BiggTony

Yep! My Tamiya Leo arrived and I'm still alive! lol

Fortunately, I had half the sense to get my wife a gift she's been wanting for awhile and had it for todaysdeliverytoo! It is the wife's duty to get on their husbands after purchasing three Tamiya's in a month, so I don't fault her for it! lol

I'm so impressed by the parts of the Leo and the sheer size of it will surely make me happy. While modern tanks usually aren't my thing, I've come to realize if it has tracks....I love it. lol So, I'm 100 times more motivated to finish up my Pershing so I can move on to this.There really isn't any pressure to modify this tank to working hinges or what have you, soI will most certainly make a build thread for this tank from top tobottomif anyone cares to see it.

All I can say about this is just wow. This really IS theee tank to have and I don't even have to drive it to know it.

Panther G

OOOHHh You S&$^ LOL. Congrats man. you don't mess around. Top shelf or nothing else. You won't believe this tank when you are done. Definitely look into the metal suspension arms and bearings for the road wheels. ALWAYS BEARINGS IN THE ROAD WHEELS.

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

SIGH.............................................. ............
Me WANT....BLAH!

BiggTony

lol! Thanks guys! I do have 76 Teflon sealed bearings on the way and I'll look into the swing arms, most surely. The plastic.... definitely different and thick! I was concerned of this not having a metal tub......not anymore, lol!

Rebellion13

Maybe I need to buy more tanks so I can finish my KT.


Cheers,
Wade

Fireman Tim

My Feedback: (3)

Wow, your Son looks totally pumped! Is the Leo going to be his?

Rebellion13

LOL good one

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Sweet! Tony that's a beauty of a tank!!
I love that tank but to much $$ for me! I hear it's a royal pain to put the lighting in the leo.

BiggTony

lol! Once a tank is out of the box, he knows too stay at least 10 feet back, lol. Can't wait till he's older though he has more interest in vehicles than my oldest.. For my oldest.....right now it's video games.[]

johnmar78

you are so $ indeed. Enjoy....

HG1980

CONGRATS!!
LOOKIN GOOD....I NEED TO GET BACK TO WORK ON MINE....

phasor

Save the best for last. A Sherman is a worthwhile build too

philipat

When you're really ready to sink some cash into metal parts for this one, here's a starting point: http://www.afv-model.com/4711shop/in...Leopard-2.html.

Looks like a great tank, but too much moola for me.

xf62

Tony, I replaced the plastic swing arms with the metal ones from AFV
I also added the hull strengthening kit and changed the idlers and ajusters for the metal ones and fully ball raced the wheels and swing arms

xf62

Idler adjuster fitted to the original plastic idlers

new metal idlers

idlers painted and fitted

heavyaslead

Congrats Tony

You will love this tank for its rock solid performance.

After becomming an expert, you will want another to bash into another custom tank.

For the next one, tell the wife your making a blender or something...

BiggTony

Thanks guys, metal swing arms may be the only other upgrade I do to this tank aside from the teflon bearings on the way. What I would really like to do is convert my leo into a peacesupportoperations tank, the urban camo and dozer is really striking! But we'll see about that.....can't findadequateinfo on the dozer and pso specs, other than profile pictures.

Maybe that's a project if I do get a second Leo, eh Eric? lol

metalhead1986

That is an understatement. I had read about the lighting being a pain, and the front lightts were tough, but if you go slow and follow the instructions, it's not too bad. One thing I did on the front lights notice is that the fiber optic cable lengths for the left headlight are to short to fit properly in the box with the LEDs. This caused me to pinch and break a sliver off the thinner diameter cable when I closed up the box. I don't know how this will affec the light, but I am not in the mood to build another one at this point.

The rear lighting is another story altogether. I built the tail light assemblies per the instuction manuals, and everything went smoothly. I ended up with two perfect assemblies with not much hassle. Then I tried to put them in the tank and discovered the nightmare of the lighting system. I don't know who designed this system, but he must be sitting back laughing at us right now. There is no way the cables will fit into the holes in the hull without some modification to the holes. Smart me decided that I just needed to bend the cables back a little to get them to clear the obstructions on the hull. That is when I discovered you cannot bend the fiber optic cables back, then just snap off. Oooops. Now I have to order new P parts and fiber optic cable to re-do my once awesome tail lights.

I am going to concentrate on the holes in the chassis and modify them so the cables will run properly. The holes are behind the tail lights, so neatness won't count here. I just don't want to damage anything more.

I may have to do another headlight, too, but that will be after this thing is completed and running, if at all.

I hope this helps others avoid the pain that I am going through with the lights.

Steve

Oh yeah. And the small pieces of aluminum tape in the front headlights seem pointless to me. They are too small and the adhesive too weak to hold anything. Mine ended up being press fit between the halves of the light.

F34RL355

does it shoot real ammunition??? if not whats the point?

BiggTony

I don't get your point........

Just cause it's a tank...it has to shoot real munitions? Please do clarify.....I gotta hear the reasoning.

xf62

it is a model tank
If you want to shoot real ammunition Go buy a gun

F34RL355

its just not very realistic otherwise :/ i guess i just dont understand.

BiggTony

Wow, metalhead.....the lighting really does sound like a pain. I'm just glad this tank doesn't use incandescent light's. The tail light in my Pershing has already gone out....and the tank hasn't even been completed yet. Now I'm debating on whether to purchase a new set of Tamiya's light harness, switch over to LED's or buy a ton of these doll house lights to anticipate anymore failures.

igluck

Congrats on the aquisition. I've enjoyed building mine over the past 1.5 years. I'm at the dreaded lights phase of the construction and haven't managed to get over the intertial hump to start it.

I strongly suggest picking up the metal swing arms and the idler. They are much easier to install early in the build rather than after construction.

Ira

BiggTony

Oh, okay...just inexperienced in this. Thanks for clarifying. I thought this was going to be another airsoft over non-airsoft bash. Thanks.

I personally can't help you understand this part of the hobby, cause there really does have to be some form of interest in it. Whether they shoot or not,....to me, isirrelevant. It's the building and modeling that interests me the most. Infrared battle or airsoft battle comes secondary to anything else. I do see where you're coming from. That's the same thought I get when I see big rig rc trucks for a grand......I ask myself what's the point? But I also understand that there's the building of the kit and the satisfaction of it's completion to follow. So, there really is a point....just doesn't fit mypreference.

All I can say is, stick around...watch some vids on youtube of these 1/16 scale tanks and it may help spark and interest and understanding.