LECLERC
Lion Roar 1:35 set #LE35056
Review by Terry Ashley

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The Lion Roar sets includes the same parts as the Tamiya etchings such as the driver’s hatch lip, rear fuel tank straps and engine deck screens only with much finer detail than the Tamiya parts plus additional detail parts.

The standard of etching is excellent with clean etching with relief areas and fine bending lines included and are as good as any etched sets around today.

The engine deck screen fret is extremely thin .01mm metal with very fine mesh weave and you have to handle these with care as they can be damaged very easily as you would imagine being that thin but the effect when attached to the engine deck is excellent.

Fine mesh is also provided for the turret air conditioner duct and inside the rear turret storage bin with both these being much finer than the Tamiya etched parts as are the fuel drum straps. All the latches on the rear turret box, fuel drum straps and securing straps on the turret basket are made from multi-part latch assembles using the thin wire supplied for the hinges with these latches being as intricate as any ABER have thought up.

Other details include the driver’s hatch lip as mentioned, details for the tail and head lights as well as the latches on the Commander’s and Gunner’s hatches and the mounting brackets for the rear turret box.

What lifts this set above usual etched sets is the inclusion of the metal 120mm barrel which is cleanly machined to include the fine segment ridges along the barrel and the lip at the muzzle end. The new barrel is designed to accept the kit barrel tip (part D23) and after cutting off the plastic barrel just in front of the canvas section the metal barrel neck slips neatly into the resulting hole for a very quick and easy replacement.

There should be a series of holes along the underside of the barrel thermal sleeve which are not included but these are not really visible unless looking at the barrel from an insect’s viewpoint and would be very difficult to include in the metal barrel.

The instructions are the usual exploded view drawings and are quite easy to follow with no areas that should be of concern, just take your time with those small lathces.

Conclusion:
This is an excellent etched update with very fine etchings, especially the engine deck screens that are so thin you can easily see the louver details included on the Tamiya intakes and are some of the finer screens I’ve seen.

The many small latches will test your patience but the end result has excellent detail definition to add to the kit.

As Tamiya requires you to buy an extra etched set to complete the kit as per instructions you may as well use this set as the parts are much finer than those from Tamiya and you get the bonus barrel to boot.

Highly recommended.

	LECLERC - The French "Ground Dominance" MBT by Stefan Marx. Tankograd French Special No 8001 Soft cover, A4 size, 64 pages
	Ground Power Magazine #135 - 8/2005 Published by GALILEO Publishing Co.,Ltd. 2-2-13 Misaki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan Includes a 55 page detailed article on the Leclerc.
	Ground Power Magazine #136 - 9/2005 Published by GALILEO Publishing Co.,Ltd. 2-2-13 Misaki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan Part 2 of the extensive article on the Leclerc.
	Ground Power Magazine #137 - 10/2005 Published by GALILEO Publishing Co.,Ltd. 2-2-13 Misaki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan Part 3 of the extensive article on the Leclerc.

Thanks to my credit card and the excellent service from Hobby Easy for the review set.

Page created November 4, 2005