RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Hi. Not sure where to ask: figured this would be the right section.

I’m somewhat experienced as a modeler. I’ve been looking at RC ready kits and believe I have the skill to build some of them. However, I have no experience with building the proper motor setup, servos, or electronics.

I don’t do well with video tutorials. What I was hoping to find would be some kind of guide for this sort of thing. I’ve seen the guide here for building battle systems, but what I need is something of a comprehensive step by step for everything. For example, “This is how to make an RC ready kit move, shoot, and run.”

Can anyone help me with something like this?

- M.

You might be overthinking it a bit, mate.

There aren't really those kinds of resources available; this is a niche hobby at best, and the number of people who are kitbashing or scratchbuilding are a fraction of those. There are some videos around (mostly platform- or vendor-specific), but nothing really in the way of written/illustrated articles or guides. Your best bet is to search around on the forums here, check up on others' builds, ask questions and have a look at how RTR models are set up. If you've done anything remotely technical before (even building a Lego set!) you'll be able to figure out how stuff goes together. If you ever get stuck, everyone here's happy to help out!

this is what you can find in some places:
https://www.3dprintedtanks.com/electronics/

about sound with raspberry pi
https://www.3dprintedtanks.com/sound-module/

probably you can find other manuals in other places, but there is not one big book of how to do it.

Most of us started with trial and error. Best way to go IMO is to buy something close to what you need and mod it to what you actually want. Starting from nothing and trying to get it to work is hard. Starting with a good base and molding it into what you want is much easier. And don't go expensive at first. You may not even get into the hobby so you might as well start cheap and work up from there.

tankme wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 6:33 am Most of us started with trial and error. Best way to go IMO is to buy something close to what you need and mod it to what you actually want. Starting from nothing and trying to get it to work is hard. Starting with a good base and molding it into what you want is much easier. And don't go expensive at first. You may not even get into the hobby so you might as well start cheap and work up from there.

I guess that my issue, is essentially that I need to know where to start, even when modding.

jee wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 3:00 am this is what you can find in some places:
https://www.3dprintedtanks.com/electronics/

about sound with raspberry pi
https://www.3dprintedtanks.com/sound-module/

probably you can find other manuals in other places, but there is not one big book of how to do it.

Thank you.

Mithras wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:04 am

tankme wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 6:33 am Most of us started with trial and error. Best way to go IMO is to buy something close to what you need and mod it to what you actually want. Starting from nothing and trying to get it to work is hard. Starting with a good base and molding it into what you want is much easier. And don't go expensive at first. You may not even get into the hobby so you might as well start cheap and work up from there.

I guess that my issue, is essentially that I need to know where to start, even when modding.

the easiest way is to buy a complete Henglong or Taigen set, I think.

jee wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:06 am

Mithras wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:04 am

tankme wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 6:33 am Most of us started with trial and error. Best way to go IMO is to buy something close to what you need and mod it to what you actually want. Starting from nothing and trying to get it to work is hard. Starting with a good base and molding it into what you want is much easier. And don't go expensive at first. You may not even get into the hobby so you might as well start cheap and work up from there.

I guess that my issue, is essentially that I need to know where to start, even when modding.

the easiest way is to buy a complete Henglong or Taigen set, I think.

Those are on the way. Are you suggesting disassembling one of them? Not meaning to be naive, but wanting to be sure we're on the same page.

tankme wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 6:33 am Most of us started with trial and error. Best way to go IMO is to buy something close to what you need and mod it to what you actually want. Starting from nothing and trying to get it to work is hard. Starting with a good base and molding it into what you want is much easier. And don't go expensive at first. You may not even get into the hobby so you might as well start cheap and work up from there.

I agree. Unfortunately, when I asked about how to convert, I was told that it was too hard for new people. When I asked about commissioning someone to do the conversion for me... well, you saw how that went.

Thanks for the input though, I'm grateful.

Id say that a controlled dissection of a ready top run H/L would be a good way of getting more confidence on how these things work.
A structured & organised tear down will set you up well for it reassembly.
Like anything, practice makes perfect, & we all get plenty of practice in the build & customise stage, then followed by the oh crap its broken & fix it stage