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Black-Grey cobblestone base from after-market modeling products, cobblestone sheet cut to size and glued to wooden display base. Leopard II in foreground hand-painted TESTOR Forest Green, drybrushed with TESTOR Medium Grey. First combat deployment for both Leopard I and Leopard II tanks was NATO peace-keeping duties in former Yugoslavia, or more specifically the SFOR mission in Bosnia and KFOR mission in Kosovo. Next frontline deployment came with 2002 NATO mission in Afghanistan to oust Taliban regime. NATO SFOR - www.nato.int/sfor/index.htm
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Inset 1 : German Leopard II with white SFOR insignia for NATO peace-keeping duties in Bosnia,  former Yugoslavia late-1990s. Contrasted with UN peace-keeping duties which painted all vehicles white with personnel wearing sky-blue colored helmets, NATO peace-keepers retained their country's standard military camouflage and uniforms. Bosnia and Herzegovina - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina
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When Yugoslav civil war broke out in early 1990s, it was remarked that this was a war among "pigmies", that is warring ethnic groups did not have capacity to win an absolute victory, hence civil war would drag on until regional European powers were drawn into the conflict or compelled truce/peace among the parties. Yugoslav wars - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_wars
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Interesting US conspiracy-of-silence was 1996 Dayton Peace Accords ending the Bosnian Civil War, crafted by American President Bill Clinton, co-signed by Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, along with other Croatian and Bosnian representatives. Clinton openly proclaimed Milosevic as "Peacemaker of the Balkans" and touted him as indispensable to Balkan political stability. Milosevic spoke fluent English and was a definite regional power broker. However, when 1999 Kosovo crisis broke out with mass eviction of Serbia's ethnic-Albanians to neighboring countries, US reversed its praise of Milosevic condemned him as "Hitler of the Balkan". Feeling embrassed by its previous praise of Serbian leader, US government and news media never again broadcast any file footage of Milosevic in 1996 Dayton-Ohio conference, speaking his fluent English to the world press. Milosevic was later arrested and tried by UN international tribunal, but died in prison before verdict was issued. Slobodan Milosevic - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milosevic
- Rollover : For national insignia, Leopard I carried German tri-color flag on front glacis plate, Leopard II carries German Bundeswehr iron cross insignia on turret. Side linguistic note, Bundeswehr in German means "Federal Army", but in Brazilian the phonetics sounds like the word "Old Lady's Buttocks". Bundeswehr was formed in 1955 as West Germany emerged from postwar Allied occupation. Organized mainly to counter Soviet invasion of western Europe during 1950s-1980s Cold War. KAMPFPANZER LEOPARD 1A1 (NO) - www.panzerbaer.de/colours/no_kpz_leopard_1a1.htm
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Inset 2 : Leopard II on tank trailer during NATO SFOR deployment in Bosnia, tank carried forest  green camouflage with running gears caked in dried mud. Given tank's 60-ton weight, extensive cross-country operations over long distance would eventually crack track linkages or damage roadwheels. If deployment was near railway junctions, tanks could be transported on flatcars to vicinity. For remote locale, truck-trailer tank transporter is required. FAUN tank transporter - www.military-today.com/trucks/faun_fs.htm
- Bergepanther on Faun Transport Walk Around - www.primeportal.net/recovery/klaus_nowak/bergepanther_on_faun_tran/
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