Goodday all, Well, there's some familiar names here...I formed the NORCAN battle squadron in Ottawa, Ontario about 17 years ago or so, built myself a Graf Spee, and almost got to the point of having people to shoot at before I buggered off and joined the Navy. The IR/CWCC was an interesting start, and we are, a LONG time later, playing with tanks.
So, anyhow, I'm going to build myself a Tiger. I was pointed at the 1/5 scale M4 Sherman ride-in kid's toy plans a couple of weeks ago, and have been pondering and calculating ever since. I like the Sherman, but I love the Tiger. The wooden construction of wheels and suspension on the Sherman plans scream to me as being not very strong, so I'm going to go with something more....substantial. I've picked up some 1x1" 1/8" wall steel tubing to build my frame- work. It's a TANK for goodness sakes, and having had the opportunity to drive a Leo once upon a time, strength is an absolute priority. Strength breeds reliability. Less maintenance/repair is a good thing. I've spend some time studying the various builds, and gleaning ideas from people's tanks, and here's what I'm going to be doing. 1. Ride-In, 1/5 scale Tiger I for my son to drive. 2. Anticipate rolling chassis completion by spring (I'm hoping sooner, but realistically, that's do-able) 3. Torsion bar suspension. (Yes, bars, as per the original Tiger I) 4. Roller Chain Track/Sprocket system as per either T-014, ( http://www.rctankcombat.com/tanks/T014/06OtherView.jpg ) or, the "Bad Kitty" T-058, (http://home.comcast.net/~dwconn404/RCTank/Tiger/ TigerImages/TrackAssemblySmall.JPG ) Depending on if I can get some #50 or #60 attachment chain for a reasonable price. 5. Interleaved road wheels, only 8 per side though (the ones I have on hand are 1.5" wide, 6" diameter) 6. Lower hull will be steel frame construction, with either aluminium sheathing, or 1/4" plywood, probably plywood to start. Upper hull will have 1/2" steel tubing to save weight. Upper hull will use 3/8" or 1/2" ply for strength. 7. Turret will contain a Nerf gun (firing the standard Nerf suction cup darts) and a co-axial air-soft machine-gun fitted. (Will probably tune down the air-soft to less than 200 FPS) 8. Initially NOT remote control, nor paintball armed, however, that will be an end goal once the boy grows out of the tank. I'd like to ask for some help. Can the owner of T-014 (listed as Steve Gusikoski) do me a HUGE favour and get me a couple of better pictures/close-ups of your tracks, and your drive sprockets? I'm intending to go with 1/2" rods as my torsion bars, giving me enough meat to play with for both strength and to turn them down if required. My calculations seem to say that 1/4" should be a better starting point, but I'd rather have too strong a suspension than too weak. Brad Browne --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
