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For those with a smattering of German, those who are German, and those who can manage on online translator here's an interesting magazine...I think: 'Rad und Kette' ( wheel and track). It offers some immersive articles (with lots of coloured pics for the linguistically challenged. ) on tanks, armoured cars and tracked vehicle builds. As the name suggests, the magazine range is broad and spans all vehicles with tracks (including bulldozers etc..) or wheels (including trucks).
Here's a sample. It's the mag's review of the workhorse (Arbeitspferd) Tamiya Pz IV Ausf. J build.
http://www.tamiya.de/CommonFiles/Dickie ... ericht.pdf
A link to the online archive of previous issues:
http://www.rad-und-kette.de/ausgaben-archiv/
Here they covered the build of Tamiya KV-2, and reviewed the model. This issue covered a Panzer IV (observer tank) in 1:6 scale, as well as CNC tech.. I've not tried, but I assume that copies can still be bought online. Anyway, the Pz IV article can be downloaded and kept for real Pz IV nuts (myself included.. )

Until I read this article (below), I didn't know much about the Tamiya Leopard 2. That's partly due to it being Tamiya's most expensive tank, and rapid means of emptying the family coffers; but also because I'm only lukewarm, in fan terms, about postwar (post WW2) tanks, as they lack the heritage, history, and stories of their predecessors.
http://www.tamiya.de/CommonFiles/Dickie ... ericht.pdf Do click..it's worth a read

I must say, I like the battery of lights this model offers. Most Tamiya tanks are bereft of working lights ( ), except for the M26, I think. This one lights up like a Christmas tree.
It also offers Tamiya's own barrel stabilisation system, and I think this is probably why it's so expensive.
One thing that really surprised me, though, is that the Tamiya leopard only has an ABS hull. At this price, you'd really expect alloy. On the face of it, a plastic hull would lead to unwanted flexing under power, if you consider the flexing in the shorter Tamiya KT (and that has an alloy hull )
You can buy this CNC cut alloy (2mm) stiffening kit for it apparently from an number of sources.
here's one:
https://tank-modellbau.de/eng_481/Leopa ... cement-kit

But with an initial outlay that could lead to an address on 'Skidrow', why would you want to have to buy this as well? Perhaps it might be better to invest in the DKLM starter metal hull, and work up from there.
Just a thought.

My knowledge of German is non-existent and sadly, translate does not appear to work on the pdf file.

It's a shame the Two Ronnies only made a Swedish translator....

silversurfer1947 wrote:My knowledge of German is non-existent and sadly, translate does not appear to work on the pdf file.

There's an option in Google, Richard for translating text. I've used it for bits of Russian, French (when schoolboy level doesn't cut it) and so on. I did 'A' level German, and often speak it..but keeping up to date can be hard and so, and now and then the translator can pick out new idioms and technical terms I'm not familiar with.
Just go to Google. Then pick out the box of other Google tools and options (usually a nine dot box. Here next to 'Images' at the top right)). Choose: 'Translator.' This box appears: You can manually type the text to translate in the left hand box. But it's far easier to click on the text (or page even) in question, to highlight it and then scroll down to select the required passages.
Click 'Copy' in the edit box of your browser. Then Click the cursor into the left hand 'translate' box so that the cursor flashes there. Then click 'Paste' in the Edit menu.
The text appears in the box. The translate tool should detect the language the text is in. You simply specify the language to translate it to in the right hand box.
Here's a bit of text I've just copied and pasted from today's Die Welt: It also works in reverse, so if you want to translate text into Russian or Mandarin..it will do it. How embarrassing the resultant text will be will depend on the native speaker reading it Broadly, the translate tool would be of real benefit to anyone working for Heng Long, writing Tank manuals, as text from this translator is at least comprehensible, and not unintentionally hilarious

Estnische wrote:It's a shame the Two Ronnies only made a Swedish translator....

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..and still not a patch on Pedro Carolino's 19th century travel guide: 'English is she is spoke". Mark Twain was a big fan of this little phrase book. It purports to help Portuguese speakers master useful English phrases when travelling in the US or England. At the barbers we have this useful question: " Are you cutting them hairs?"/ When renting a horse and carriage (it was the 19th C..don't forget):
"That horse he him pursy, he is um a jade!"/ When espying a lake suitable for fishing: "That pond it seems me many multiplied of fishes. Let us amuse rather to the fishing."
These are all genuine, and not even the interpretive text feature here on RCTW could mangle English so well..
Talk about heroic failures. Carolina couldn't speak English, but could manage a little French. So he used French-English and French-Portuguese text books to translate into his native Portuguese tongue.