That's what I was just thinking when I was looking at it. I figured all the sound would be coming from the back. That's actually fine by me as long as it shrouds the sound of the motors running or mostly.

I swear I'm further than the last post! lol

Doesn't really seem like it, but that's one of the reasons I think it's a good idea to post pages from the manual for those notfamiliarwith the build. There really is a lot of stuff going on through the process, so hopefully those interested can really appreciate what goes into these kits.

There are a couple things so far I'm trying to understand why some things are the way they are. For one, I don't understand why they even offer chrome stickers for the side view mirrors, when they aredesignedto be mounted at rest. Second, I really thought there was going to be something interesting behind the supplied magnets.....I just don't understand the purpose of the radiator covers being held down by magnets and removable...why not just glue it down? It's not like I can grease the gears since it's a closed gear box. But okay....lol

Only things that have been left unmounted are the tow straps and side view mirrors.

Didn't know the drivers hatch slides on the Leopard, I like that alot!



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Looks nice ...looks like the hull is on fire down inside from the orange coloring looks like light from flames!

looking real good tony, very impressive the leo 2

<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; ">Thanks guys! Can't wait to get to the painting process while I'm motivated. Still a bit a ways to go, and the rear deck was just a prelude of what's to come from what the rest of the pages tell. lol</div>I've settled on digital camo. Not sure what scheme, whether urban or nato colored but that's what I have intended. I've seen plenty of vehicle employ the digi camo, but mainly the Chinese have widely used it and some of the new vehicles from Bae have them applied too. So, my Leo willdefinitelybe morefantastical, but still a modern concept nonetheless.

That should look sweet. I've thought of repainting my KV-1 in a digital camo (as you said earlier, MY tank).

Exactly. I don't think it would be far fetched to see digital camo on a German Leopard...at least eventually. I believe I've seen some Leo's in the Danish and Canadian military with Digi camo, just can't find them. It would actually be on point if I convert the Leo to a Leo EX, but I'm just not ready to make that conversion.

Haven't really gotten too far on my build once I got struck with the urge to see how it runs. I'm so gonna have a blast with this thing....unless I decide to put it up on the market so I can rebuild another one,lol!

If you do paint that KV that way, make sure to post pics!
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Tony,
I've been following the build closely. You have inspired me to dust mine off and finish it. I was about 85% complete about this time three years ago, except in just primer grey when I stopped working on it for various reasons. It is finally on the workbench again!

I believe the radiator covers are removable because they conceal the rear two screws for attaching the upper hull. One thing I did with mine that you may want to consider is adding a few pounds of ballast weight in the nose. With the weight of the engines in the rear and the turret centrally mounted the tank's center of gravity will be towards the back. This makes the Leo drive and negotiate terrain a little strangely compared to the real thing. These tanks carry enormous weight forward due to their heavy front armor protection. The model's nose shouldn't "bounce" up over stuff when driving. I did the same thing to my Pershing and it runs much more realistically now. It's just a suggestion...

Great build and thanks for the inspiration.

That is an impressive kit. Thanks for taking the time to document and publish this build so thoroughly. If you want to make it look like a magazine article and have it live on the webs forever when you are completed, let me know, I'll publish it here: www.fighting118th.com

Pershing101,

I'm very happy to have helped with any inspiration to complete your Leo! Thank you very much for the advice. I've been driving it around the house to test the suspension and it doesn't have a lot of bounce. It seems to glide and bounce , which reminds me of my old Ford LTD, from back in the days, lol Lotta giddy up for sure.

I must ask....is it normal for the Leo to perform a very slow neutral turn in low setting as opposed to a faster pivot on high? I'm sure the answers obvious, but it's just a little strange for the Leo to idle pivot so slowly.<br type="_moz" />

Well guys,

I must apologize for not really keeping up with not only this thread but the documentation of my build. I kind of felt there wasn't very much interest. But since the thread has been brought back up, here I go.

The past two days have been a complete nightmare....something I don't think many would expect to face althoughI've read some people having this issue. While my impatience to test drive the Leo around before it was finished got the best of me, it served to be a useful choice. I discovered the lower plate of the turret was hitting the radiator grills and folding them. For some time I couldn't figure out exactly what was going on, so I went back through the instructions hoping something would reveal a fix or something I overlooked. I even flash forwarded to see if there was going to be another part expected to be glued or added so it catches to thebottombackside of the turret. Nope.

