Tamiya Flakpanzer Gepard Project

Page 1: Unboxing

This was by far the oldest model I'd ever built new from the box, so I was pretty nervous about even opening it. Even though the model was released in 1978, my instructions are stamped 1983 indicating my model came from a later batch. The front of the box contains a lovely hand drawn image of the vehicle (I'm avoiding using the word tank) and of the gearbox. The picture on the right is a close-up of the gearbox image. I'll explain the inner workings of this a bit later. Notice the single 540 motor

The picture on the left shows the plan view with representations of the interior components. Note that this image shows the original variable MSC and 6V lead acid battery, neither of which are actually used in my version of the model. On the right you can see an isometric cutaway of the turret. There is one motor to control the turret traverse and gun elevation (they are slaved together), and another for the search radar.

Here are some views of the inside of the box. On the left you can see the blister packs containing the important components such as the gearbox and metal suspension parts. The manual you see here is only printed in Japanese, so I had use a PDF version in English to clarify. The long slim box is shown in detail on the right and contains lots of information about the vehicle.

Let's take a closer look at those blister packs. On the left are the suspension arms, sprockets, brackets, and chassis stiffeners, all in metal. In the middle is the gearbox. Note that the gearbox is pre-assembled. In fact, the manual contains no instructions on how to service it. I'll be taking it apart anyway. On the right is the gearbox for the turret traverse, the radar motor, and the MSC. Note that this is a 3-position MSC and not the continuous unit shown on the box.

This box contains the hardware and other small parts including the many bits for the metal tracks. Many. Bits.

Here are the hardware bags and other bits from the small inner box. Although they are individually labeled, all need to be opened at once because the hardware is not sorted sequentially. The formed sheet metal chassis is shown on the right. Tamiya calls this "duralumin", which is an ancient trade name for specific aluminum alloys containing copper. It is most likely equivalent to 2036 aluminum sheet.

These photos show some closer views of the hardware. On the left I've sorted the hundreds of parts used to build the tracks. On the right I've opened all the hardware bags and placed them in plastic servo cases to keep track of everything.

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