Geez, my KV-2 was a piece of cake of a build compared to the Leo.
Looking good Tony!

Tony great build documentary! First I have seen with the instructions posted as well.

Did that speaker box come orange? You must have painted it right?

I was thinking the same thing. Mine came in black.

Tony - you think the wires you have now are a rats nest? You ain't seen nothin' yet. Just wait until you get to the turret. I should know. I cleaned mine up last night, and to my surprise, the upper turret fit on first try. I love a victory like that. It probably could be cleaner, but Tamiya's wiring example works pretty well.

Steve

Thanks a lot guys.

Joe, maybe one day I might make a subtle painting tutorial but seeing how there's already great painting tutorials out there.....eh, no rush, huh? lol Plus, almost all my techniques are translated with the airbrush with minimal bristol work usually exclusive to minor detailing.

Eric, I think it really helps for those that follow along or what to know what makes the Leo so awesome to really get to see the manual during the process.
And you are correct, it's two tone. I just painted it with a lacquer coat of brilliant orange and re-blackened the lower in deep black gloss . Was going to make it Leopardspottedin a graffiti type design, but I'm a little unsure of the functionality of the speaker box. Not sure if the turret swivels in the recess of the speaker box possibly ruining any kind of paint work on the box. So that may be a little later in this build should I decide to add the extra design work.

Yeah man, looks like I have a few obstacle to overcome. It feels like I'm so close to being done, but I've only just begun! lol I was looking at the next few pages, and I finally get to deal with some of the infamous fiber optic. Looking at the design or layout per se, Tamiya could have really took theopportunityto make this a totally wireless turret which swivels on contact rings for full 360 rotation with no concern for wire tangles. Guess they didn't want to open up that can of worms! lol If I had the tools, that would be done in an instant!

ONE WORD....SPEECHLESS....NOW OING BACK TO MY CORNER.....

lol! Don't worry, I'll join you! The assembly has come to a screeching halt. All thanks to the fiber optics. I followed the instructions to the tee and the angles that you aren't supposed to apply to fiber optic stands has cause some breakage. It'll be a few days before an order I placed today of fiber optic strands comes to my door. Oh well, I knew this was going to be difficult and I meant to order extras before the build, but.....got overly confident. Thread will commence when they arrive.

THATS SCARES ME...DAMN.....

there is no way to bend the optics in a way that they will not break?

can u send a quick pic of yur KV-2?

I'm sure there's plenty of people who haven't had issues, but....I'm not other people! lol The problem was when I put the front cover of the head lamp on, it forced an even more sharp bend to the point of breakage. I may press on and omit the headlights for now, but it's not the greatest moment in a build, that's for sure.

Sucks to hear about the breakage. The fiber optics were probably the most frustrating part of the kit. Fightin' mad, I was. [sm=punching.gif]

Got lucky and managed to get it done without breaking them, although one of the rear lights isn't as bright as the one on the opposite side. Gonna stay like that too, cause once everything went in without a problem, that was it! The End! [sm=lol.gif]

That part of the build sounds like a good reason to have NO LIGHTS!</p>

LOL! Indeed, I have considered the thought....but I can't give into this challenge!

Ron, well not sure if luck had anything to do with it! lol I tend to get a little impatient or overconfident, so I'm sure it was a fault of mine. However, I have 24 feet of fiber optics coming, so I think that leaves enough room for 1.......or maybe 6 errors! lol<br type="_moz" />

Don't know but i will ask.... Could you have heated the fiber up first in hot water or with a hair dryer so it flexes a little better?

In hindsight, and if you have the opportunity Tony, I would have wired separate miniature LED's to each light location and discarded the fiber completely!

Actually, after thinking about it some more, I think it was the cement solvent that caused the breakage. I just tested it on another piece and it practically ate through it. I knew I should have stuck with super glue, I knew it. I kept all FO under hot lights, so they aremanageable.

Eric, that probably would have been the easiest solution, to be honest. I wanted to give Tamiya's way a chance though, so much that I actually am making the effort of following the instructions in order, which I never really do on anything. This has been a costly experiment for me, so in actual hindsight, for anyone else who does a leo build and gets to this part. It is best to jump steps for success. According to Tamiya, you cut each strand to a specific length depending on the side it runs too. Even by following their instructions andmeasurements, you will fall short of the LED housing....sometimes by a lot.

After noticing this, I decided to mount the housing to the underside and run each strand to the LED housing one at a time for a perfect length.Unfortunately, I can't correct the front until new Fiber optics come in, but....that's just the way it is for now!

Also per the rear housing lights, Tamiya instructs you to bend an L shape into each strand. For ease of mounting, it's best to make a Z shape or stepped.


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<div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">Well, I managed to press on! I found a short supply of fiber optics at the local hobby shop....not really worth the price for 12 inch strand, but what ever,.....I need to keep it going!</div>Doing this the Tamiya way could easily take a few hours or a majority of the day to get this right. The easiest method to get this done in a matter of 15 minutes or so is to assemble and mount the front head lights, then mount the LED housing. Now pull each strand one at a time to each designated LED. It's as easy at that for the front. The rear requires a slightly similar approach and a bit more tedious. Instead of the L shape as mentioned, a step shape or crank handle shape is necessary. Pull each strand one at a time to each designated LED, cut and leaving it in the housing as you move on to the next. Then finally glued it down. All in all, if done this way rather than doing as Tamiya instructed, you should be able to get this done (both front and back) in 30 minutes or less, minus headlight assembly.

And yes, they all work andalignedproperly. Just ran a led flashlight check into the housing and they all light up fairly bight. Only thing that could possibly keep the lights beinginconsistentis the LED not working.....fingers crossed on that!





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Here's a link to my build http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_92..._1/key_/tm.htm

I do have radio problems resolved, with lots of help from the fine folks on this forum, I have not yet painted it.

Chris, man got on the ball and get that KV-2 done (says the guy with 6 unfinished tanks) LOL!

Alright, I think I'm officially at the halfway mark.....I think. Not sure, but I think and hope not. While some parts have proved to be frustrating, it's not enough to make me wish to never build one of these again. So far that is. lol

Tony looking good!
I can see why guy's say the sound is not to loud on this model ...looks like the speaker sets in and is blocked by alot of plastic without alot of vent holes for the sound to get outside the tank ...probably even worse so when the huge turret gets put on.

Thanks Steve!<div>
</div><div> I'm going to get everything assembled first and if it's something I have very little tolerance for, I'll consider opening up some spots for sound to escape. But, so far it's definitely been a challenge. I thought doing the Leopard immediately after the Pershing would prepare me for some of the tedious jobs of constructing the Leo. So far....not the same! lol</div>

the Leo sounds louder when it is driving away from you because of the grill in the back of the tank

I only put together a tamiya sherman.... and to me that was alot of work!