HengLong 1/24 Leopard 2A5

[jzoo]

Starting on a HengLong 1/24 Leopard. Not much to do in terms of building; but there are a few things I will mess with along the way.

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I was curious to see what rc tanks look like inside, so I opened it up after a little bit of driving.

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Everything still works after putting it back together.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

If you ever had to make a quick repair of the electronic innards (technical term there) the photos will be a great help. With a swipe of paint or marker colors, you can also color code both parts of the JST connectors to get them back in the right places.

[jzoo]

Funny you should mention that - in the process of doing my first mod, I unplugged the main power connector at the board and didn't realized the female plastic bit came up with it. Double checked the photos to avoid reseating it backwards.

The first mod, not critical by any means.

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Swapping plugs on the battery and tank to allow fast charging with my existing gear.

[jzoo]

I decided to skip the HengLong decals and look for a set for a Dutch Leopard 2. I didn't find any in 1/24, so I looked at 1/35 and 1/16. I realized 1/24 is almost exactly halfway in between the other two scales.
I chose a 1/16 set from Peddinghaus, figuring slightly big would look better than slightly small.
Tank all shined up in preparation for decals.

[jzoo]

The Peddinghaus decals went on well. They are a bit thick, Micro Sol didn't do much to soften the edges. I probably should have waited and tried a couple rounds of Solvaset; but I didn't have any on hand. We also ran out of good outdoor painting weather here in the mitten, and marginally acceptable days were going to be few too, so I went ahead with getting ready to dull coat the tank.

I did take the time to black out the gratings on the rear deck and darken a few panel lines around hatches and the front of the turret.

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I took the tracks off before spraying the matte clear. I also took the opportunity to mask the rims and paint the tires on the road wheels.

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[jzoo]

A few pictures with the decals.

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Thank you for following along!

[Stormbringer]

the decals really add to it