1-1 that was armed with two L7A3 guns like on the Leopard 1, and the VT 1-2 that had twin Rh-120 guns, the type that would go on to arm the Leopard 2. In the 1-1, the guns were manually loaded, with one loader sitting on each side of the vehicle, while the 1-2 had an automatic loader for each gun, reducing the crew to three: commander, gunner and driver. The lower hull was basically that of the Kampfpanzer 70, the German version of the failed US-German MBT 70 project, but shortened by one roadwheel because the space for the turret ring was of course not needed.
In the end, the concept was not continued with because it didn’t offer a big enough advantage over the Leopard 2 that was under development at the time. The prototype has been preserved and is now in a German museum:
Versuchsträger VT 1-2 by 270862, on Flickr
So what do you get in the box?
I find the wheel sprues interesting: this model needs six wheels per side, but the sprue gives seven. Would that mean Takom has designed the sprue so it can also be used for an upcoming KPz 70? I kind of hope so
Dargon’s kit of that is OK, but not great. The tracks here are so-so, though: they seem well-detailled, but whoever thought that putting them into a plastic bag in an S-shape was a good idea, should probably not be allowed to do that again. The two steel pins., BTW, are to join the tracks, as they have holes moulded through to take the pin.
Instructions can be found on Scalemates since I scanned and uploaded them this afternoon
Now, I’m not that fond of prototypes. I don’t generally find them overly interesting because you only really have the choice of building them as those prototypes.
But: what if? Takom had similar thoughts, as two of the four marking options are for “what if” vehicles in the 1980s.
So let’s assume that the concept did seem promising and the vehicle went into production — that will make a much more interesting model, if you ask me. But IMHO, what-if models are often done fairly poorly: people build the model from the box, then paint, mark and stow it as an in-service vehicle, and that’s it. Most prototypes, though, see some more development before they are actually put into use, and when I look at the VT 1-2, it lacks a lot of features the Bundeswehr would want. For example, things like smoke grenade launchers, an anti-aircraft machine gun, pioneer tools, and more of that kind of stuff. I also kind of expect a production version to use Leopard 2 parts where possible, such as in the suspension, if only to ease the procurement and supply of spares.
Thus, I bought:
No full sprue shots, but this is what you get in the box:
Mainly because it was the cheapest Leopard 2 I could find and as I’m not confident that the single-piece tracks will sit realistically, I also got:
Plus Leopard and Kpz 70 bits from my spares box:
At this point, though, it can be made even more interesting: what if I don’t make it as a Bundeswehr vehicle? But what other realistic options are there? Who else in NATO might have a use for a turretless tank destroyer?
Hmm …
(A book I have on my shelf, BTW, and would highly recommend to anyone interested in the vehicle.)
Belgium had bought the Jagdpanzer Kanone with 90 mm gun in the 1970s, so maybe by the 1980s they might want the developed VT 1-2 with its 120 mm as a replacement. The Jagdpanzer Kanone was generally known as the JPK 90 in Belgian service, so I figure I’ll call this one JPK 120.
I also obtained (from another modeller) a Hobby Fan figure of a “Nato YPR-765 conductor”, which is actually a Belgian crewman, to use on this model:
As some background on the real vehicle, Versuchsträger translates literally as “Trial Carrier”. These vehicles were built in the mid-1970s as trials vehicles to see if having two guns would improve the chances of getting a kill on a target, due to being able to fire twice in rapid succession. Two were built: the VT 1-1 that was armed with two L7A3 guns like on the Leopard 1, and the VT 1-2 that had twin Rh-120 guns, the type that would go on to arm the Leopard 2. In the 1-1, the guns were manually loaded, with one loader sitting on each side of the vehicle, while the 1-2 had an automatic loader for each gun, reducing the crew to three: commander, gunner and driver. The lower hull was basically that of the Kampfpanzer 70, the German version of the failed US-German MBT 70 project, but shortened by one roadwheel because the space for the turret ring was of course not needed.
In the end, the concept was not continued with because it didn’t offer a big enough advantage over the Leopard 2 that was under development at the time. The prototype has been preserved and is now in a German museum:
Versuchsträger VT 1-2 by 270862, on FlickrSo what do you get in the box?
I find the wheel sprues interesting: this model needs six wheels per side, but the sprue gives seven. Would that mean Takom has designed the sprue so it can also be used for an upcoming KPz 70? I kind of hope so
Dargon’s kit of that is OK, but not great. The tracks here are so-so, though: they seem well-detailled, but whoever thought that putting them into a plastic bag in an S-shape was a good idea, should probably not be allowed to do that again. The two steel pins., BTW, are to join the tracks, as they have holes moulded through to take the pin.Instructions can be found on Scalemates since I scanned and uploaded them this afternoon
Now, I’m not that fond of prototypes. I don’t generally find them overly interesting because you only really have the choice of building them as those prototypes.
But: what if? Takom had similar thoughts, as two of the four marking options are for “what if” vehicles in the 1980s.
So let’s assume that the concept did seem promising and the vehicle went into production — that will make a much more interesting model, if you ask me. But IMHO, what-if models are often done fairly poorly: people build the model from the box, then paint, mark and stow it as an in-service vehicle, and that’s it. Most prototypes, though, see some more development before they are actually put into use, and when I look at the VT 1-2, it lacks a lot of features the Bundeswehr would want. For example, things like smoke grenade launchers, an anti-aircraft machine gun, pioneer tools, and more of that kind of stuff. I also kind of expect a production version to use Leopard 2 parts where possible, such as in the suspension, if only to ease the procurement and supply of spares.
Thus, I bought:
No full sprue shots, but this is what you get in the box:
Mainly because it was the cheapest Leopard 2 I could find
and as I’m not confident that the single-piece tracks will sit realistically, I also got:Plus Leopard and Kpz 70 bits from my spares box:
At this point, though, it can be made even more interesting: what if I don’t make it as a Bundeswehr vehicle? But what other realistic options are there? Who else in NATO might have a use for a turretless tank destroyer?
Hmm …
(A book I have on my shelf, BTW, and would highly recommend to anyone interested in the vehicle.)
Belgium had bought the Jagdpanzer Kanone with 90 mm gun in the 1970s, so maybe by the 1980s they might want the developed VT 1-2 with its 120 mm as a replacement. The Jagdpanzer Kanone was generally known as the JPK 90 in Belgian service, so I figure I’ll call this one JPK 120.
I also obtained (from another modeller) a Hobby Fan figure of a “Nato YPR-765 conductor”, which is actually a Belgian crewman, to use on this model:
