RE: M1A1 Abrams Runs Over Car Bomb.
Not 100% sure, but the vehicle this was shot from looks to be an MRAP, perhaps a Buffalo? You can see the reflection and dirty spots on the windshield as well as the narrowed front vehicle hood.
Posted on: 6/11/2009 7:15 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8845132

RE: Another Tamiya Leopard
Gorehound, Please post pics of the DARKAS when you get it, too! This camo netting sure is a pain to make, but it looks pretty cool! 'O Tannenbaum' in June! That's colored pipe cleaner posing as the pine, BTW.
Posted on: 6/2/2009 4:52 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8820320

RE: Another Tamiya Leopard
What you might be referring to is the sensor parts of the MILES gear. They are Velcro straps that go around the outside of the turret. The bolt looking parts are the actual sensors themselves and are plastic with the electronics inside. The straps are a green color and carry the wires into the main unit inside of the turret. Since the straps are velcroed to the turret, you can sometimes spot older tanks with the receptive piece of the Velcro. Either that or places where even those parts have been peeled off, leaving a sticky stripe on the turret that collects dirt, such as this picture:
Posted on: 5/31/2009 7:17 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8814385

RE: Another Tamiya Leopard
Their English is probably better than my English! Yeah, I used a translator on the site and couldn't figure it out either. I did learn that 'Versandkosten' means 'Shipping' in English! On another note..... Been messing around with some modeling techniques I stumbled across. May have finally found the perfect way to make the Barracuda type camo netting! It's a bit of a tedious and time consuming process, but the results are well worth it. Just so happen to have a wood carving tool that is close to 1/16 scale for cutting the matte medium soaked tissue paper, too! www.plasticwarfare.se/
Posted on: 5/31/2009 1:25 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8813739

RE: Another Tamiya Leopard
Gorehound, Here is a link to the site that I had previously used as reference to build the Darkas: www.rb-modelle.de/startseite.htm It looks as though this person might be selling these now. In several scales, too! The site also has some awesome looking tank crew figures (with barrets), as well as more detailed old style Leo 2A4 skirts that I ended up scratch building. stcla1r, I have some flat OD green Krylon paint that I'm hoping will cover them well. I also have the Tamiya primer for metal, but I hate painting a second color over white.
Posted on: 5/30/2009 11:10 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8812570

RE: Another Tamiya Leopard
Pretending it's winter.... www.youtube.com/watch
Posted on: 5/28/2009 8:14 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8807173

RE: Another Tamiya Leopard
Gorehound, The piece on the front is called a DARKAS. It simulates the main gun firing when using MILES type gear. I scratch built it using styrene, but's it's not 100% exact or anything. I think there's a link to a site further back in the thread that has some good pictures of a scratch built one (I used these pics to build mine). HG, Closer pics....
Posted on: 5/28/2009 8:13 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8807193

RE: Tam Leo 6 wiring
Don't cut them! Mostly it's trial and error like SB mentioned. Plus, I left the front armor pieces unglued (they stay on with friction) and can see inside the turret, looking for places that are obstructing the upper turret from sitting properly. The two biggest problems I found were wires catching between the top half tabs that sit on the bottom turret half and second, wires going over the battery. I don't have the flash unit in it in these pics, but it does fit with a slight rearrangement of the wires on that side.
Posted on: 5/26/2009 11:49 AM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8799635

RE: Another Tamiya Leopard
Finally put some paint on a figure and mounted him in the TC's spot. Had to remove the rear mount that came in the figure kit, because it wouldn't clear the battery. Also, he wouldn't fit at the level I wanted with the kit arms, (belly button defilade isn't cutting it!) so I slashed him at the chest and made new shoulders out of some putty, then painted the figure. The face is not one of my strong points, as he looks kind of dirty.
Posted on: 5/26/2009 11:48 AM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8799655

