Second Tamiya Leopard 2A6

[zooma]

I have a s/h Tamiya Leopard 2A6 tank that was never used from new and I am now starting to give it some long overdue running time.

This tank was acquired some years ago from a friend who sadly passed away and it has been stored in my workshop for many years as work and life never gave me the time to do anything with it. This tank is a few years younger than my first TAMIYA 2A6, but it is still probably about 16 years old.

My friend always liked to use the Futaba F14 series of transmitters on all his boat, truck and tank models but I prefer a smaller tx and just happened to have a spare Planet T5 radio that had recently been liberated from my TID Tug when it was sold, so I will be using that on this model.

The self-test function showed that all the electrics were working correctly and so I fitted the Planet radio and I will give the tank what will probably its first drive.

The tank had been spray painted with Tamiya acrylics in the colours specified in the building instructions and I would like to give it a little weathering, so I am guessing that it would be best to give it an overall spray with a Tamiya varnish after dry brushing - but before giving it a wash with thinned enamel paints (?).

There are probably specialised products available for weathering with these days, but I am out of date and need to find out what works best.

The tracks will be the first area to paint and weather, so I am hoping that I can separate them by pushing-out one of the track pins on each track as they will be a lot easier to work on when they are flat.

Once the tracks are removed, it will also be a lot easier to weather the areas of the hull that are hidden behind them before they are re-fitted again.

I have noticed when removing the top deck just how short the motor leads are. It would make maintenance much easier if I extend these motor wires to give a better clearance once the top deck is removed from the lower hull.

The tank was tested using a 7.2 volt NiMh cell, but I would like to use a 2 cell LiPo as I already have some that I used on my fast power boats. Apart from keeping an eye on them to stop the voltage dropping too low at the end of each run, I am hoping that it will just be a simple matter of plugging them in instead of the NiMh batteries?

The type of ESC used on the boats automatically prevents the voltage from dropping too low to protect the LiPo cells, but as far as I know this function is not included in the Tamiya ESC unit as it was primarily designed for use with NiCad and NiMh batteries?

I have already changed the battery connectors from the Tamiya to XT60 (on the tank and the NiMh batteries). I find the XT60 connectors to be much more reliable and easier to work with than the Tamiya connectors and is what I use on my LiPo batteries, so I should be able to switch between the NiMh and LiPo batteries so that I can use them both.

I am looking forward to running 1/16 scale r/c tanks again after such a long break, and realise that a lot has changed over the years and so I will have many new things to learn and find out about.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

"I am guessing that it would be best to give an overall spray with a Tamiya varnish after dry brushing etc (?) before adding any wash of thinned enamel paints (?)." I give mine a gloss clear coat, apply any decals or stencils, then a flat clear coat. That way any mistakes I make weathering (usually plenty) can be wiped off quickly. At the end I add a second flat clear coat. However, I try not to overdo the flat clear coat, for too much can actually start to take on a satin appearance. I would think Tamiya clear would be fine. I have used various brands with good effect.

"separate them by pushing-out one of the track pins on each track." Yes, I used a spare track pin of the same diameter, line it up, and tap with care using a old, relatively light hammer. I do wish someone would make a track pin remover along the design of the type used for separating bicycle chains, with very strong pins of various sizes to drift out track pins. Maybe someone will get the idea.

Unless there would be some kind of problem with voltage drop (highly unlikely), lengthening the motor leads should be fine.

Here are some links for paints and weathering goodies. No doubt others will have more to show you.

https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/

https://www.migjimenez.com/en/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZxi65yqDuY - this stuff really works well!

https://ak-interactive.com/

[zooma]

Thank you for your help and suggestions - all greatly appreciated!

[Ad Lav]

My build from a few years ago.

You don’t need to remove the top deck, only the turret bits.

Also, do not keep a battery in the turret unless running! It warps the turret.

viewtopic.php?t=17870

[tomhugill]

My build from a few years ago.

You don’t need to remove the top deck, only the turret bits.

Also, do not keep a battery in the turret unless running! It warps the turret.

viewtopic.php?t=17870

Ah the dreaded turret sag! I'd forgotten that.

You can fix it easy enough though!! If you put a small bit of styrene across the rear of the turret that provides support to the lower turret part and stops the sag. Takes a minute to do and very effective

[zooma]

Ah the dreaded turret sag! I'd forgotten that.

You can fix it easy enough though!! If you put a small bit of styrene across the rear of the turret that provides support to the lower turret part and stops the sag. Takes a minute to do and very effective

Good tip.

I have just taken the battery out of the turret !

The battery has never been left in the turret before - but it was left in overnight from yesterday.

I have never heard about "turret sag" on the Tamiya 2A6 Leopard........but I know now!

[zooma]

My first Tamiya Leopard 2A6 was built for someone that I knew some years ago, but by the time the build was finished for him he had changed his mind and swapped it to me for a Wedico r/c truck.......but not before he had run it across some mud and very small stones to try it out!

In total the tank has probably had about 10 minutes running from new - but it was probably not driven with any care......and that was about 20 years ago!

