Well it finally arrived the other day. One awesome *New in the box* Tamiya Leopard 1A4 R/C Tank.

I'm going to start a build thread on it here but it will likely be a slow process for finishing since I am planning on converting this into a Canadian Leopard C1 Early Model (possibly a late) and will also likely do the Mexas add-on armour as per the Leopards that were deployed in Kosovo.

There are still lots of aftermarket parts available, most from http://www.afv-model.de/, and those are RATHER expensive (also ship from Germany...ouch). I'll be placing an order soon for a bunch of items (So tempting to convert this into a full Leopard C2 with Mexas but wow that 1A5 turret is VERY expensive...still tempting though).

I've taken some shots of the box opening and started to wash/prime the base chassis and other metal bits. I'll try using my Rogers/Yahoo account to post pictures but I'm not sure if it will work for direct links.

EDIT: Looks like Rogers/Yahoo hates direct links, I'll try Photobucket.


Wow what a HUGE box... forgot how big the original boxes were.



Seller packed things well even inside!


Massive upper hull.



Full aluminum chassis, neat!



Ah good ol'blister packs, one of the little joys of old Tamiya kits.



Track parts, yes you have to build them up totally by hand and they are full-metal.



Gearbox with dual clutch arrangement.



More suspension bits.



Plastic part trees



Size compared to my Mato Toys Tiger I.



Size compared to my Mato Toys Tiger I.



Size compared to my Tamiya Bruiser... this will be a good sized tank!



Top shot comparison.



Top shot comparison.


More shots and build pics to come!

P.S. Please let me know if the links don't work for the images, I still don't trust Yahoo Photos but it's all I have right now.

Cheers
Tim