RE: Another Tamiya Leopard
This Leo is back in business! Last Fall, it got to the point where over half the road arms had snapped and had been glued, re glued, and glued again. Got tired of messing with it and just stopped running it all together. Put it up and occasionally ran the KT, instead. Just wasn't the same, though. At one point I had even thought about getting rid of it and buying a newer FO Tamiya! So, thanks to ETO Armor, I recently ordered the Impact road arms as well as the Shumo improved track tensioner/idler set. What a difference! Even though gluing the stock arms solved the problem of the cracking to an extent, they still had enough of a gap that the road arms were not as tight on the mounts as like brand new. This also helped pry them apart in other places as they were rotating and banging on the mounts instead of grabbing them tightly like they should. It became a mess I couldn't correct without new parts. The Impact arms needed some clean-up of flash in the mounting areas, but that is to be expected. It wasn't much, but just enough to scrape up the plastic mounts and make them hard to get off (probably wouldn't be that big a deal on the metal replacement mounts). Anyway, they are much better than plastic arms, by a long shot. The tank sits like it did when it was first built! On to the Shumo Idlers... Why put these on? Good question. Without going into a fifteen minute back and forth debate in my head (converted to text) on the differences of older tank suspensions vs. newer ones..... I like my Leopard track tight! Not somewhere in between tight and grinding the tops of the shock mounts down. The Shumo Kit requires you to file on the Leopard hull.... WHAT?? You want me to do what? Once you look at both the old parts and the place in the Leo hull where they go, you realize why. You aren't making some new pattern for the new parts to fit, but merely removing the sloping mold release shapes from the inside of the mounting holes in the hull. They slope inward making the backside of the hole pattern smaller than the outside. If you take the Shumo parts and try to put them in from the outside of the hull, they almost go in! (Don't do this. It's kind of hard to get them back out if you put too much pressure on them). So, being careful not to enlarge the outside pattern too much, I took a small file and removed the slope slowly, checking often to see if the parts would go in. If you're lucky, they'll be a little tight fitting. On to the idler arms. These gave me fits getting the road wheel axles to go in. And once they went in, they aren't coming out without a fight! So, make sure to put the allen screws that mount to the tank in first, like the directions that come with the kit say! As for the cap that covers the allen screw hole, I left it off. Can't see it once the whole thing is assembled, anyway. Maybe later. The range of idler positions is much better. Also, I ended up adding the old cap (MH5) to the inside stack on the allen screw. Instead of turning that lock nut a gazillion times, five or six turns and it's tight. None of the new parts are painted yet, but eventually they will be painted. Maybe... If I stop running it long enought to!
Posted on: 5/21/2009 7:02 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8788420

RE: Tamiya Leo 2 instructions
*[i]All transmitter references are with the Futaba Attack 4WD, set up according to the manual.[/i] [b]Movement[/b] Left Stick: [b]Stick Up[/b]=Hull Forward [b]Stick Down[/b]=Hull Reverse [b]Stick Left[/b]=Turret Left Rot [b]Stick Right[/b]=Turret Right Rot Right Stick: [b]Stick Up[/b]=Cannon Up [b]Stick Down[/b]=Cannon Down [b]Stick Left[/b]=Hull Left [b]Stick Right[/b]=Hull Right [b]Turret Weapons[/b] Right Stick UP/DOWN TRIM fully up=[i]Main Gun Fire when Right Stick is pushed up quickly[/i] Right Stick UP/DOWN TRIM fully down=[i]Coax gun fire when Right Stick is pulled down quickly[/i] [b] Light Modes[/b] Left Stick LEFT/RIGHT TRIM fully left=[i]Rotation Light ON/OFF when Left Stick is pushed left quickly.[/i] Left Stick LEFT/RIGHT TRIM fully right=[i]Cycle through B/N light modes when Left Stick is pushed right quickly[/i] Left Stick LEFT/RIGHT TRIM fully right AND Right Stick UP/DOWN TRIM fully up=[i]Select B/N light modes when Left Stick is first pushed [b]right[/b] and held, then Right Stick is pushed [b]up[/b] quickly. [/i] [b]Tank-Engine ON/OFF[/b] Left Stick LEFT/RIGHT TRIM fully right AND Right Stick UP/DOWN TRIM fully down=Tank-Engine ON/OFF when Left Stick is first pushed [b]right[/b] and held, then Right Stick is pulled [b]down[/b] quickly. [b]DMD panel[/b] [b]VR1[/b] = Channel 3/4 dead band range trim (R stick UP/DOWN - L stick LEFT/RIGHT used if Main Gun or Turret move when Trims are moved) [b]VR2[/b] = Main Gun UP/DOWN TRIM (when tank is started or back deck switch is activated) [b]VR3[/b] = Speaker Volume [b]PW-ST[/b] = Motor Power Setting ST=Standard mode PW=Power Mode [b]N1-N3/B0-B3[/b] = Indicator Lights and Switches for Battle Mode Lights (B) and Non-Battle Mode Lights (N) [b]L M H[/b] = Tank Recoil Movement and Main Gun Fire interval [i]L = light tank/large recoil/3-5 second reload time M = medium tank/medium recoil/5 second reload time H = heavy tank/small recoil/9 second reload time[/i] Hope this helps.[:D]
Posted on: 5/14/2009 7:45 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8769489