This discovery was noticed after I had completed the wiring. Sigh.....
So, I had to dismantle and disconnect everything so I can start with the turret assembly all over again. Step by step, Imonitoredthe back half of the turret for properclearance of the radiator grills. All looked well, until I began the wiring process. Bit by bit, the back half was slowly but surely lowering the more I bundled wires, put the DMD back there, the lower it got......tillfinallythe battery was added and down it went. Pretty frustrating stuff.

I think I can wire a leo with my eyes closed now, because I've done it four times (gonna have to do it one more time for the painting process, dang it!) On closer examination, the back panel sagged a bit...basically slightly warped on a downward angle with no weight added..., butnoticeable. I didn't want to add any type of wedge in the rotation ring to raise the overall height of the turret. Only two possible solutions came to mind. Add a ton of counter weight to the front of the turret and hope this corrects it (which I doubt since the front stayed level as I added everything).....or correct it. So what I had to do was applyintenseheat with a heat gun having the panel laying flat on the surface of a marble table and pray it doesn't warp it altogether. Since thick abs can with stand a good degree of heat, it's a really touchy situation to get the right amount of heat before melting point.

Well, needless to say, it worked or I would be posting something that used to look like a Leo.
Thebottomplate is as flat as it should be with no warping.

Wow, looks like just about everything is in the turret, how to change the battery.

wow that turret is full, its a hell of a buil expierence i bet to

<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; ">Yeah, when routing and bundling the wires, it's pretty hectic. But as you get to the 11th or so wire, things start to fall in place, lol. I had to utilize the battery panel and route 3-4 cables underneath for a bit more cleaner look than adding them to the wrap around.<div></div></div>Here's how you remove the battery Chris.
There's a lock knob that you twist off to remove the upper half. It's normally hidden behind that panel that I still don't know what it's for on the real thing, (me thinks its a stowage area) but looks cool when it's opened......like elephant ears on a cockroach, lol.

Tony Great job so far, wow that turret sure is a tight fit. I have been following this thread since you started but just wanted to say your doing a great job on the tank and the presentation in this thread is awesome

- Jeremy

Nice, you sure did a great job with your wire routing.

Thanks Jeremy, I'm glad you're enjoying the thread. All the more reason to continue the documentation. I'll be sure to make my painting process more in depth when that time comes. Kind of wishing I hadn't painted the lower now since I will be hellbent on completing a digi camo for this beast...but no harm done, cause all the detail is in the upper half. So, stay tuned for that.

the Leo II is by far the most expensive from the tamiya lot but seems to give much quality into the box. Am not in modern tanks , like the older ones more but you build it with your soul, am eager to see it in full ornate painted

Thanks Karel. While this Leopard may not be the most unique build. I hope the paint work and the slat armor I will complete for it will make it stand out as a unique one that I can call my own.

I get inspiration when reading threads like this to get back at the bench and work on something, Im working on my tiger and as of yesterday, got the tank disassembled and ready for paint. 13 heng longs and only about 6 of them done so this will keep me busy for a while along with inspiration from seeing everybodys great builds here I also enjoying seeing pics of peoples workbenches and work areas cant wait to read more Tony

- Jeremy

BUMP

Come on Tony

back to work on the gearbox Tony....man with out yur thread....i would be lost...damn.....[8D]

LOL! Pressure huh?<div></div><div>I'll have some update photo's here later today. I've been kind of swamped with some actual work I've had to do lately and the deadline is Tuesday. But the build is practically done except for the smokers. Gotta leave certain things off in order to accomplish this challenging paint scheme of pixel camo.</div><div></div><div>Still unsure what color pattern it will be and whether to resort this to a Canadian tank to pull off a slight bit more realism. The US, CAD, and China seem to be the only one's using Dig camo....and since there are no Leo's being used by the America, well....guess it may have to be Canadian.</div><div></div><div>We'll see, gotta think on it more!</div>

Tony,you made it thru the optics?

who has pics of the Digi camo for the Leo?