1/8 Scale HL Abrams

[tankme]

I bought a 5ft. wheelchair ramp for my bigger tanks to get them in the bed of the pickup truck. I made sure to get the one with the embedded sand texture to ensure the tracks had grip to climb the ramp. It's also one piece and it folds in half. I don't like the separate ramps as they can spread apart if you aren't careful.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

"Tomorrow I’ll try to...drive it out of the box." That describes the size! Then, too, the charger for my 1:1 car doesn't even have a cooling fan. Egad, monstrous!

[Jib]

Yeah I originally got a wheelchair 5ft ramp, but with my truck it ended up being a 45° incline, so I’ve got a 7ft one coming tomorrow.

Hoping to open it up soon. Looks like it’s put together just like the 1/16th models. So to get it the inside of the turret you’ve got to take the upper hull off by pulling out screws from underneath the lower hull, then probably take off a turret ring, then unscrew the turret bottom from the turret roof…

No easy access like it looks like ArmorTek models have.

Got some cameras coming to install an FPV System in it. Will have to use two different remotes (one for the tank, one for camera switching) for it though until I pick out and install a new MFU. Thinking either SGS or Breier.

[Jib]

I bought a 5ft. wheelchair ramp for my bigger tanks to get them in the bed of the pickup truck. I made sure to get the one with the embedded sand texture to ensure the tracks had grip to climb the ramp. It's also one piece and it folds in half. I don't like the separate ramps as they can spread apart if you aren't careful.

Question, maybe you don’t have this problem because of how yours are built, but how do you keep your larger tanks from rolling around as they are being transported? This model, if it gets on an incline it will roll downhill. I imagine breaking and accelerating my truck will cause it to roll back and forth as well. It’s like the tank doesn’t have a park function, it’s always in neutral, if that makes sense.

[tankme]

I bought a 5ft. wheelchair ramp for my bigger tanks to get them in the bed of the pickup truck. I made sure to get the one with the embedded sand texture to ensure the tracks had grip to climb the ramp. It's also one piece and it folds in half. I don't like the separate ramps as they can spread apart if you aren't careful.

Question, maybe you don’t have this problem because of how yours are built, but how do you keep your larger tanks from rolling around as they are being transported? This model, if it gets on an incline it will roll downhill. I imagine breaking and accelerating my truck will cause it to roll back and forth as well. It’s like the tank doesn’t have a park function, it’s always in neutral, if that makes sense.

I'm going to assume that the electric motors don't have a lot of internal resistance which is why it rolls around. That's pretty normal. I have used different methods to hold them in place, but since yours is metal I would used the tow points to attach ropes or a small ratchet strap. The ratchet strap won't fit in the holes for the tow points, but I would use something like paracord to make some loops to use as tie downs. I've even used ratchet straps across the bed of the truck to act as "fences". Another option would be to cut a piece of wood that is as wide as the lower hull between the track. Once the tank is loaded, slip the wood underneath it so that the tracks are off the ground. Getting it off it's tracks would lessen the tendency to move, but you'd still have to tie it down a bit.

[Jib]

Yeah I’ll probably do the tow points with some kind of cord. I still have the metal pieces and hooks they used to secure it inside it’s shipping crate. I’ll probably reuse some of that.

Thanks!

The ramp just came. Have to make sure the length will work, make some tow cables, and I’ll be good to go.

My local park is good for 1/16 scale, but I’ve kind of run out of space and things to do there with the 1/8.

[Jib]

So it’s been raining here this week, and it’s going to continue raining tomorrow, so I decided to give getting at the internals a go. So I drove it up on the stands I built to be able to get under the chassis easier. So this ended up being a mistake.

I thought it would be like the 1/16 scale Abrams where you take the screws out of the bottom and the upper hull pops off of the lower hull. With the 1/8 Abrams the floor of the lower chassis just drops out from the between the side wall with all of the chassis components with it. Turns out the side walls, that contain the swing arms and wheels, and the back grill are all welded to the upper hull. So, it appears as though if you want to access the inside of the tank, you DO have to lift it up on its side. At least I’m guessing that’s a less traumatic manner of accessing the components than what I did. I ran out of time, so I had to just leave it there with its guts hanging out. Going to try to get it’s on its side tomorrow and go from there.

Other interesting things I found out:

The side skirts, for the most part, are attached the way they are on the real tank. They can’t be lifted up and down though because they made the thickness of the skirts such that there is no space between the skirt and the fender (if that’s the right word?). On the real tank there is a rubber flap there so the skirt can be lifted, I think.

I managed to slip the track, just like the 1/16 Abrams. In all fairness, I was being a bit reckless with it. I tried knocking the pins out the reset the track, but they are super tight and I was afraid I would break them. I also can remove the idler wheel because it’s trapped under the side skirt that won’t lift. The driver sprocket that is slipped isn’t budging either. May try to see if I can take off a section of the side skirt by taking out a pin.

The drivers hatch does open, it was just kind of stuck/awkward to get to.

The hub caps are actually threaded, which makes getting to the wheel screws nice and easy. That’s about the only thing easily access.

That’s all I got for now.

[Ecam]

So where between your guess of 130 pounds and 252 shipping weight would you say it falls now? For the rest of us it is nothing to put a tank on its' side or roof, you sure do have some thinking to do with yours. What a beast! Following along and fingers crossed for your success at getting it sorted out.

[tankme]

Looks pretty well built for the most part. Those motors look like the ones used on electric wheel chairs which are usually quite strong and heavy duty. That ramp is pretty much the same one I have only longer than mine.

[Jib]

Don’t want to get my hopes up, but after looking at the picture it looks like there might be a 6 channel PWM output for a receiver on the TK8.0. That would solve not all, but a few issues I have if I can get my own receivers in there.

First have to get it onto it side though. I think tomorrow I’m going to lay down a moving blanket, lift up one side of the tank, kick one block out from under it and then lower it down onto the blanket. Then hopefully lift the other side up. Before I ripped its guts out, I was able to lift the tank up on one side slightly without having to put a ton of effort into it. Hopefully this will work okay. I have been working on my deadlifts recently!

In all though, unless I’m missing something, this is not a tank designed with modification and maintenance in mind. To access the turret you would have to lift it up onto its side, take the bottom plate off, take the turret gear off (which looks like you have to rotate the turret slightly to get access to four screws in the ring, then whatever else you have to do to separate the turret bottom from the roof. Some instructions on the construction and/or MFU would have been nice.

I’ve got some FPV cameras coming in the mail soon. I’ve got to get access to the inside turret to install the majority of them.