This tank was left "as it was" for some years under my bench after I swapped it, but when I took it out to take a look at it last week three of the suspension arms had broken around the pivot bolt that holds each arm onto the chassis. Two suspension arms were broken on one side and one was broken on the other side - but all three of them were towards the rear of the tank close to the drive sprocket.

Presumably these three suspension arms were damaged when it was run over the small stones?

As I cleaned the tank some small stones and dried mud (not much) fell out of the tracks and so I am wondering if the three failed suspension arms broke under the pressure of some of these small stones when the tank was being driven, or if they just broke due to age when in storage due to the plastic "aging" and getting harder.

I removed all of the tanks suspension arms to clean them and checked them all for free movement. With the three broken arms replaced the tank suspension feels nice and smooth.

Does anyone know if the suspension arms on the Tamiya 2A6 Leopard are particularly weak and prone to failure with age or heavy use - or if they were updated in later production years to improve their strength?

.......also, is anyone aware of any alloy arms that can be used to replace these plastic parts if they are not strong enough for regular use?

To make this repair I bought a spare parts sprue (0005977) that has 3 of these arms moulded on it so I have been able to replace the three broken arms but I do wonder just how strong they are?

Anybody else had a problem with them?

[zooma]

Ah the dreaded turret sag! I'd forgotten that.

You can fix it easy enough though!! If you put a small bit of styrene across the rear of the turret that provides support to the lower turret part and stops the sag. Takes a minute to do and very effective
[/quote]



Whilst traversing the turret on my Tamiya Leopard 2A6 yesterday the rear end of the turret came into contact with one of the two round air filters on the rear deck and ripped the etched cover off of it.

The etched cover was folded and then crumpled when this happened so it is beyond repair.

Both of the etched air filter covers were well secured and absolutely "flat" on the plastic mouldings that they cover, so maybe I do have some "turret sag" that I was unaware of - or maybe the cover just bounced away from the magnet as it was being driven on my flat ashfelt drive (unlikely I would have thought), but it looks like the turret came into contact with the edge of the etching and just "peeled" it away and then crushed it as it became tangled up.

I will search the net to see who stocks replacement etchings or see if I can find any fine mesh to make my own replacement.

Maybe I can also slightly reduce the height of the plastic moulded covers so that they actually sit lower to give a little more clearance, but on reflection I think that curing the turret sag is a better way to go.

[zooma]

I am currently building a new (but unboxed) Tamiya Leopard kit that I was able to pick up locally. The first step is building the gearbox and I quite enjoyed doing that but sadly I have a small spacer missing (part number MK6 7 x 1.2mm ) that stopped progress for a while while I searched around to try find something that I could use to do the job.

Eventually a stainless steel washer was found that was "about" the same thickness" so I fitted this so that I could complete the gearbox build but I am aware that the washer has a larger diameter than the correct spacer part would have, and so I am concerned that the ball bearing that it is fitted next to will rub against both the top and bottom outer edges of the ball bearing, whereas the correct part would only touch the smaller (bottom) ball outer bearing surface - allowing the larger (top) part of the bearing to rotate freely and independently to the smaller (bottom) part.

I think I will probably have to buy a new Spacer Bag (part number 9400127) which would be a bit of a shame as I only need the one small 7 x 1.2mm spacer, unless anyone knows where I can find a spacer on its own?

Being realistic I think I need to find a dealer that has a pack in stock or who can order the 9400127 Spacer Bag for me.

Meanwhile I have fitted the motors and run the gearbox on the bench to test that everything works OK, (it works fine - but it is very noisy!). I will take it apart and replace my temporary stainless steel washer with the correct size spacer when I can find one.

Having thought about this some more, I think I will remove the stainless steel washer that I fitted and see if I can turn it down to 7mm so that it works as a spacer without fouling the ball bearing that is is pressed against.

This should work OK and it will save me worrying about not being able to find anyone that has the Spacer Bag 9400127 in stock so I can get on with the build.

[zooma]

I am wondering if the broken suspension arm problem on the Tamiya Leopard 2A6 could be helped (reduced) by fitting ball bearings to the output shafts that currently have x3 plain bearings on each shaft from the chassis, and the wheels that have two plain bearings in each wheel?

Metal suspension arms are on order, but fitting them and keeping the same plain bearings may not be the best idea?

Looking at the online bearing suppliers to see who offers a complete set to fit the Tamiya Leopard 2A6 , I see that most are based in China and all have very similar prices.

Having had good service from a UK based bearing suppler previously, I checked with RC Bearings and found that they offer a full set (including the gearbox) or a set to replace the plain bearings only.

The bearings themselves can also be supplied with rubber seals (as an option) and that sounded like it could be a good thing to try on an r/c tank that will be driven (and not just looked at) - so I was pleasantly surprised to find that even with the rubber seal option the cost was significantly less that buying from China - and the delivery was a LOT faster too!

I have ordered a set (with rubber seals) to replace the plain bearing only as the ball bearings that come with the kit inside the gearbox don't need changing.

Postage charges are very reasonable and the delivery should arrive tomorrow so I am looking forward to fitting them to see what difference I can see and feel compared to what I have now with the kit supplied plain bearings.