Durahl

DKLMRC.com sells - among others - U.S. style WWII Radio Antennas for models of that scale that really add to the looks of it.

I'm gonna bend out of the window and say that Tamiya will never make this a 1:16 Model - Probably not even a 1:35 in the foreseeable time either. Why? Because it needs to go into service first and have some history to back it up and the KF-51 isn't there yet with either. As such... You're more likely to see an aftermarket conversion kit the likes of a 2A7+ one for the Leopard 2A6 to make an appearance before Tamiya releases something like that. Or wait until a company other than Tamiya releases a 1:35 Kit ( I could see Meng doing one ) and use that as a base for making your own conversion kit.

The choice for a Tamiya Suitable Transmitter and Receiver is fairly simple and difficult at the same time because of how their Tanks and Trucks operate... The basic issue is the following: Tamiya Tanks use the Stick Trimmers to go beyond 100% to trigger what I call the Secondary Functions ( firing the Cannon / MG, toggling the Lights, changing Modes, toggling Engine ON/OFF, etc... ). To raise the Cannon, you move the Cannon Stick to between +1-100% of its Travel resulting in a 1-100% Value. Unless you've somehow managed to screw up the Teaching of the DMD this should result in only performing the Primary Function = Raising the Cannon. To fire the Cannon, you move the Trimmer belonging to the Cannon Stick to its MAX position ( raising the Base Level by like 20% ) and then immediately flick the Cannon Stick to MAX as well resulting in a 120% Value. This overshoot beyond 100% will trigger the Secondary Action = Cannon Fire. And here's the problem with modern Transmitters - You usually can neither do the Trimmer + Stick Combo fast enough nor can you go beyond 100% ( at least I can't with mine running EdgeTX ). BUT! You don't have to if you dissect the problem for the need to differentiate between Primary and Secondary Function Values because luckily for us Tamiya implemented the Teaching Functionality into their DMDs that would have you teach the DMD what 100% looks like for it to recognize that anything beyond that is a Secondary Function which means if you teach it that 85% is 100% ( by limiting your Stick Travel during the Teaching of the DMD ) then while in Normal Operation any Stick Travel beyond 85% will be recognized as 100%+ resulting in a Secondary Function getting triggered. This essentially means every Transmitter should technically be usable for a Tamiya Model - For as long as the accompanying Receiver has 4x PWM Outputs the DMD can connect to as Tamiya does not support single Connector Protocols like SBUS. ( you CAN use a Receiver outputting SBUS but you then HAVE to pass it through an SBUS to PWM Converter Board with again at least 4x PWM Outputs ) The problem with that is it being kinda cumbersome ensuring you're NOT moving the Sticks past 85% thus constantly triggering something which is where Programmable Transmitters ( like any Transmitter running EdgeTX ) with Dual Rates come into play. They'll allow you to setup a Profile for when you Program a DMD and one for when you run the Model normally where the respective Sticks are limited to only be outputting 85% even if moved all the way but can momentarily be overwritten to have that Channel output at 100% for the Secondary Function to be triggered. They'll also allow you to bind the Secondary Functions to Switches which I find even neater! Here's a Video explaining it with 80% instead of 85%. There IS the option of buying a Tamiya FineSpec 2.4G that will save you the hassle of all the above but then you're still limited to only 4 Channels preventing you from say installing a 5-8 ( or more ) Channel Receiver into a Model to enable MODs requiring those additional Channels like my Tamiya Leopard 2A7+ requiring 4 additional Channels for a top mounted Remote Weapons Station and the 2-Axis Stabilizer ( one for ON/OFF and one for on the fly Sensitivity ). And going with a FineSpec will definitely make it impossible to run entirely custom models like my E-100 should you prefer to only be owning a single Transmitter for all of your Models - I for one don't fancy having one remote for each model.

If the Manual is anything to go by then there must have been a change to it at some point as the original mentions the use of a single Light Unit from which three wires with LEDs at their ends sprout from with the latter going into the Light Buckets at the front and rear of the tank. MY Kit came with a supplemental Manual listing some changes including a new three-piece Light Unit adding a front and rear light box holding one LED each and from which Light Fibers then go into the Light Buckets. IMHO, I'd have preferred the one LED per Light Bucket Solution. Concerning the Turret Rotation Problem I'd recommend simply NOT securing the Cable Loom connecting the Turret with the Chassis in the C-Shaped Cutout in the Turret Ring as Tamiya Intends it but rather having it "Glide" into the Chassis at a very shallow angle thus preventing the rather stiff cable from colliding with the DMD in the chassis which inadvertently causes the Turret Rotation to come to a halt because of the Clutch not being able to overpower it. My Poor Man's M26 Pershing Build Blog discusses this to some degree - May also give you some ideas for your build if you do get one yourself.