NEW KIT BUILD Tamiya Leopard 2A6
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2024 5:39 pm
Now that the Tamiya "metal suspension parts kit" and the Tamiya Hop-Up Option kit no: 84220 "metal track tensioners" have been fitted to this new build, I can glue the remaining plastic parts onto the hull and take the wheels back off again so that I can prime the new metal parts and prepare the lower hull to be sprayed with a suitable dessert yellow base colour.
The inside of the hull is a bit "dusty" as it has been left on the bench for some weeks until I found a source for the small parts that I had missing from the kit (AFV), and also due to me filing the the unwanted sprue parts away from the square hole in the bottom of the hull ready to have the "plug" plate glued into it, so it will need a good clean before any painting starts.
I have already fitted a set of the rcbearings "rubber shielded ball bearings" to the black plastic kit axles (three bearings per axle), but when I remove the wheels I will take them apart and remove the rubber tyres so they can be sprayed in the chosen dessert yellow colour, and after they are painted I will rebuild them with a matching set of rubber shielded wheel bearings to replace the kit supplied wheel bushes. This will give a fully ball raced drive chain.
The gearbox also needs to be removed and taken apart as I had a small spacer missing from the kit. I have managed to buy a new pack of spacers, so I will fit the missing spacer and then refit the gearbox so that I can begin to make some long overdue progress with this slow build.
The missing black plastic axle has also been replaced as I bought a complete pack of spare axles along with the spacers pack from AFV. These black plastic kit axles may come in handy if any of them fail in the future, but at the moment they are looking OK on the Leopard 2A6 that I have already been running with AFV metal suspension arms and hopefully it will not be necessary to replace them with the excellent (but expensive) brass axles (also from from AFV).
Building this unboxed kit has been good for me as my other two Tamiya Leopard 2A6 tanks were not built by me. One was swapped several years ago for a Wedico r/c model truck and the other (the next one that I will fit a radio into and start driving) was bought from a very good friend only a few months before he passed away . This tank was built and tested by him (with his preferred Futaba F14 radio) but was never actually "run" or "used". I will fit my own radio into this tank and get it going as soon as the metal suspension arms from King Kong arrive. At that time I will also strip the suspension to fit a set of bearings to the axles before the kit supplied bushes have a chance to cause any wear to them or the chassis where the bushes/bearings are retained. Any "pick-up" causes the axles to lock onto the three axle bushes and this causes the "inner-most" bush to turn and grind away at its mounting position inside the hull. Fitting a set of bearings to the axles will prevent this.
Any build delays caused by the two small missing parts has not been a problem for me as the first 2A6 that I have been running has showed me what needs to be done to this Tamiya model to make it run properly and reliably, so I was never in any rush, and had plenty of time to learn about the tank and its weak points. I have been able to take the time to make any changes that are needed as I put this new build together ....and I also had time to make the decision to paint this new build in a dessert colour scheme!
The inside of the hull is a bit "dusty" as it has been left on the bench for some weeks until I found a source for the small parts that I had missing from the kit (AFV), and also due to me filing the the unwanted sprue parts away from the square hole in the bottom of the hull ready to have the "plug" plate glued into it, so it will need a good clean before any painting starts.
I have already fitted a set of the rcbearings "rubber shielded ball bearings" to the black plastic kit axles (three bearings per axle), but when I remove the wheels I will take them apart and remove the rubber tyres so they can be sprayed in the chosen dessert yellow colour, and after they are painted I will rebuild them with a matching set of rubber shielded wheel bearings to replace the kit supplied wheel bushes. This will give a fully ball raced drive chain.
The gearbox also needs to be removed and taken apart as I had a small spacer missing from the kit. I have managed to buy a new pack of spacers, so I will fit the missing spacer and then refit the gearbox so that I can begin to make some long overdue progress with this slow build.
The missing black plastic axle has also been replaced as I bought a complete pack of spare axles along with the spacers pack from AFV. These black plastic kit axles may come in handy if any of them fail in the future, but at the moment they are looking OK on the Leopard 2A6 that I have already been running with AFV metal suspension arms and hopefully it will not be necessary to replace them with the excellent (but expensive) brass axles (also from from AFV).
Building this unboxed kit has been good for me as my other two Tamiya Leopard 2A6 tanks were not built by me. One was swapped several years ago for a Wedico r/c model truck and the other (the next one that I will fit a radio into and start driving) was bought from a very good friend only a few months before he passed away . This tank was built and tested by him (with his preferred Futaba F14 radio) but was never actually "run" or "used". I will fit my own radio into this tank and get it going as soon as the metal suspension arms from King Kong arrive. At that time I will also strip the suspension to fit a set of bearings to the axles before the kit supplied bushes have a chance to cause any wear to them or the chassis where the bushes/bearings are retained. Any "pick-up" causes the axles to lock onto the three axle bushes and this causes the "inner-most" bush to turn and grind away at its mounting position inside the hull. Fitting a set of bearings to the axles will prevent this.
Any build delays caused by the two small missing parts has not been a problem for me as the first 2A6 that I have been running has showed me what needs to be done to this Tamiya model to make it run properly and reliably, so I was never in any rush, and had plenty of time to learn about the tank and its weak points. I have been able to take the time to make any changes that are needed as I put this new build together ....and I also had time to make the decision to paint this new build in a dessert colour scheme!