Originally Posted by
Cruiser133
I found them at AAF for $121 each so going with Bob's unit which is much stronger is a better deal and a great foundation for the future. It is worth it alone to not have to mess with the stock nightmare. I sold my Gepard on, but I still have a full function modernized Leopard 1 and I used Tamiya Panther gearboxes just because I had some in my spares box. I have found a pair on the bay for around $150 and less but you have to be patient on deals to come along. And yes the Gepard is a money pit, hence why I sold mine. If you are not committed to doing it right, you will just end up being frustrated and selling it anyway.
Crius, Several years ago a set of left and right Tamiya Panther G gearboxes out of Japan was around $85.00 to $125.00 delivered. Those days are gone and spare parts are hard to find, at a reasonable price. I’d use the ETO gearboxes for a Custom, restoration build too.
None of you will like hearing this, but other than a bleeping Tamiya Sherman, none of my builds have been money pits, why? First I do not market to the boys here. Why? You all do what I do, and many build way better, LOL.
I sell to model collectors and a few IR battle day enthusiasts. After a decade plus of having fun building the Tamiya kits to various standards, from stock to lengthy, pricey, collaboration customs, I was done and have mostly moved on.
As to the first Tamiya Gepard Custom Daryl Turner Designed Model, built by me for me, I did sell it on after a persistent collector showed up at my home and put a lot of cash on my wife’s table. She took the cash and I helped the guy carry the model to his car.
My design brief: Build the kit well, define your target market (what they like) and no Tamiya built kit, done to the well documented, published Tamiya modeling standards will end up a money pit, except for that bleeping Tamiya Sherman, LOL.
The down side of the Gepard for me was that it was not fun to play with, no play fun for me means little interest.
The second Gepard I worked on was as a favor for another model collector and my fee was very little ‘cause I did very little.
John