My first tank build.

[doc larsson]

Jack,

my apologies if you thought i was having a go at your build ! Far from it, I'm not "a know-it-all " (sic) it's a looker and i do understand it's a project at work. As for the 'gripe', in Scotland means problem, the cupola looked like it was at an odd angle.

I look forward to seeing this build continue.Keep up the good work mate !

doc

[jackalope]

Jack,

my apologies if you thought i was having a go at your build ! Far from it, I'm not "a know-it-all " (sic) it's a looker and i do understand it's a project at work. As for the 'gripe', in Scotland means problem, the cupola looked like it was at an odd angle.

I look forward to seeing this build continue.Keep up the good work mate !

doc

Doc, no no I didn't take your post the wrong way at all. As I said I'm a total newb to tanks and am trying to do a decent job on my first one, its all good man don't worry. I want input like the cupola problem and the extra tube, those are little details that I would have surly missed without a heads up.

[jackalope]

*UPDATE* I replaced all my homemade road wheel axles with the Taigen ones, got in the new idler wheels and this time made sure to NOT cut the mounting screws down to much I also added Magnum steel putty to the screws thread portion to make them into a solid shaft rather then threaded so they fit snugger into the tensioners. The above suspension mods seem to have FIXED the track throwing issues! I took it for an hour long test drive up and down a hill so steep that half the time it would spin tracks trying to climb up! Thru dirt, sand, gravel, and loose white stone drive way AND did 30 spins per direction both left and right on all of the above surfaces and the tracks stayed put!

So now that I'm fairly certain I have solved the track issue I can concentrate on the details. So to my mistakenly purchased head lamps turns out the base slips right off and once I did that they plug right into the factory mounting spot on the upper hull, problem solved! My metal mudflaps just need paint as do the new road wheels along with a couple dots of blue locktite to keep the screws from backing out until I want them out. Painting of the new metal parts will wait until I get all my new parts so I can paint it all together.

A BUNCH of new parts are planned for this payday!

[ALPHA]

*UPDATE* I replaced all my homemade road wheel axles with the Taigen ones, got in the new idler wheels and this time made sure to NOT cut the mounting screws down to much I also added Magnum steel putty to the screws thread portion to make them into a solid shaft rather then threaded so they fit snugger into the tensioners. The above suspension mods seem to have FIXED the track throwing issues! I took it for an hour long test drive up and down a hill so steep that half the time it would spin tracks trying to climb up! Thru dirt, sand, gravel, and loose white stone drive way AND did 30 spins per direction both left and right on all of the above surfaces and the tracks stayed put!

So now that I'm fairly certain I have solved the track issue I can concentrate on the details. So to my mistakenly purchased head lamps turns out the base slips right off and once I did that they plug right into the factory mounting spot on the upper hull, problem solved! My metal mudflaps just need paint as do the new road wheels along with a couple dots of blue locktite to keep the screws from backing out until I want them out. Painting of the new metal parts will wait until I get all my new parts so I can paint it all together.

A BUNCH of new parts are planned for this payday!

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALPHA

[HERMAN BIX]

Yeah PAYDAY !!!................my supplier knows by now when mine comes in

[jackalope]

Yeah PAYDAY !!!................my supplier knows by now when mine comes in

LOL!

[jackalope]

*SIGH* Well Alpha I found the limit of my Tiger, turns out that wet sand is much like concrete and my Tiger does not like it. Wet sand I'm thinking is also the cause of my Taigen 4.1 transmission's pressed together gears to become unpressed, that was an easy fix with a couple sockets and a hammer and a drop of epoxy I think that will not happen again. Also I found out that the Heng Long idler wheels regardless of WHAT I do don't play well in the Taigen hull's tensioner set up, the brass inserts were out after only a few days of running and then the tracks snag them. So I'm on the hunt for the re-designed Taigen idler wheels but from what I'm seeing won't be avalible till late August. Along with them I'm getting the upgraded tensioner arms just because. So I'll be stripping the hull all the way down finding out WHY now a couple of my torsion bar arms are loose and re-building it.

Where all of this MAY be a pain in the butt every time I've done a round of upgrades my Tiger gets WAY better! The last round of parts got my Tiger almost perfect in its running ability so now I know I can get this thing 100% sorted out and kicking butt!

[ALPHA]

*SIGH* Well Alpha I found the limit of my Tiger, turns out that wet sand is much like concrete and my Tiger does not like it. Wet sand I'm thinking is also the cause of my Taigen 4.1 transmission's pressed together gears to become unpressed, that was an easy fix with a couple sockets and a hammer and a drop of epoxy I think that will not happen again. Also I found out that the Heng Long idler wheels regardless of WHAT I do don't play well in the Taigen hull's tensioner set up, the brass inserts were out after only a few days of running and then the tracks snag them. So I'm on the hunt for the re-designed Taigen idler wheels but from what I'm seeing won't be avalible till late August. Along with them I'm getting the upgraded tensioner arms just because. So I'll be stripping the hull all the way down finding out WHY now a couple of my torsion bar arms are loose and re-building it.

Where all of this MAY be a pain in the butt every time I've done a round of upgrades my Tiger gets WAY better! The last round of parts got my Tiger almost perfect in its running ability so now I know I can get this thing 100% sorted out and kicking butt!

Wet ground usually means "doom" for running any tank Jack...especially sand... so don't get down too hard on your tanks .... it's mostly because that the little grooves that are molded into the track.... get packed in....and unlike real tanks ... are to small to expel the wet debris ....sometimes...if you know you are going to run in wet stuff...it's good to coat your tracks with some sort of lubricant...silicon spray or WD40 helps in wicking away some of it...Plastic tracks also fare a little better in Wet stuff
But really there is no real cure for wet sand.... that stuff will hurt the full sized tanks...so in actuality you just had a " Realistic " moment

As far as the idler is concerned..the Taigen will bog in the same way...they are usually designed worse...as like Mato...they don't run any sleeves at all...the usual is castings that are pure white metal through and through.... what a lot of builders to is to get I think it was 7mm bearings... and install them in the wheels ....the HL is actually the best ...because there is a lot of "meat" there that can be drilled out to fit the bearing...The other option would be to hunt down Tamiya Idlers...because they are made to take the bearings...pro's to it they spin a little easier....the con to it is you have to maintain them...otherwise they can rust and seize

I guess the main thing to keep in mind is... nothing runs flawlessly.... you can get it to were it works darn good.... but just like the real thing... keeping that tolerance needs maintenance

With all that said... even though you had to work on your tank again.....I'm glad you are having fun with her

ALPHA

[jackalope]

Oh I'm happy with the way it runs thats for sure! Nothing some tinkering can't cure and I'll be on the lookout for the Tamiya idlers. I was thinking about bearings too but have to figure a bullet proof mounting setup for em, I'm sure I can.

[ALPHA]

Oh I'm happy with the way it runs thats for sure! Nothing some tinkering can't cure and I'll be on the lookout for the Tamiya idlers. I was thinking about bearings too but have to figure a bullet proof mounting setup for em, I'm sure I can.

That's the way Jack...when things go wonky on my Tanks... I always have a good laugh... just because sometimes it looks so cool when it does Most turn out to be minor... so repairing them is just a part of being an RC tanker

ALPHA