A few thoughts: 1. It would be interesting to see an 8-wheel model. I agree they are cool, regardless of suitability for paintball. I am surprised that no one among the manufacturers of large scale RC tanks is offering a model of the Stryker, given the number of people who have served in that vehicle. I would think there is a market among vets for such a toy. The only 8-wheel AC model I have seen is the WWII German Puma, made by that Russian guy.
2. Before I got diverted into building a robot, I thought about building an AC. I wound up building a couple of 4wd vehicles, which were not scale models of anything. I thought about an 8wd, and basically came up with a similar design you have: use large scale rock crawler parts. The catch was cost. However you seem to have more skills in scrounging. 3. My experience with 4wd shows, yes 8-inch wheels are better than 6- inch, I used 8 inch solid lawnmower wheels on one vehicle and 10 inch pneumatic lawnmower wheels on the second design. For my robot, I used 6-inch RC buggy wheels, which cost an outrageous $40 a pair. Compare that with the $10 gearmotors. 4. Suspension is not really necessary, however, if you are using rock crawler parts you are pretty much wedded to a suspension type design. 5. Skid steering is a lot simpler, and works well in my 4wd vehicles, although these vehicles are less elongated than a scale AC. The length- to-width ratio affects the sideways load in skid steering. Skid steering might work for a 8wd vehicle if you can pack enough torque into the 8 wheels to overcome the sideways load, which will be high in grass. Light weight helps in reducing this load. With agile skid steering you can turn in place. 6. Direct drive (wheel attached directly to motor) is also a lot simpler and cheaper than distributing power with shafts, differentials, universal joints, etc. These parts together are a lot more expensive than gearmotors, from what I can tell. -- 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
