RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Another Relaxing day of measurements and Modeling. Taking a small break on the turret as I wait for parts to arrive. I decided to work on some details around the APU to start with. Next will be the junction box for the forward section of the hull and then the I will attempt the Tow hooks for the front around the lights and lower glacis plate.
Of course I still have to print the test parts for fitment however I am quite optimistic that they will be damn near on the dot with the first try.

Great progress made on the Deck Panels. Test fitment and a few adjustments made here and there for details, overall I am quite happy with how it turned out. It did take a bit of cutting and sanding to get the surfaces prepped, the deck have a fuel cap that has to be removed for the v3's.
Once the fuel cap was removed I added 2 part epoxy putty to seal the hole made from removal. After a few hours I got to sanding out the high parts of the putty surface and began the first test print. Now to finish the last panel and move to the front tow hooks and junction box

quick update,
Parts have arrived! new Gunner's sight, CITV, turret ring, spare road wheels and new sprockets, and the first coat of primer has been laid! The install for the gunner's sight was relatively simple. few snips from below on the existing mounts and a light pry from a common screwdriver and the old sight was free. Then some liquid Tamiya putty with sanding to smooth the surface out. My only grip with the new sight is the gap left behind after installing on the inside. its not super noticeable with the primer added but it could have been built a bit chunkier to fill the gap. On top of this I have directed my attention at the commander's hatch, and remodeling it to the SEP V3 variant instead of using the pre existing one (I'm a sucker for punishment). Those pesky parts for the front have not been forgotten, once this is completed and I like the fitment i'll be redirecting my effort to finishing them.
More to follow!

Alright small update,
Commander's Hatch installed. Some minor adjustments made here and there. The view ports may undergo a remodel. (Test print to follow shortly)
Overall I am ecstatic on how the final product came out (at least at this stage) The hatch hinge latch, had a bit of a happy accident. It's initial sizing for a machined bolt or screw actually fits a trimmed piece of FDM filament perfectly. I will be testing it with a bolt once I have some hardware to play with. More to follow!

Looks good! Looks like a lot of work!

It is looking good. I like seeing people that design parts to actually be printed. So many designers make parts with no regards as to how well they print.

tankme wrote: ↑Wed Jul 09, 2025 3:13 am It is looking good. I like seeing people that design parts to actually be printed. So many designers make parts with no regards as to how well they print.

That is probably the one thing that grinds my gears the most, and honestly I've been having a blast trying to figure out how to construct the parts in a way that makes printing easy, and assembly easy!

So I should’ve asked this earlier, I see you got the metal turret ring, but did you get the metal turret ring gearbox?

There is one where the motor is parallel to the upper hull when mounted, and one where the motor is perpendicular to the hill when mounted. There latter is the “fast” turret ring gearbox, and I heavily recommend it for modern tanks, inhave it on all of mine.

Here is a video of my Leopard 2A6 right after I installed it.

https://youtu.be/XwlISgUErvM?si=r6iUscKLqITx1UF1

Jib wrote: ↑Thu Jul 17, 2025 11:59 am So I should’ve asked this earlier, I see you got the metal turret ring, but did you get the metal turret ring gearbox?

There is one where the motor is parallel to the upper hull when mounted, and one where the motor is perpendicular to the hill when mounted. There latter is the “fast” turret ring gearbox, and I heavily recommend it for modern tanks, inhave it on all of mine.

Here is a video of my Leopard 2A6 right after I installed it.

https://youtu.be/XwlISgUErvM?si=r6iUscKLqITx1UF1

I did, only made sense to upgrade both parts so it wasn't going to stirp out immediately

Jib wrote: ↑Thu Jul 17, 2025 11:59 am So I should’ve asked this earlier, I see you got the metal turret ring, but did you get the metal turret ring gearbox?

There is one where the motor is parallel to the upper hull when mounted, and one where the motor is perpendicular to the hill when mounted. There latter is the “fast” turret ring gearbox, and I heavily recommend it for modern tanks, inhave it on all of mine.

Here is a video of my Leopard 2A6 right after I installed it.

https://youtu.be/XwlISgUErvM?si=r6iUscKLqITx1UF1

I have the metal ring with the metal turret rotation where the motor hangs down. It is definately faster than stock. Only issue I have with the metal rotations units is that they don't have clutches in them. They have no give if you run into something. They can't be turned by hand either, only under power of the MFU.