The next big 'un: Tamiya 1/16 Leopard 2

J-Hulk

Member since
February 2003
From: Tochigi, Japan

The next big 'un: Tamiya 1/16 Leopard 2

Posted by J-Hulk on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 11:24 AM

Howdy, folks! Smile [:)]

I was just perusing the Naniwa Sensha-tai bulletin board, and read a post by fellow clubber Fujihara 88 about news given by Mister T himself at Tamiya World over the weekend: Tamiya will soon release a full option RC 1/16 Leopard 2 (don't know if it's gonna be A5 or A6), to be debuted at the big show in Gemany. And if I'm understanding the Japanese correctly, the gun will be "stabilized!" Now THAT will look cool, rolling over rough terrain with that big 120 locked steady on its target...
I'm not a big fan of the Leopard 2 (now, Leopard I, I love!) but that sure sounds pretty dang cool.
I'm sure there'll be more detailed and accurate info to follow, but I thought ya'll would be interested in hearing this li'l tidbit of news! Big Smile [:D]

~Brian

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nmayhew

Member since
July 2003
From: Kent, England

Posted by nmayhew on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 11:36 AM

thanks j-hulk Smile [:)]

i guess it will look pretty impressive, although to be honest i have never understood tamiya's fixation with the leopard. why not a M1 abrams or a Challenger II (that would be my choice! Big Smile [:D]

)??
regards,
nick

Kind regards, Nicholas

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J-Hulk

Member since
February 2003
From: Tochigi, Japan

Posted by J-Hulk on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 11:50 AM

I'm with you there, Nick. A Chally II in 1/16 would be a gauranteed purchase as far as I'm concerned. I would just MAKE space in the budget for that!
I'm sure the Leo 2 is gonna rock da house, but...I ain't gonna buy one, stabilized gun or not. Just not interested in that vehicle, for some reason.
Funny how that goes, huh?

~Brian

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 11:59 AM

QUOTE: Originally posted by J-Hulk
I'm sure the Leo 2 is gonna rock da house, but...I ain't gonna buy one, stabilized gun or not. Just not interested in that vehicle, for some reason.
Funny how that goes, huh?

I'm kind of in the same position. I'm sure it'll be cool, but it's not that interesting a subject, though the Leo II apparently is right up there with the Challenger and the Abrams. I guess I'm just more interested in tanks that have seen action. I'd rather that they had done a T-34 or IS-II, or a Panther or Panzer IV.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 1:08 PM

I was hoping for the 1/16 Full option Famo & Trailer Shy [8)]

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 1:17 PM

Sounds good. Still waiting for the static model of the M26... RC isn't really my thing. (I'd like to see a Stuart... or a better Sherman too).

Ron

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lizardqing

Member since
July 2003
From: Dahlonega, Georgia

Posted by lizardqing on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 4:19 PM

I have a buddy that is going tolove that news. Seeing my Leopard is what got him int o building one himself, now he will maybe get in to big scale armor to.

Chris The Scale Firehouse The Lizard's Workshop

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 4:32 PM

Sounds great but I probably won't get one. They should make some more big scalle ww2 tanks and afv's

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spector822002

Member since
December 2003
From: Southern Maine

Posted by spector822002 on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 5:54 PM

Panther would be my choice there , any of them , A, D , G, late, early ,and I am sure they would be big sellers as well , but the challenger II would get my money for sure !

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 7:47 PM

Can never figure Tamiya out. With Dragon pouring out new and well engineered kits in popular subjects, Tamiya will release something like the Leopard II in 1/16. I love Tamiya's quality and engineering but you can grow old waiting for kit like a 1/16 T-34 to go along with the other WW II large scales. And now I'm going to hold my breath till they release a new T-62 kit!

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Dwight Ta-ala

Member since
July 2003
From: Philippines

Posted by Dwight Ta-ala on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 8:46 PM

Great news, J-hulk! Not an avid fan of the Leopard 2 but the kit should indeed rock the house. Am wondering though if Tamiya is planning to release an M1 in 1/16. Now that would be my choice.

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tigerman

Member since
March 2003
From: Rain USA, Vancouver WA

Posted by tigerman on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 8:51 PM

Should make a certain group of 1/16 armor modelers happy. One note though...... so many people complain that they have no room, where do you park one of those...in the garage?

Eric

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mark956

Member since
February 2003
From: USA

Posted by mark956 on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 9:04 PM

That will be one good looking model. Looking forward in seeing pictures of it.
mark956

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J-Hulk

Member since
February 2003
From: Tochigi, Japan

Posted by J-Hulk on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 11:58 PM

Yeah, even though I'm not a Leo 2 fan, it'll be fun to see it.
I just hope there are enough Leo fans out there to buy it!

Static M26...I'm waiting for one, too!

~Brian

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 2:57 AM

I like the Leopard 2, but I also think they should focus a lot more on the WW2 armour. Eg: Improving their kits. I like armour that saw some action. Big Smile [:D]

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okieboy

Member since
July 2003
From: USA

Posted by okieboy on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 9:39 AM

Grrrr... I could growl some more, but what's the point? SoapBox [soapbox]

Mr. Tamiya owns the company, so he can do what he wants, but damn, I seriously think Tamiya should focus making the 1/16 Full Option tanks from the WWII era. They've already made the Tiger, King Tiger, Pershing and Sherman, why not go for a freakin' Panther!!! Angry [:(!]

