1/8 Scale HL Abrams

[Jib]

Another project update, added machine gun smoke. Took longer than it should’ve, but eventually figured out a way to make it work.

https://youtu.be/-gdmUe52Z0M?si=AUXImINFofbIrfDl

Need to sand and paint the front mud guards, then the next project is going to be big, putting in an OpenPanzer board with all the peripherals.

[Jib]

So a YouTube user tipped me off that the sound set that I was using was not a poor quality M1A2, but a T90 sound set.

This clued me in that the sound set is actually their Tiger I/T90 sound set. Since their other pair is M1A2/2A6 I asked them if they could fix this or send me another MFU with the correct sound set. Turns out they only make that MFU with the T90/Tiger I sound set…

So they make a $10-11K tank, and they’re to lazy to make a version of the MFU with the correct sound set, that they already have!

I was planning on replacing the MFU with an OpenPanzer/DasMikro anyways, but still. That seems to be a common theme, some things on the model are nice, but there are a lot of things that could’ve been fixed easily, but instead were not.

I love the tank, but I think for the price if I could go back I’d just cross my fingers and wait for ArmorTek to make one. I guess if you really want Airsoft, and ArmorTek uses 24v motors, so maybe this model would be faster than one they would make, but man…

Wrong sound set, metal has lots of pock marks in it, the CITV doesn’t rotate, no accessories (PSU, VCSU, CID panels, machine guns), can’t use your own radio, no mesh work or fender on the bustle rack, it’s 1/8 instead of 1/6, super stiff springs instead of torsion bars, no periscope glass… lots of room for improvement for the price.

Unless you really really like the Abrams, or speed or Airsoft are a deal breaker for you, I can’t recommend this model for the price. No wonder I own the 6th one they have ever sold. I imagine their Tiger I is the same way, but I guess at least it has a semi accurate sound set.

At least their customer service is pretty quick on the response and helpful with replacing parts that they do have.

[tankme]

Unfortunately, that's kinda been my opinion of the 1/8th Abrams since I heard about it.

[Jib]

Another update, starting the big process of upgrading the MFU.

All of the components are in except for the DasMikro, and I have a feeling that it’s going to be in soon as well.

Today was just spent figuring out a layout of the components in the chassis where everything would fit. It’s very compact, but the upper hull closes on the lower without crushing anything, which is about all I can ask for at this point.

The 36v to 24v and 24v to 12v converters are circled in green, OpenPanzer board in red, and the TVC-B100 Dual Motor ESC from SGS in yellow. I also have some power bus bars to place, but that shouldn’t be a big deal.

Also did a couple of quality of life upgrades by switching out some screws, made the drivers hatch a little easier to lift and swing open, repaired some rips in the battery cords where they go into the battery with liquid electric tape.

Looking at this it’s kind of crazy that the motors take up half of the chassis space, and the battery another quarter.

[tankme]

Nice. Don't forget you probably have some space in the turret for electronics also...

[Jib]

Yeah I hadn’t considered putting the TCB in the turret. Might make things simpler. Thanks!

[Jib]

Update on the electronic rebuild, finally got the OpenPanzer TCB build working, mostly. Really nice to have my Abrams sounding like an Abrams now.

Most of this weekends work was on the chassis, but I did get a lot of work done on the turret, so hopefully I’ll be ready for an initial test of that soon as well.

https://youtube.com/shorts/h1RkU30zRG4 ... tsVRwChaj7

[Jib]

Figured out how to get the amp going, kind of. My solution for this for right now is having a separate battery for it. Makes the speaker nice and loud though. Still need to play around with the DasMikro and figure out why the sounds other than the engine are getting ducked when the engine is on.

Got my SGS TVC-GSU-12 to work for turret rotation, but not elevation. Finally figured out why today (it’s expecting servo input, not ESC input). I don’t have a work around for this right now, so I’ll just have to live without barrel stabilization for a little while.

Next big hurdle is going to be getting the Airsoft mechanism running again. After that it should mostly be down hill.