YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

I decided to do a step by step thread on what I am doing to the HE leopard that showed up at the door. This may take a while so bare with me.

First this is stock tank itself. Big tank with separate pieces attached to the hull. Very well done with good detail. The superstructure alone is worth the $100 that this cost me.

The internal layout is well done. It is only the quality of the electrical components that are the trouble.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

The first thing I did was remove everything out of the hull. The hull is quite flexible and will need to be made more rigid using cross members. I'll get to that later.

I have decided to fit the HL pershing tracks to this and use the Pershing drive wheels. Once that was decided, it was time to go about modifiying the wheels to use with the Pershing tracks.

So this is where I will pick up from. First thing is to remove the wheels from the suspension spindles. This is done by popping off the center hubs.

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Once the hub is off you have access to a self tapping screw. Remove this screw and the wheel will come free.

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Turn the wheel over and you will see three snap lock fasteners. With a screw driver push the tabs into an unlocked position. Now if you are lucky and the guy at the factory was going easy with the glue you can pull these wheel halves apart. IF the guy was glue happy eat your wheaties and pull harder.

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Once apart you can now trim the bushing from the back of the wheel. Cut this flush with the wheel and save the plastic bushing.

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This bushing will be glued to the opposite side of the wheel it was cut from. Glue and set aside to dry.

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Once dry fit the two wheel halves together, except reverse the inner wheel. Now you get to be a glue monkey and glue the halves together. The locking tabs will not do a good enough job on there own, and I am betting some will be no longer functional.

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Once everything is dried, clean out the bore with an appropriate sized drill bit.

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Insert a washer on the spindle, and slide on the wheel. Fasten wheel to the spindle using the orignal screw. Do not over tighten and make sure the wheel spins freely.

Reinstall the hub cap

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See how the mods have changed the wheels.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

Yes but you do see that now the center guide horn for the track will be too far outward for the track to be centered on the sprockets. You will run out of axel before you get the sprocket on and the track will too be too far outbaord. I see they have a much narrower space on the idler wheel than on the HE tanks I have. Did they change the track center guide horn. It used to be well over 1/2 inch wide?  Also the idler wheels are not easy to convert in any matter. they ride on a nylon bushing that is pressed onto a knurled shaft. Not much room for modification there unless you make a whole new axel or independent idler assembly.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

I made rubber tires by cutting up a bicycle inner tube and installing them over the wheel. I painted the plastic edge of the wheel black to match the rubber.

You can see how these wheels will now work with the Pershing track.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

Oh I see what you did. You narrowed the idler wheel itself also. Not a bad idea Dan. At first I was a little confused as to what i was looking at.<div> Keep in mind that this mod will only work if you are going too use the HL Pershing tracks. It will not work with the Tamiya LEO tracks as they are wider. Which is what my mods are designed for. </div>

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

Yes G I skinnied up the idlers as well. Yes I waited until I decided to go with the Pershing tracks. I thought it would simplify the conversion, as I can run stock HL running gear.

That is it for now. Next installment will be stiffening up the chassis.

Cost to date

$100 for tank
$30 for shipping
$6 bicycle tube rubber. At a bike shop the cost would be free if you could get your hands on tube that had failed in service.

Dan

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

Nice going so far, look forward to seeing the progress.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

With some simple mods these tanks can really be good runners. there are enough people doing them to have come up with some solutions to the issues these have.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

I will probably take this route with the Abrams to save some cash, but the Tamiya tracks I received sure are worth the money.

YHR, hurry up and mount the gearboxes so I can start copying your ideas. ;)

Is anyone going to make the top hatches functional? The Commander's hatch looks fairly simple, but the loader's hatch is going to require a bit of engineering.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

The Tamiya tracks wont fit the HL Pershing sprockets. They are too wide. this is where everyone will have to make adecision. You can go either way, but if you want to use Tamiya LEO tracks , you WILL need to use the Tamiya LEO sprockets.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

I might take the Pershing route for the Abrams that I don't yet own. ;) The Leo will be done the Tamiya way.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

I fabricated a gear tower platform to mount the gear towers. I used aluminum C channel to raise the platform off the floor of the chassis, and then cut an aluminum plate to act as a raised floor. I am waiting on the Mato gears to arrive before I drill any mounting holes.

