Description

The Challenger 2 is a third generation British main battle tank in service primarily with the United Kingdom. Designed as a successor to the aging Challenger 1 main battle tank, the Challenger 2 benefitted from an extensive redesign while still sharing similar looking automotive components of the lower hull. Armed with a 120mm main gun , a coaxial 7.62mm chain gun, and a turret mounted 7.62 mm General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG). Though unique among the various NATO main battle tanks, the British Army’s continued use of high explosive squash head (HESH), and armor piercing fin stabilized discarding sabot ammunition rounds dictated the use of a rifled main gun barrel.

Seeing operational use, as early as the 1990s, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Iraq, various upgrades were sought to improve the Challenger 2’s protection, mobility and lethality.

Ryefield Model‘s 1/35 Challenger 2 British Main Battle Tank consists of 8 grey plastic plus 1 clear sprues, multiple slide molded parts for the chassis and turret, a PE fret, and a decal sheet. The kit features crisply molded details, featuring precise weld lines on the turret and lower hull, as well as the subtle anti-slip texture visible on the tank’s upper and lower surfaces. Both the suspension system and the tracks are workable, allowing for a diorama setting on a varied terrain. The kit also features the late style perforated wheels, for cooling, visible on the latest versions of the tank, in addition to the added belly armor. All hatches are movable even after assembly.
Four marking option are included in the kit featuring a one Tan colored and one Tan & Green camouflaged unit during BATUS exercise in Alberta, Canada; one unit painted in the Berlin/Urban Scheme; and one unit colored in overall NATO Green as seen during the military exercise Operation Cabrit in Estonia and Poland.