Water proofing

[jeman]

Hi folks. Just a quick question. How do you make 1/16 Taigen tiger water proof ? I can see it being easy....ish to make a plastic box for the motherboard, but the motors ? I've seen a few videos of 1/16 tanks going through puddles nearly up to the start of the deck
Curiosity is getting to me lol
Cheers
Mark

[971wright]

Hi Motors will run in water,so no need to proof them you do need to cover the gearboxes just in case the water gets in they will spray water up and over you mother board . I have been running tanks for 8 years and never had any problems with normal running mud and puddles don't normally let water in.

regards pete

[atcttge]

I've read that some people use magnets to keep the upper and lower hull halves together as a quick release mechanism. My waterproofing question is: after all the other holes have been plugged, will a row of magnets for each half of the hull have enough sticking power to prevent water from leaking through?

[MichaelC]

If you put rare earth magnet on the eight or so screw point, you can lift the upper hull and the bottom won't fall off. However, it will never be enough to keep water out as the original fitting between the upper and the lower hull even when tighten with screws is not seal completely. If you are expecting submerging in water higher than where the upper meets the lower you have many other issues to deal with such as suspension arms seal, sprocket and drive shaft seal etc etc.

[billpe]

I wouldn't attempt to make the tank water tight, instead build an internal box for the ESC which is at least sealed up to the height of the hull.

Its not just the hull gaps you'd need to contend with but the holes for the motors, torsion bars and idler. The Taigan also has two holes in the bottom for the Tamiya idler clone. Better to let water in and out by your choosing and make something just for the ESC.

[atcttge]

Other than the battery, has anyone tried relocating the board etc to the turret? And then just waterproofing what remains in the hull? That way water can go in and out, but the electronics stay dry....

[billpe]

I don't know of anyone trying that. Might be possible in something like a King Tiger due to the space available but not sure it would work in a Tiger.

[wibblywobbly]

You will also have water coming in through the driveshafts. In reality there is no way to waterproof a tank. I scratch built an M59 once, and designed it from the ground up to be watertight as it was amphibious. The RX18 and rx were mounted on the underside of the roof, the battery was as high up as it would go, everything was sealed, I couldn't get inside the hull, I just had a trap door on the roof so that I could charge the battery. The driveshafts were in styrene tubes packed with grease.

I could drive it off land and into the water, sail it around floating in the water, and it was all ok. I used plastic gearboxes and everything was compartmentalised/sealed inside as well.

A small amount of water got in through the driveshafts, but nothing to shout about, the electrics were out of harms way so they never suffered.

Bear in mind that this was a totally sealed AFV, trying to do it with a Tiger would arguably be more trouble that it is worth. The real ones probably leaked in water, most tanks do, although there was a Panzer III that was designed for water crossings.

[jeman]

Thanks for the varied and interesting advice guys ! I'm amazed about the motors being ok with the water. I'll get started at the weekend

[DavidByrden]

The real ones probably leaked in water, most tanks do

Tigers built up to mid 1943 were capable of driving submerged at a depth of 4.5 meters.

David