Posts: 39
Joined: 7/25/2010 Last Login: 3/24/2013 From: Framingham, MA, USA Status: offline
Hi all,
I posted a question in another thread about a radio and included some pictures of my build, some members IMed me asking that I should have a seperate thread for this build. Well I'm not as good as some of the members I've seen on this forum with there amazing builds. Well, here it is.
This is a project I’ve been working on for 2 years. I took Tamiya’s Leopard 2A6 and converted it to a Leopard 2A7+. I took everything in the kit and recast them in brass except for the hull and turret shells (4 parts) since they are way too big for me to recast (You’re wondering what does he mean by recast, well it means I took the original parts, made an investment mold (stuff used by jewelers, like plaster) of them, burnt the plastic inside the mold, and poured molten brass in the mold cavities created by the vaporized plastic parts, this is one shot deal, because you can’t reuse the mold since it get dissolved when quenched in water to get the metal parts). The rest of the components were either machined in brass and aluminum, or scratchbuilt in styrene or acrylic as masters and recast in metal. There is no aftermarket here; everything is either the original parts or scratchbuilt. The model is heavily reinforced to take the weight of the metal components, and I had to replace the gearbox and turret motors with high torque motors. The .50cal RWS is controlled by the radio in both direction wired to a dual control electronic switch with polarity reverse relays, I designed the RWS with elevation and firing lights like the coax, but had to remove them because there was no more space inside the turret (Control and second servo were too big to fit a second one, I’ll probably reinstall them once I find a smaller controllers). The model also has 2 lasers, one on the main gun and one in the commander’s panoramic site, I’m still having problems with rotating the panoramic site due to the limited space inside the turret. I installed a micro video camera in the main gunner site. The headlights circuit board was rewired to high intensity LEDs instead of fiber optic (Fiber optic were kept for the blackout driving), and added the orange LEDs for signal lights.
I’m about finished with this model, I’ve tested everything and seemed to work fine, I’m not sure how it’ll do once I take it and run it outside. It’ll be painted in desert colors like the one KMW displayed in one of the European arms show (see photos).The one displayed had additional armor on the turret sides, I’m not planning to have these armor on the model, since according to KMW they are optional.
Cheers.
T. Chouman
I have 26, 1/16th RC tanks and growing : 1x Tiger (Tamiya, FO), 2x King Tigers(Tamiya, FO), 3x Pershings(Tamiya, FO),1x gepard(Tamiya), 2x Leopard 1A4s (Tamiya), 4x Leopard 2A6s(Tamia FO), 2x Shermans 105 (Tamiya FO), 2x Panthers (Tamiya FO), 1x Panzer IV (Tamiya FO), 1x KV-1 (Tamiya FO), 1x Kubelwagen (Tamiya), 1x T-34/85 (Wasan), 2x Panzer III (HenLong FO), 1x Panzer IV (HenLong FO), 1x KV-1 (HenLong FO), 1x Walker Buldog (HenLong FO).
< Message edited by tachouman -- 5/16/2012 1:07 AM >
Posts: 956
Joined: 2/18/2003 Last Login: 5/18/2013 From: East Bay,
CA, USA Status: online
Outstanding! First class work and congrats on the fine investment casting work. I'm very nearly ready to do my own investment casting in addition to my sand casting capability. Happily there's a first rate master of that technique over here when I live from whom I may learn.
Posts: 39
Joined: 7/25/2010 Last Login: 3/24/2013 From: Framingham, MA, USA Status: offline
Thank you all for the nice comments.
I'm still trying to fix some the bugs especially the video RF interference and managing the space inside the turret since it's now full of circuts and wires..
Heavyaslead, I like that slip ring for 360 degree turret rotation you have on your Leo, where did you get that? I'd like to get a couple. Did you make that yourself, or you bought it somewhere?
Ausf, brass melts at 1800 degrees F, but it needs to be brought up to 1870 F to be poured in the mold and the mold has to be at least 1000F. Aluminum melts at 1200 F, and needs to be 1300F to be poured, the mold must be between 400F and 600F.
Cheers.
T. Chouman __________________
I have 26, 1/16th RC tanks and growing : 1x Tiger (Tamiya, FO), 2x King Tigers(Tamiya, FO), 3x Pershings(Tamiya, FO),1x gepard(Tamiya), 2x Leopard 1A4s (Tamiya), 4x Leopard 2A6s(Tamia FO), 2x Shermans 105 (Tamiya FO), 2x Panthers (Tamiya FO), 1x Panzer IV (Tamiya FO), 1x KV-1 (Tamiya FO), 1x Kubelwagen (Tamiya), 1x T-34/85 (Wasan), 2x Panzer III (HenLong FO), 1x Panzer IV (HenLong FO), 1x KV-1 (HenLong FO), 1x Walker Buldog (HenLong FO).
Posts: 709
Joined: 5/1/2005 Last Login: 5/18/2013 From: , NY, USA Status: offline
Sweet.
I have a kiln, vacuum and pressure casting systems, so I may research this a bit. I've always wanted to make a Pz I, since the angles are great for metal and I could fabricate the rest in resin, but track links are the wild card. I don't think such a thin structure will hold up in plastic under strain, but an alloy would be ideal. I was looking into it a while back (bismuth I think) but shelved the idea.
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My new projet, Leopard 2A7+ - 
