Dug the kit out of my stash and started building this weekend. Probablly the most complicated of the older tanks I've done... Got to installing the transmissions, and hey.. they don't fit!

***?

The support plate goes in fine without them, and there is only one way for them to be installed, so no room for error there. After a close examination of the instruction manual, I determined that the output shafts were installed in the wrong location. There are 2 possible mounting locations for the output shafts, and this apparently factory sealed kit had them wrong. I would guess that those gearboxes have applications in other Tamiya tanks, and someone in QC just let that one slip by. Easy enough fix, but still. strange for Tamiya.

Sorry no pics, phone was out of reach and the fix really was that easy...

Lucky you. The Tamiya Pershing is discontinued permanently as Tamiya is only going to make 5 tanks going forward.

Which five?

Actually, I just bought it off ebay a couple months ago. Stalled on the Lowe waiting for a part, and idle hands...

It's a fun build.. more complicated than any of the previous ones I've attempted. I really grabbed it as the paint job was going to be super simple...

Tiger 1 tiger 2 leopard 2 Abrams centurian. All others are discontinued

Kind of surprised that they won't continue the Sheridan.. It's one of the newer models.

Well, most of us are still surprised they produced the Sheridan as it’s not a popular tank model. And it breaks tracks easily.
im not surprised it’s discontinued it didn’t sell well.
So many other tanks they could have produced. Like the Centurian, huge winner. Maybe an M60 or M48. That would be awesome. Or reintroduce their Leopard1a4. We need more Cold War armor than wwii stuff.

Now I can’t find a Sheridan

Dude you had like 3 years to buy one. You have followed it pretty hard but never pulled the trigger. What were you waiting for?

here's one

https://www.activepowersports.com/ta...utm_medium=cse

Is this a cautious estimation based on what keeps being available / regularly coming back in stock or is this a Tamiya confirmed statement?
I'd kind of expect for them to spread the bias less towards the German Models... ( says the guy with four German Tanks and a single US one 🤣 )
Like... I don't know... Maybe the two most popular Tanks of each Nation from various time periods?
2 German ( Tiger & Leopard 2 ), 2 American ( Pershing & Abrams ), 2 Russian ( KV-1 & JS-2 ) and the other nations ( Centurion & TYPE 10 )

The statement of what tanks were still going to be produced came from AAF museum that was told by their Tamiya rep.
Currently there are no tanks available at all.

Great discussion, but still.. anybody every come across a Pershing with the gearboxes assembled incorrectly, right out of the box? Or is mine the one in the million fluke?

NO. Mine went together with no problems at all.

Without photos its really rather hard to accept that Tamiya put out not one, but two gearboxes assembled incorrectly for the same kit.

That's exactly how I felt the other night, and if I hadn't left my phone in the house and been too lazy to go get it I would hvae taken some.

Tamiya has, to my knowledge, 4 Gearbox Systems:

• the vintage 1 motor 2 clutch one
• the legacy 2 motor 2 gearbox one
• the modern 2 motor 1 gearbox one 💖
• the revised 2 motor 2 gearbox one

Based on my collection of Tamiya Tank Assembly Manual PDFs it appears that only the M26 Pershing is using the upper Shaft output location arrangement of the legacy gearbox system while every other tank is using the bottom one.
You probably got shafted by the economies of scale 🤣

They made 2 versions of the 2 motor two gearbox black cap gearboxes, the original one, with an extra set of gears and a slider switch (to manual shift the gears) that was two speed, and the later single speed (current version) that simply had the extra gears removed.

Also not on the list are the gearboxes (assembled by modeller) which are 2 motor two gearboxes (used in the Sheridan and Centurion).

You sure those aren't aftermarket ones? I know of them but have only seen them on German Tank specialized aftermarket sites.

• the revised 2 motor 2 gearbox one