1:35 scale
RM054 Type 1 and Type 2 cables
for Leopard 1 and Leopard 2, Strv 122 and PzH 2000
Reviewed by Michael Shackleton
Thanks go to Ricardo Santos of RMG Resin for supplying the samples.
For a long time, Eureka and Karaya, amongst others, have had the tow cable market to themselves. Now we have a relatively new company from Portugal, called RMG Resin, who are quickly making a name for themselves.
Why is this? To put it quite simply, RMG's founder is a stickler for ultra detail.
To quote from their website:
RMG deliver a range of products with accurate detail in 1/35, 1/48, 1/72 scales. Their modelling know how and passion guarantee the products delivered are of high quality and accuracy. We have the objective of growing through delivering superior products. Growth which will also deliver an ever increasing range of new products. With these new products we feel we are contributing to the enrichment of the wonderful world in miniature. Here you can find accessories that make a difference to your models .
RMG also produce accessories such as different styles of barriers, fuel drums, wooden poles, barbed wire, pickets, chains, flexible tubing, etc. Even rubbish (trash) skips will be with us soon!
Their tow cable sets are growing all the time and already cover the most popular vehicle subjects.
As you can see from the statement above, attention to detail is of paramount importance. Ricardo kindly consulted Leopard Club to make sure these particular cables were correct. He even discovered at least two distinct style of cable eyes, something even I had never really noticed before. This is the reason for producing two styles which are labeled Type 1 and Type 2.
The two types come in small blister packages with attractively designed labels. On opening the blisters you will find a small ziplock bag containing the four eyes, two separate cables already cut to the correct length, and a folded instruction sheet. On both of my examples, some of the eyes had broken away from the casting blocks but, most importantly, there was no damage to any of the eyes. The parts will never damage due to the design of the connection to the casting block.
Type 1 has a separate eye and collar (though cast as one, of course). Type 2 will be more familiar as the complete eye is one piece. The form of both is more accurate in shape than anything that has been produced before. Do not make the mistake of cleaning the seam lines on the sides. These actually simulate the lines of the castings just like the real ones. Even casting numbers are engraved around the eyes. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture these effectively with my camera, but they are there for that touch of ultimate detail!!
The eyes are cast with holes in the ends to accommodate the cables. No drilling is necessary.
What about the cables themselves though? These are manufactured like the real thing, having a central core and strands wrapped around this core. RMG produce different types with more or fewer strands for use on specific tanks - just like the real thing. Metal tow cables from RMG are not 3 or 4 simple wires wrapped together! The cables are pre-coloured so painting is unnecessary, and they are very flexible. There is no need to heat these over a flame to make them malleable. If you happen to get too many curves in them, they can simply be rolled on a flat surface to straighten them out.
These cable lengths represent later production types for Leopard 1. Leopard 2 cables were exactly the same length, of course. Standard length Bundeswehr cables equip all large armoured vehicles (and export versions). Early production Leopard 1 had shorter cables (as in the new Revell kit), so this brings up the question of cutting the cables. RMG tell me to simply cut them to the correct length with sharp scissors and then roll them under a flat surface to restore their shape.
I personally think these small accessories are brilliant. Cables are often totally overlooked by the manufacturers and thank goodness they are! If they weren't, we wouldn't have excellent products like these.
Here is an RMG video that might be of interest.
Here I show the Type 1 cables on a Leopard 1A5DK I am in the (slow) process of building.
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