RE: Tamiya Leopard 2 A6
As long as the grass is mowed or thin, it doesn't have a problem. It chews thin or short grass up for the most part. It's when the grass is thick and little taller than normal that it gets caught in the rear sprocket. Meaning that the grass is still in the ground and entire clumps of it are pinched between the inside sprocket teeth and track. Not good on the gears. The Leopard motor has gobs of power, but with the sprocket at the rear, clumps of grass are pulled up into them. It goes under the hull and spreads out into the track. Metal everything won't solve the problem. Have thought about sharpening the sprocket teeth on the inside, or making some sort of hedge cutter for it tho'. [:D]
Posted on: 12/8/2008 6:31 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8226053

RE: Tamiya Leopard 2 A6
Been a while since mine has run, but it's not fond of grass. Higher than the road wheels and, as mentioned, it gets caught in the sprocket and if enough gets caught up, it will slow and even stop it. Not good on the drive train, I imagine. Fun as heck in the dirt, though. [:D] Had problems with the suspension arms cracking at the thinnest point. Filling the breaks and cracks with the same ABS glue that was used to put it together welds 'em and they held up fine after that. In fact, the ABS glue I used has held everything else in place so far, to include the return roller mounts on the lower hull. The track is plastic, but doesn't seem like it. Pretty tough, although I have noticed the bolt molds on the center guides are wearing off slightly. If anything, I'd get the metal support arms, an extra set of track (stock or metal), and perhaps a fine adjust after-market idler. The stock idler doesn't give much choice in terms of track tension. Took it out of hibernation and about croaked when I installed batteries, turned it on, and then nothing. Guess charging the batteries first, kinda helps. [:D]
Posted on: 12/2/2008 10:43 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8207109

RE: HL Stug completed.
Awesome work YHR. [sm=thumbup.gif] I tried N scale briefly, but went back to HO. You could really get more layout for the real estate, but I was just too used to the larger scale. These are some older pictures of a small HO diorama I worked, reworked and finally just tore down. The coal load-out tower was scratch built, and still isn't finished itself. [:D]
Posted on: 5/18/2008 5:17 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7511319

RE: HL Stug completed.
Looks good YHR. Very detailed. [8D] Do you do tanks and model railroading at the same time, or are you like me and get bored with one and dive into the other? [sm=lol.gif] Edit: Or... Am I thinking of some other tanker that model railroads, and you're thinking I'm off my rocker. [sm=bananahead.gif]
Posted on: 5/18/2008 3:55 AM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7509429

RE: Need help please How to set up the new radio Futaba 6EX FASS 2.4Ghz to Leo2a6
Very detailed job on the camouflage paint scheme, LT. It's awesome that you took the time to actually reproduce the pattern that is standard to the Leopard 2A6.
Posted on: 5/18/2008 3:35 AM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7509425

RE: HENG LONG OWNERS ONLY THREAD!
What Calvinlo said. [:D] When I first looked at those pictures, GNP, I thought they were reference photos of a restored museum piece or something.
Posted on: 5/18/2008 3:14 AM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7509393

RE: Another Tamiya Leopard
Will, I was just going through your pbase(?) gallery and noticed that you removed the turret locks. What keeps the side armor panels from swinging open? Friction? Also, hope the conversions are going well.
Posted on: 4/26/2008 12:35 AM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7421050

RE: Small Leo Mod
StoneColdFreak, As far as I know, no one makes a commercially available piece for the part you circled in the picture. So, yes, you probably have to scratch build it. I still think it should have been part of the kit. I believe it is called the 'DARKAS' and serves the same purpose as the Hoffman tank fire simulator on U.S. tanks. I scratch built one for mine, using real tank pictures, as well as pictures from another modeler's scratch-built item found here: [link=http://www.rb-modelle.de/bildergalerie.htm]http://www.rb-modelle.de/bildergalerie.htm[/link] Scroll down to 'Bilder vom Umbau auf einen Leo 2A5 mit DARKAS' and click on the 'mit DARKAS' for pictures of the unpainted raw piece.
Posted on: 7/29/2007 2:03 AM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6169121

RE: Leo Problem
There are pictures of the wire routing/bundling, as well as some other modifications I and several people have done to theirs in the "Another Tamiya Leopard" thread. Don't have any pictures of the hairdryer incident, though.
Posted on: 7/26/2007 3:27 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6159714

RE: Leo Problem
I've done so much to the turret to try to get it look like the real one, as far as the spacing between the rear of the hull, and the two fan housings on the rear hull. After making sure everything was assembled right, bundling wires, taking a hair dryer to the lower hull piece to straighten it out, as well as cutting off the lip that goes around the outside of the mantle block up front, I'm still convinced it's just a matter of the fan housings being too tall. [:D]
Posted on: 7/26/2007 2:47 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6159564

RE: Leo Problem
Well, something else it might be is the lower turret piece. When you sit the base on something flat, does the rear turret section angle down?
Posted on: 7/26/2007 2:25 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6159476