Oh well, if you think about it, I suppose they're trying to move on to another generation. They'll probably make the M1 Abrams next. They've made 4 WWII tanks, which means they'll probably produce at least 2 full option modern tanks. Don't get me wrong, a stabilized gun would be very cool. (Although I don't know how they expect me to lock on anything with a toy gun!) Oh well, I suppose I'll have to wait 10 to 20 years for a full option Panther or a T-62.
Grumpy [|(]

Okieboy

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence upon those who would do us harm." George Orwell

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J-Hulk

Member since
February 2003
From: Tochigi, Japan

Posted by J-Hulk on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 9:57 AM

I'm sure they must've done some kind of marketing research indicating a Leo 2 would sell before committing to such a release. Of course, they didn't ask me...

I'm mostly interested in the "stabilization" system for the gun. Any ideas on how that could work? I'm guessing it just holds at whatever elevation you choose.

~Brian

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okieboy

Member since
July 2003
From: USA

Posted by okieboy on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 10:10 AM

You're probably right about the marketing research J-Hulk. At least I hope they did their research! As for the stabilization, I don't see any other way that they could feasibly do it: It has to be stabilized at whatever elevation you set it at. Any other way would be far too expensive.

Okieboy

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence upon those who would do us harm." George Orwell

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 11:55 AM

QUOTE: Originally posted by J-Hulk

I'm sure they must've done some kind of marketing research indicating a Leo 2 would sell before committing to such a release. Of course, they didn't ask me...

I'm sure it's based on the strong sales of the 1/35th scale kits. My guess is that it has two things going for it:

1) It's modern, a departure from the kits available so far
2) It's German, and German sells

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 1:21 PM

That's great news, I wish someone could confirm this, have heard way too many rumors about the next 1/16 R/C tank..... other rumor was a Panther...........

Thanks J-Hulk, if you hear anything, and I mean anything else about this, pleeeassse post it. :)

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spector822002

Member since
December 2003
From: Southern Maine

Posted by spector822002 on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 6:22 PM

I think if they relaesed a Panther , they would have a hard time keeping up with demand , I would buy that in a heartbeat ,as I would the T34/85, or challenger2 as mentioned above for a modern tank , the leo is way kool mind you , but it hasn't seen action yet ( other than mock battles ), lets face it RC tanks almost always look like they should be extras in godzilla movies no matter how fancy the electronics are ! DML/ Tamiya release some nice 1/16 kits and the fanatics will buy em' Cool [8D]

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J-Hulk

Member since
February 2003
From: Tochigi, Japan

Posted by J-Hulk on Thursday, January 29, 2004 12:07 AM

QUOTE: Originally posted by BUDA

That's great news, I wish someone could confirm this, have heard way too many rumors about the next 1/16 R/C tank..... other rumor was a Panther...........

Thanks J-Hulk, if you hear anything, and I mean anything else about this, pleeeassse post it. :)

Will do.
I too had heard rumors about the Leo 2 for quite some time now, but as this info was from Mr. T himself, I felt it was safe to post it as a topic. We'll know for sure at the big hobby show in Germany.
When is that, anyway?

~Brian

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, January 29, 2004 6:11 AM

Sounds like an interesting kit. RC isn't my thing either. Last thing I want to do after spending hours building and painting a tank is drive it through the garden Disapprove [V]

! Challenger II's are cool too Thumbs Up [tup]

, but M1 Abrams, in my opinion, are boring Zzz [zzz]

. They're like a Ford or GM car, ye see 'em every where Smile,Wink, & Grin [swg]

! I wanna do a Leopard 1, that's what the Australian army have.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, January 29, 2004 7:13 AM

QUOTE: Originally posted by J-Hulk
Will do.
I too had heard rumors about the Leo 2 for quite some time now, but as this info was from Mr. T himself, I felt it was safe to post it as a topic. We'll know for sure at the big hobby show in Germany.
When is that, anyway?

Hi J-Hulk, if your talking about the big Nuremberg show, then here's the info on that show

Feb 5-10 INTERNATIONAL TOY FAIR NUREMBERG: Exhibition Centre, Nuremberg, Germany. Call 011-49-09-11-9-98-13-0 or check www.toyfair.de.

So I guess we don't have that much more time to wait...

I also heard that Tamyia is releasing a new leopard in 1/35 scale (This is stated on there Japanese web site), so maybe this info on the 1/16 could be spot on. :)

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J-Hulk

Member since
February 2003
From: Tochigi, Japan

Posted by J-Hulk on Thursday, January 29, 2004 9:55 AM

Right around the corner!
Thanks for the info, Buda.
Yup, the 1/35 Leopard 2A6 is coming out shortly, for sure. I wonder if the 1/16 model will be an A5 or an A6?
We shall see soon enough!

~Brian

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