New Gearbox mounts for my Leopard

[odessa]

Hi,

I'm a new owner of a second hand Leopard. Got the tank quite cheap as a project as it was listed as spares or repair. Managed to fix the few issues with it like the turret not rotating ( broken wire on the jst connector ) , no BB gun function ( dodgy pot on the handset, ordered a new one from ali express ). All in all quite easy fixes.
Then messing about with it a week or so ago one of the gearboxes managed to strip a gear leaving it driving in circles. So, bought a new pair of metal gearboxes and removed the old ones to be greeted with this.







Every mounting post split and basically useless, so out came the dremel ...





Then opened inventor, armed with a ruler and caliper



Then it's 3D printer time, 2 hrs later and ...





Not too shabby ...



I left the guide pivots in so the gearboxes would align nicely and added holes so the mounts could be fixed from underneath,was a bit too harsh with the right hand top fixing and stripped the thread so had to counter sink it and put a nut in to secure it. If I made them again I would add captive nuts on all the fixings to make it extra secure.

Then fit the 1st gearbox...





Then the second, was a bit harsh with the mounting again so it got a nice big self tapper, not going anywhere



And the view from below ...



All in all it worked really well, plus they are removable and replaceable if needed. Much better than the flimsy mounts it came with

When my new pots arrive I'll post a thread on replacing them if anyone is interested, it's nice n easy

[Jimster]

A genius solution for sure. Wish I had that kind of engineering skills. Thanks for sharing the technique and photos.

[PainlessWolf]

Good afternoon,
Before I saw your 3D solution, I was going to suggest 'skinning' those broken posts with a short length of cut to fit brass tubing and some epoxy. Old fashioned fix compared to yours. ;o)
regards,
Painless

[43rdRecceReg]

Full-size tanks also need maintenance units. You should find it very comforting, then, that you are clearly a competent, and inventive, maintenance unit. Whether out of necessity, or just for the fun of it, tank tinkering skills are very much in demand in this hobby. A very neat solution there

[RenoirLV]

Good afternoon,
Before I saw your 3D solution, I was going to suggest 'skinning' those broken posts with a short length of cut to fit brass tubing and some epoxy. Old fashioned fix compared to yours. ;o)
regards,
Painless

Any pics of what that looks like? I don't have a 3d printer.


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[odessa]

Full-size tanks also need maintenance units. You should find it very comforting, then, that you are clearly a competent, and inventive, maintenance unit. Whether out of necessity, or just for the fun of it, tank tinkering skills are very much in demand in this hobby. A very neat solution there

I love that ! Cant wait for the next thing to go wrong

[odessa]

A genius solution for sure. Wish I had that kind of engineering skills. Thanks for sharing the technique and photos.

Thanks and your welcome

[PainlessWolf]

Renoir,
I looked through pics of my past builds but cannot locate the right tank that I did that repair on. It is very simple to describe and do. Locate brass tubing which has the same inner diameter as the exterior diameter of your broken post. Glue the broken post together with a strong epoxy then lightly sand the exterior of the post to smooth it. Cut the brass tubing to the same height of your post, smooth the cut edges with sandpaper or a file then tap the brass tube down over your post with a hobby hammer ( any small hammer will do ) until the tubing mouth is flush with the top of your post. The repaired post will last much longer than a standard plastic post.
regards,
Painless

( Fixed for OP)

[odessa]

Hi, Thanks for that .. it was RenoirLV who asked about that method though