RE: Leo Problem
I think I [i]might[/i] know what the problem is. However, without knowing if the person that originally put it together used all the right screws and parts in the right places, it may not matter. When I first put mine together, I had a similar problem. 1. The first is the bottom plate (your pictures show this part?). There is a notch (possibly two) in it that matches a tab (again possibly two) on the upper hull. 2. The second, is on the gear ring. There is a tab with a nib on it, in the center of the ring. The nib should line up with with a notch in the base plate that it attaches to. Both the notch in step 1 and the tab described in this step will be on the same side. The tabbed part of the assembly (from #2) will be on the forward side of the turret. There is also a molded rail on gear ring, on the same side as the tab, that trips the switch for the elevation limiter when it passes that area. If those two parts aren't lined up, over time it's possible that the pressure from the screws, coupled with the mis aligned tabs and such, would warp the base plate. Once everything is lined up, the warping shouldn't matter, and might even straighten out some.
Posted on: 7/26/2007 2:10 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6159409

RE: Tamiya Leopard & Fiber Optic Nightmare!!!
The part number for the fibers is 9400122 at $6.25 for the 1mm and 1.5mm front and back (probably the same number of/ and lengths that come in the kit), although the main Tamiya U.S.A site says they are temporarily out of stock. Still check the parts suppliers to see if they might have some in stock. I don't think gluing them back together would channel the light like they are meant to, but it's worth a shot. As for putting them in, the rear ones [i]are[/i] a pain. To be honest, I don't remember exactly how I got mine in. I think I bent the fibers at a 90 degree angle (instead of the 45 deg shown in the manual) and completely mounted them, to include the light boards, before putting parts C2 and C14 in place. Also, I never did glue the housings to the hull. They are still only held in place by friction and haven't moved at all. They do seem to have a slight angle to them, but it isn't that noticeable. Once they finally went in without a hitch, I didn't mess with them. Still have one fiber that shines dimmer than the opposite side for the running lights. Not sure if this is because of the 90 degree bend or something to do with the length that was left in the housing, but I'm not about to pull them and figure out why! [:D] Hope this helps.
Posted on: 7/8/2007 12:38 AM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6083229

RE: My Tamiya Leo2A6 Came!
Could be a low battery in either the transmitter or the tank itself. Also, if something is interfering with the signal in some way, it will do the same thing. Hope this helps.
Posted on: 6/17/2007 11:01 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6000414

RE: Another Tamiya Leopard
Good evening, Will. Haven't really been messing with the tanks much lately. Railroad Days in Galesburg, IL is just around the corner and the model railroad bug is in run 8!! [:D] I'll have to look for that show. Probably be something to watch. Before the hiatus, I painted the skirts in the camo......so, here is what it looks like:
Posted on: 6/17/2007 10:56 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6000391

RE: Another Tamiya Leopard
That is a good video. Thanks, Will. Got a question for you, Will. Are the return rollers on your Leo fixed? I noticed in one of the shots that the one looks flat spotted. ------------------- And, with the wave of the screw driver...... Almost took the end of the barrel off in the last picture. Kind of the way I drive it, too. [:D]
Posted on: 6/2/2007 3:08 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=5934839

RE: Another Tamiya Leopard
Thanks, Will. Making the fenders removable was something I had wanted to do since I built it. They are surprisingly tough, but I wouldn't go running them into anything and expect them to stay there. Also wanted to make the skirt mounting plate details and such, but I think I'll just leave them off, so I can keep the option to put the skirts back on. As for your Leo's accident, that's too bad. Good to see it didn't tear it up really bad and that you got it fixed. That looked like a hefty piece of webbing. Interesting deal for making the skirts removable, without having to take the hull top off to remove them.
Posted on: 5/30/2007 9:50 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=5923685

RE: Another Tamiya Leopard
Took it out to an empty dirt lot and weathered it some. Not drastically, but enough. Didn't get pictures of the actual event, but did take some upon returning and knocking some of the loose stuff off. Also included pictures of how the fenders can be removed and put back on. It's not 100% to the real one, but it works and doesn't distract from the overall look of it when they are in place. Might have to find a better rust color for the spare track block. [:'(]
Posted on: 5/30/2007 2:12 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=5921616

RE: The other Sherman project
ArmChairGeneral, That's going to be a fine build. It's already making me want a Sherman. [:D] The suspension is extremely interesting. Not only that, but that website you got the pictures from has some pretty good modeling going on. I never would have thought of N scale (or HO for that matter) model railroad coupler springs as a source for antenna bases. Awesome!!
Posted on: 5/25/2007 9:16 PM by Author "CapnCrunch43" in the forum "RC Tanks"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=5902423