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stingray-63 wrote:

Don't ohmit to paint before the last building. 
 

Don't worry, the paint is coming.

I think this is the first time I've seen the packaging used as part of a model.  The manual instructs the builder to remove a cylindrical section of the the blister which previously contained an idler wheel (left) and use it to cover the exposed pinion of one of the motors (right).  This becomes important later because there are wires very close to this location that could get sucked into the gearbox without protection.
Here a series of hexagonal standoffs have been added to the bottom of the gearboxes.  These mounting points are then used to attach the gearboxes to the hull as shown on the right.  A pair of aluminum extensions are then attached to the hull to enclose the gearbox outputs with a long brass stiffener between them.
This plastic front cover nicely represents the texture of a casting.  On the right you can see a few details attached to the back of the hull including the engine access doors and the air filters.  The bracket at the top center will hold the exhaust tips a bit later.

Here's a little oddity.  My kit came with an extra package (left picture, right blister) of B drive sprockets which are to be used to replace those in the main blister pack.  I studied and compared them pretty carefully and I can't spot any difference between them and those that came in the main package.  I did use them though, so now I guess I have an extra backup set of originals.  The picture on the right shows the pre-assembled tracks.  The treads are soft, rubbery plastic.  The pins and connectors are metal.
Now that the gearboxes and tracks have been installed, the "rolling chassis" is complete.  I couldn't resist hooking up all the electronics as shown on the right and trying out the model to see how it drove.  Note how much space is consumed by the speaker box.  Both the DMD and the MF are contained in the hull and so is the battery.  There is very little left for the turret except the tiny motors for rotation and elevation.

I love this thread

stingray-63 wrote:

I love this thread

Thanks!  I really enjoyed this build.  It is so different from the projects I usually undertake.

I later built the Flakpanzer Gepard which came with old style metal tracks.  Those tracks are actually from the original Sherman model in 1974 and are not correct for a Leopard derivative like the Gepard.  I replaced the tracks on the Gepard with some aftermarket versions which freed up the metal tracks to be retrofitted onto my Sherman.  You can see a comparison of the metal and plastic tracks here.  I really like the sound that metal tracks make.

One of the tricks when building a tank is deciding when to do the painting.  You can paint all the trees before building, but that takes a huge amount of paint.  You can wait until after building, but there are certain bits that shouldn't be painted.  I waited until I had the hull complete, then removed the tracks and the rubber tires from all the wheels, and painted everything olive drab.  The outer parts of the return rollers don't have rubber tires so I had to manually paint them flat black as shown on the left.  The reassembled and painted suspension is shown on the right.  A couple of screws were left unpainted so I later touched them up by hand.
Here is the completed lower hull with the suspension fully completed, all the electronics installed, and the wires cleaned up.     

The main hull part is marked "1974" which implies that it is made from the mold of the original model.  However, it also says "56001" which was not the model number at the time it was released.  It was originally "RT-1601" and was only renumbered years later.  It also would not have had the "PS" (polystyrene) recycling label in 1974.  Perhaps this is an updated version of the original mold.  The picture on the right shows some of the molding detail including the casting texture and the welding bead.  How they managed this level of detail in the mold so long ago I have no idea, but it is very impressive even now.     

I built the upper hull to this point before painting.  The shovel is just set in place to show how the tools will later attach (see wrench, hammer, and axe sitting to the side).  I'll have to hand paint these separately before attaching them.  A lot of the detail is molded directly into the main hull part, but the lifting loops, rear storage rack, and light protectors are all separate parts (shown at left).  The right hand picture shows the front details including the barrel rest, the machine gun, the light protectors, and the horn.  Also note the individual diagonal brackets supporting the skirt.  The barrel rest needs to be glued to the hull so it is not functional.  The hatches do not open.

These pictures show the details of the mechanism which rotates the turret.  I suspect the bosses which support the rollers were the update made to the original mold that resulted in remarking it.  The three black rollers center the turret and the gearbox engages a slew ring on the turret.  In the right hand picture I've added the lights.  The LED with the orange wires is for the fiber optic cable which is used for the muzzle flash of the machine gun.  Five tiny incandescent bulbs are used for the headlights and tail lights.     

The black ring is smooth on the outside to ride on the turret rollers and center the turret.  On the inside diameter are the gear teeth which mate with the rotation gearbox.  The additional gearbox shown on the left is for barrel elevation.  You can see the little black crank with a brass ball joint which will connect to a pushrod.  On the right I've added the plastic parts which comprise the bottom of the turret.  There is no provision for a thrust bearing to support the turret since this is an old design, so instead a slippery sticker ring will be placed on the bottom and used to reduce friction.  Note the "2001" mark on the slew ring.  This part was new for this latest version of the model.     

Now we can start on the upper part of the hull and the barrel mechanism.  The bracket shown at left supports the barrel.  You can see the silver crank in the rear which will attach to the elevation gearbox.  On the right this has been glued into the turret.     

The barrel is molded in two parts which need to be glued together.  The reflective tape I've added inside the end will help reflect the strobe light for muzzle flash.  The completed barrel is shown at right, drying.  If you look closely you can see some text molded into the casting.  I first I was annoyed by this thinking Tamiya should not have made it visible, but then I found out this is the casting mark on the real tank.  Good job with the detail Tamiya.

On the left you can see that I've inserted the light into the barrel and secured the wires to the inside of the turret.  On the right you can see the rest of the mechanisms installed.  The tiny spring used to stabilize the barrel was particularly unpleasant to install.  It is really important though.  There is no counterbalance for the barrel, so without it there would be a lot of unwanted bounce.  The turret is now complete except for the power switch which much pass up from the hull.  The turret does not really need to be removed once installed because battery access is through the upper hull.     

Here I've attached a bunch of the details to the turret including antennas, a machine gun rest, and an open hatch (which can be built optionally closed).  I won't pretend to be able to identify what all the detail parts are.  I've also painted the turret olive green.  On the right you can see the completed painting of the tools.  This actually took a long time.  That's it!  Now that the turret is installed the model is functionally complete.  I still need to add some accessories and do the detail painting.

What a beauty! Nice job Richard!!