billpe Leo 2A6 build

[billpe]

So here is a better shot of the ballistic glass effect. Its just Tamiya X-25 sprayed onto the back. Its only about 11mm tall so and the unit it goes into is very small, so I'm going to experiment with putting reflective surfaces in and something I can mount a sequin on.

And my gap filler.

[billpe]

So I now have the turret ring in, with the 1mm additional ring to lift the turret up so it doesn't clip the oil coolers at 180 degrees. I've started to add the electrics which posed a few issues: Dropping a screw down the cable run meant I had to completely disassemble the tank to get it back out of the speaker box! I also didn't have enough MB5 screws which is very strange, normally in Tamiya kits you get at least 1 additional of everything. Luckily I had some screw bags I'd bough cheap of Ebay for the King Tiger which had some spare MB5s in it. In the process though I snapped a fibre optic cable to one of the rear lights. I'll replace it in the future, for now I'll finish the build, its not like i'll drive it in the dark anyway.

Then I got to the stage which most people who have this kit seems to have issues with. Fitting the cables for the DMD, RX, battery, HV unit, GBS, gun, recoil, elevation servo and turret rotation motor inside the turret. The cables for the motors are far to long and the connectors are far to large - I'll be these down and replacing the connectors to something smaller. In the process I also managed to break off a wire from the recoil motor which I'll need to solder back on. I think I may pull it all out and drill out some holes in the mounting panel so I can tie everything to it or every time I take the battery out it will need to be fight to get everything back in.

Once this is all done I'll get back to painting!

[brizo58]

Hi bill,
Could I ask you a question when you put the camo on your Leo can I ask what pressure did you spray at and what % did you mix the black and brown with thinners The green is on and hardened. I shouldn't ask really I've been spraying models for 45 years . But every little helps so they say . Any info you can give me would be great.Best Regards, Brian...

[billpe]

So I used an Iwata Revolution 5mm. Pressure is about 10PSI, Tamiya paints thinned by about 30% with Tamiya thinners. That combination of brush and those paints tend to work very well at low pressure though. I wouldn't say its a universal thing.

I should update this thread as I've not done all the camo for the tank and the turret is completed apart from the smoke dischargers which I'm building (and hating). Ended up not cutting cables but pulling them through into the hull. Once those dischargers are on, its decals time then another round of oil paints for highlighting.

I also had a problem with some varnish. Some got caught in the fine mesh and dried filling the caps. Its not something that can't be repaired but its a fiddly job with a fine needle and then a repaint which is a pain.

[brizo58]

Hi Bill,
Thanks for the info. I use a iwata Revolution TR1 and a iwata SAR this ones a single action the TR1 is a trigger gun. I will start tomorrow with the camo. All the crew is built 3 of them, cut down one for the driver's hatch.i now have two crew members that look like twins have to put a beard on one of em
Once again thanks for the help. Best Regafrs, Brian...

[brizo58]

Hi
One thing I forgot to mention was with the speaker box I screwed it to the lower hull it really stiffens the lower hull up a lot. Brian...

[TDanny]

Hi
That speaker box is a real mystery for me... When I look at the manual it seems that even Tamiya was confused about that thing.
I screwed it down too and I think it's a must to make the lower hull stiffer. But later it's a real pain to take off the upper hull because of the cables inside the speaker when you want to adjust the track tensioner.

[brizo58]

Hi Danny,
Yea I can see that might be a problem .will have wait and see if I remove the screws.but it dose seam funny that the pegs are there and no screws to fit it.also the tow gables the points where they fit to the top hull far to small I cut them off and fitted brass Chanel 3- 1/2 mm wide holds then really well now no glue needed. .Brian...

[billpe]

I considered doing it at a later date. I can see why they made a few choices about how its constructed but I think they worked on the assumption that once put together, that turret is never coming off. Then they changed there minds because even with all the electrics mounted, you can access the 6 screws which hold the bottom of the turret to the ring without taking the plate off that the battery and DMD sit on.

I also suspect they intended for the DMD to sit in the hull, accessed through the bottom but gave up on that. The whole thing is strange, especially considering it's by far the best engineered Tamiya in many respects.

[ALPHA]

Nice job filling the gap and tinting the lens .... those Tamiya transparent colors come in handy... used to use them a lot when they were available here ...sure do miss those

ALPHA