I also used Aluminum struts as a cross brace in the front of the hull. This may be overkill as once the upper hull is installed the plastic box is quite stiff. However this will help when I am testing with the upper hull off, and it can't hurt

Next up is filling holes in the chassis and throwing some interior paint, as well as painting the exterior. THis is going to be modeled as a Canadian Leopard in use in Afganistan, so I am going to lose the Nato forest scheme. I will say HE did a very good job with it though.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

Yes Dan, you are correct. HE did do a very nice job of modeling the LEO. The Abrams is quite nice also. If they would do a little better in the drive line area, these tanks could be much closer too atleast HL grade models. As is they are still on the toyish side of the hobby. When I first got mine I had looked at the way Dan is doing his but getting that idler wheel apart was very scary. I'm sure you would have a very hard time getting replacement parts if one was to break disassembling it. I also looked at making an adjustable idler system likethose on the WSN T-34/85's. That is what you would have to do in this case. <div> Very nice work so far Dan.</div><div> I like your choice of tank to model. The videos of the Canadian forces in Iraq where quite intimidating for sure.</div><div> Are you going to model the slat / cage style stand off armor? I think that would really set this model apart from all the others.</div>

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

I decided to do the return rollers prior to prepping the chassis for paint.

I use lego on many of my builds. You can't get a denser better plastic for scratch building. Here I have used it for the return rollers, along with some plastic return rollers from a PZIII I had laying around.

First I mark the hull where I need to drill holes to locate the return rollers.

Next I drill the holes. The hole drilled needs to be the same size as the nubbin on the lego. This while make a strong joint assembly when glued.

I then glue and snap the lego into the drilled hole.

Here are the componets laid out prior to assembly, Note the finishing nail used as an axle.

I then drill a hole through the lego that is just large enough to accept the finishing nail axle. (Tight friction fit)

Here is the assembled result.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

Wow, that's impressive as always YHR. How tall is that C channel and is it a hobby or hardware store item?

I can't believe how good the paintwork on the Leopard is and I'll do anything I can to preserve it, but I did get the Tamiya decals to replace the shiny stickers.

I can't wait to see how you wire the lights and the motorized sight on top. I'm considering leaving it attached to the MG button and putting the elevation in it's proper place. The red lights in the front will need to be replaced with white.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

Great job MacGyver! Loving the build...kind of wishing I didn't cancel my HE Leo order now, lol. Although, I was just going to make a Hunting Leo anyway.[8D]

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

The C Channel is 14mm high. I purchased it from a building supply store.

I find this to be the most satisfying part of building. It is fun to improve a toy like this in an effort to get it to function well.

I can't tell you guys how good the upper hull and paint are on this tank. Pcsguy88 is absolutley right about wanting to perserve it. It is very well done. I will be painting the hull sand, but I see the Canadians have left the Nato scheme on the superstruction and I may do the same. Heavily weathered though with sand washes.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

nice work

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

Well done YHR. ;)

You have some plans for suspensions?
I tryed to change some springs to make them more reactive.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

Looks good Dan. I never even thought about LEGO. I have used VEX robot parts before. They have a lot of neat stuff too that can come in handy.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

Not sure about that. Once I get it all outfitted, I will see how much sag I get with the stock suspension. If required, stiffening the suspension should not be that hard to do.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

Oh you *******s will you please stop it,
I am going to be broke with all the inspiration your guys are sharring. I like it to much.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

Pretty busy at work so I haven't had a lot of time this past week. I got it painted, and finished the interior layout with a removable electronics tray. I opened up the sliding drivers hatch, and added an on-off switch, charging jack, and power LED.

I am waiting on a parts order so I can get all the mechanical components entered and see how it performs with some weight and new drive train.

While waiting I am modifying the wheel axles, installing a brass bushing on the axle, reaming out the wheel center bigger, and adding another brass bushing.

Stay tuned.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

Very nice work YHR. Iwish I had put more effort into making the insides more user friendly like yours. Can't wait to see it finished. With that battery mounted centrally and if you install metal boxes you may need to add weight to the front to stop it riding like a speed boat. Although you've probably thought of that.

RE: YHR Hobby Engine Leopard conversion(now with video)
 

I left the front end open for that reason. I have casting metal that I can pour into this void to keep the front end down. Speaker is going in the turret.