I hear a lot how expensive Tamiya tanks are etc etc. This build will be example of what can be done with some eBay scouring, patience and a tendency to horde left overs from other builds!
This came up as a £1 start auction which I kept an eye on, it stayed low right will the end where there was a bit of a bidding frenzy, however despite there being 10 bidders I snaffled her for just over £200.
I wasn’t sure which way to go when I bought her, a like for like (with some extras) or something a bit more wild like the okmo leopard 2a7+ or an A4 back date.
In the end the more straight forward build won out.
I won’t lie, she looked pretty rough, lots of parts were missing, she was sold as untested, all in all good project.
When I got her I found that she was mechanically and electrically fairly sound, the flash had broken wires but worked, she drove ok and the other functions worked.
The suspension had some issues, the tank seemed to sit down on one side, the sprockets were quite loose and could be slid out slightly from the housings.
First thing to do was disconnect the wiring, remove the top and strip down the lower. I found the screw downs which hold one end of the torsion bars were loose on some of the bars. Also some of the bars were bent. Tightening the mounts and bending back the offending bars seemed to have done the trick. Stripping the lower also reminded me of the inadequacy of the Tamiya tensioning system. I think I’ll add a henntec which stiffens the front end and really allows the right tension to be dialled in.
With that sorted, next task was to sort the missing parts. Massive thanks here to heavyaslead who helped me out with the missing bits I couldn’t source from my stash.
Some of the bigger missing bits were the engine vent covers, broken tow cables, missing commanders hatch ring, broken night sight, missing detail off the rear of the hull, many missing or damaged smoke launchers, damaged turret baskets and missing photo etch, there were plenty of other small bits missing.
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Most of this was fairly straight forward, although the smoke launchers were quite laborious! Next up is tidying it up and prep for paint.
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