Alan123

Tamiya Leopard 1A4 mit HL electronics package

1. Tamiya Leo1 that i got second hand, 1970s vintage.
2. HL StugIII electronics package + HL turret ring + Matorro T34 turret turn gearbox.

3. Extra details.
4. New paint job.

The power and performance does not do the real thing justice but at least it moves.

Film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9g3GJBxhL8

Bilder:










Cheers

Alan.

HG1980

damn thats nice

swathdiver

Bill's gonna be after your Fraulein! [:-] Nice overhaul except for the ALICE TRACKS! [:@]

Nice cleavage shot BTW!

Panther F

Yep, that is pretty nice!

afmatt130

Looks good Alan!! That tank commander would look good in my panzer 3!!!!!!

dima5

Nice job!! She can be in my crew any day! I have one waiting for restoration. It has the twin gearbox - single motor. How did you mount
the gear boxes and what did you use to make the "canvas" mantel cover? I plan to put a complete HL system it.
Also, your tracks are on backwards, mine were as well. Great job!!

WhiteWolf McBride

My Feedback: (3)

Dima5:

I saw a company in Germany that sells an adapter plate to mount the DMD gearboxes in a Leo or Gepard chassis...

Edit: Found it: http://www.scale-militaermodellbau.d...ilig-p-59.html



Translation of text (courtesy Bablefish)

Transmission disk set V2, 13-teilig 14.99 Eur.

Scope of supply:

1x transmission plate, material: Aluminum
6x staybolt
6x countersunk screw M3 galvanizes
In addition, the transmission plate is conceived for our tank hulls, fits into the original Tamiya tub.

To the use with the Tamiya Sherman transmission.

As for a 'canvas' mantlet cover, I'd suggest cotton tea-towel or thin cotton hankerchiefs, and then soak 'em in the color of paint you desire. Dollar Store latex for kids diluted 50/50 works a treat (its how I make my tarpaulins/tents/camo tarps, and color my sandbags) If you want it stiff, or even waterproof'd, then paint the inside with white glue, which can also be used to tack the edges into place if you don't wanna make the wire frame w/ the bolt-down points. If you've lost your original, I have one from my pair of 1A4's thats near-mint, and could make up a template for ya.

Gotta say, its nicely done, though the chain for the mantlet plugs, etc. seems a bit large scale-wise. And then after the point of adding that chain, he didn't put the chains on the smoke-pot caps (like on the 2A6) I've got some for mine, but its on the to-do list... (amongst many other things)

I ditched the stock tracks, and went with a 'stretched' set from the Pershing. Much better cleat definition and resulting traction. I don't loose the end-clips either (those horrid cast things, ugh) that often need to be CA'd on. And besides, after you 'stretched' two sets, you have spare links for decorating, sorry, 'Up-Armoring' your tanks (2 Leo 1A4's, a Pershing & a Sherman, all using that cleat/track)

WhiteWolf

Alan123

The company in Germany that makes the conversion plate for the tamiya gearbox is called AFV and their stuff is top rate aber teuer. There is another company called Scale that also make great Leo parts. I have an aversion however to buying relatively expensive add on parts when you can make them yourself for next to nothing.

I made the canvas mantel cover out of silk and then made eyes out of staples and threaded some metal wire through.

The HL motors are mounted on a 12mm thick piece of wood.

Yep the chains are a bit thick I should have used a smaller gauge of chain. Just did not have any to hand at the time. I could put some on the smoke dischargers too.

Thanks for your comments.

Cheers

Alan

WhiteWolf McBride

My Feedback: (3)

Alan123:

Sadly, AFV-Model is the retailer that sells ~only~ the complete plate with gearboxes, 102.70 Eur. for the basic one, 225.90 for the two-speed unit. They do NOT sell just the mounting plate. Scale does.

The other factor that may help him decide is that there is a minimum shipping charge of 32 Euro to North America. You could buy a 2 euro part, it still costs ya 32 euro to have it shipped. Thats the ONE reason I've not placed an order with them... I haven't the funds to compile an order big enough to make that shipping charge worth it.

WhiteWolf

dima5

Thanks for the advise! I tried making a mantlet cover from t-shirt cotton impregnated with "liquid tape". It looks like rubber treated canvas. But,alas, it was too stiff for the scale. I will try some black silk or satin.
The rear side grills are exhaust, correct? If they are, I was going to cut thru the slats and mount the smoke gen plumbing on each side.
Thanks again, Dimitri

WhiteWolf McBride

My Feedback: (3)

Yes Dima:

The two aft-side slatted areas are exhaust vents. If you have the movie 'A Bridge Too Far', you can see them on the panzers that enter and demolish Arnhem. Those are Leopard 1 chassis with early turrets and some added 'camoflage' armor to make 'em look different. Look at the other details like the roadwheels and hub-covers, and even the rear chassis plate with its tool chest.

As for T-shirt cotton, its too thick. Tea-towel or cheap hankerchief cotton (often tea-towel cotton themselves) is very thin, and was used for both small flour and sugar sacks. You can often find it in fabric stores for quilting and embroidery. If you have trouble finding some, check eBay, thats where I got half mine. Other half was a company supply called Gillett's, they make bar rags (coarse facecloths) and similar products, and cotton tea-towel is used as drying cloths for glass because its lint-free, and quite absorbent.


WhiteWolf

Alan123

Here is a motorplate that you can get thru ebay maybe it is cheaper that odering direct:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...E:B:SS:DE:1123

AL

Alan123

I beefed up the electronics with Tamiya Pershing DMDs + Jamara 480 Motors.

This is how it now looks inside:



It makes a big difference to the handling I can tell you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMHVB6l0nCo

AL

THE_BREED

Its a beautiful little tank man. I want one of those so!!! bad.

stcla1r

dug up this old thread,really liked this build

Fireman Tim

My Feedback: (3)

The more pics I see of RC Leopard 1a4s, the more I want one.

Awhile back, I met a Canadian Zipperhead who was a leo gunner back in the 80s. He said whenever they fired their cannon, they could see day light through the cracks in the turret welds.

Panther G

Beautiful job, but you should really get some grease in those gearboxes and make some covers for them so the grease does not destroy the speaker.

pcomm1

Thanks for posting, you have provided us all with a fine how to gulde.

Looks like a Jan 4th delivery date and as many understand, better that a tank is not under the tree!



email FYI:

On Dec 23, 2010, at 7:29 AM, Karen Gasser wrote:

Hi John,

Your Tamiya Leopard A4 came in this morning - unfortunately UPS is not picking anything up until Monday - So we will process the order today, you will receive a tracking number thru email, but the package will not ship out until Monday.

Have a wonderful Christmas & thank you for your business this past year!

Karen & Natasha

YHR

We should start to see more of these now. I would like one of these to go with my Leo 2