Leopard 2a6, right tracks, slip ring and new headlights

[PainlessWolf]

Darkas,
Those polycaps are not the headlight lenses. You need Sprue 'H' from Tamiya per: http://www.tamiyausa.com/pdf/manuals/56020ml.pdf
regards,
Painless

[Darkas]

Aaah, ok, sorry I to misapprehend you. (Strange word that is, but Google says it's correct)

H8 is the item I need.

Thank you!

? ?

[ALPHA]

I have a slightly ghetto way of making light lenses Darkas...not sure you want to try it...but it's very economical ...I use the top part of a HL TX antenna...heat that a little with a lighter...then press it into some blister pack material...makes a nice rounded form if you do it right...then you just trim it off and glue it on with household cement

ALPHA

I don't have a HL TX antenna but I have thousands of shell cases of you name it what caliber.
I'm a manager of a Indoor Shooting Range with ranges 6x10, 6x12, 6x25, 6x100m and a 25m range for dynamic shooting.

So everthing below .50 caliber I can get. (used and EMPTY of course)

Made my Leopard ammo from of a .223 and a memo board pin. (see show off pics)

? ?

A shell could work...you would have to round the base where the primer is though...also compare the diameter to your light...heat it in the same way...make sure the primer is dead or removed lol...then press it into the blister pack


ALPHA

[cupoftea]

I have a slightly ghetto way of making light lenses Darkas...not sure you want to try it...but it's very economical ...I use the top part of a HL TX antenna...heat that a little with a lighter...then press it into some blister pack material...makes a nice rounded form if you do it right...then you just trim it off and glue it on with household cement

ALPHA

Thanks for publishing that tip Alpha - great stuff.

[ALPHA]

I have a slightly ghetto way of making light lenses Darkas...not sure you want to try it...but it's very economical ...I use the top part of a HL TX antenna...heat that a little with a lighter...then press it into some blister pack material...makes a nice rounded form if you do it right...then you just trim it off and glue it on with household cement

ALPHA

Thanks for publishing that tip Alpha - great stuff.

Cupoftea!!!!!!!!!!!! ...How have you been?????....no problem on the tip...any kind of scrap antenna will do...I have several different sizes so I can make different sized lenses...works pretty good for me...you don't get the facets like a sealed beam...but I'm pretty sure in those days directing the beam of light wasn't perfected...so smooth lamp faces were normal ...for these new tanks...a keen eye ...a steady hand and a xacto to score the lines works fine

Good to hear from you Cupoftea

ALPHA

[atcttge]

Next:
I want to get rid off the screws that are for mounting the upper to the lower hull, but I don't kwow what to make as an alternative.
I thought about hairpin cotters, but I don't know where to put them. (yet)
Maybe some very strong magnets.

For my Leo2, I used N42 1"x 1/2" x 1/8" magnets which, turns out, too big and powerful IMO.

On my M1, I opted for some smaller N42 magnets, around 14mm x 9mm x 1mm to be perfect. The nice thing is that I can "scale up" the strength of the magnets by adding more on the mounts mounted on the lower brackets I made. Here's a pic of the M1 with magnets up front:





I glued magnets under the upper hull part directly. For the lower part, I placed the magnets in brackets I made which I then glued to the lower hull. If I want to strengthen the hold, I add additional magnets under the brackets on the lower hull.

Some have replaced the screws with small disc magnets on the screw posts. I did the same to my Leo but I found it to be not so effective plus there were spacing issues. If I used stronger magnets (N45 for example) and better positions, I might've made it work. For now, I'm going to redo the magnets on my Leo to be like the M1 - although I think I'd be better off getting a newer hull for the Leo2 after I, uhm, damaged mine after doing some ill-conceived modifications with a knife.

[atcttge]

BTW, I just LOVE your wiring. My Leo2 is a MESS and I want to do a similar thing. Where'd you get the slip ring? I need a couple for my Leo and M1.

[Darkas]

RCTank.de

I first had the one with only 7 wires, but because I have a rotating beacon on the turret I needed more wires.
If you don't care to much for a 10 dollars more you should buy the one with 14 wires.
It's the most expensive one he's selling. (all the pictures are the same on that site)
14 is for IR function and therefor I had to cut the connectors off.
I just extended the wires to the length what was needed, so I didn't need the connectors at all.

? ?

There's NO leo turret ring in the package, only a smaller one.
Just cut the needed piece out off the new turret ring.

[Darkas]

About those magnets... I can't use two magnets on eachother because I can't get them apart.

But I'm testing to use only one magnet and use for the other just a piece of metal plate.
Some pieces cut out of a metal side panel of an old computer are exelent to use.
Those panels are made of high density metal so magnets are sticking very good.

? ?

[atcttge]

Wot kind of magnets do you have anyway? Mine are strong enough that it is difficult to separate them from each other especially since these are small. However, when glue to something else, it is easier to separate the magnets from each other, but still strong enough to hold the hull parts together. However, if your magnets are really strong, then best to just glue them to one hull part, while glue some steel brackets on the other for the magnets to hold onto.