CoolBank tempted me back in- Stuart build

[Dmon1996]

I have been busy on other hobbies for about 12 years... my Heng Long tanks are all dusty and (gasp!) FM!

My model boat club was set up at a hobby expo, and a new (one month old) club set up beside us... a nice new RC tank club! Well, ironically I had brought an LCM3 landing craft which I had 3D printed with my old 1974 Tamiya Sherman in it for the display. Well, I got all hot and bothered about armor again and brought in a battery and transmitter and ran my old Sherman with them next to my model boats.

One of the things that really got me going was a neat little CoolBank Stuart which the president of the tank club had as part of their display. Long story short (too late!), and at the end of the weekend I had to order one. I bought from AliExpress, and after a week and a half the seller tried to blackmail me out of another $50 "for shipping because it was too expensive to ship to Canada". I cancelled the order, and ordered from Mato Mart. Got it in less than a week for less than the extra extortion $50. Customer support and technical support is still stellar, even after over 12 years. I even still had Mato Points in my account.

Anyway... after all that story, I am about 90% done on my newest tank. Fender skirts were cut off, and everything you see is painted. Other than a few little mods that I did, it is perfect- I am amazed at how excellent this little tank really is. I still need to add some cargo, and a figure or two. But it runs great, it looks great and it was less than $200 CDN. I love it so much, I have just received the CoolBank Crusader III (despite not being hot on British tanks, sorry), and my wife has a nice new 2.4GHz HL Pershing stored away for Christmas for me.

[tankme]

Well, welcome back to the fray. The 1/6th scale 21st Century Stuart got me in the tank hobby back in the early 2000s. I have an LCM3 printed and mostly assembled. It's the wider version from Thingiverse so that I can put wider tanks in it despite not being really "correct". I figured there really aren't any ship rivet counters around me. At the end of the summer here in Texas there isn't much water to play on and since I'm not really a boat guy the project kinda stalled trying to figure out how I should waterproof the thing. Wasn't keen on going the fiberglass/resin route, but I may give it go.

[Ecam]

2009 to 2025, you were not kidding! How was the vacation? Welcome back to armor.

[Dmon1996]

Well, welcome back to the fray. The 1/6th scale 21st Century Stuart got me in the tank hobby back in the early 2000s. I have an LCM3 printed and mostly assembled. It's the wider version from Thingiverse so that I can put wider tanks in it despite not being really "correct". I figured there really aren't any ship rivet counters around me. At the end of the summer here in Texas there isn't much water to play on and since I'm not really a boat guy the project kinda stalled trying to figure out how I should waterproof the thing. Wasn't keen on going the fiberglass/resin route, but I may give it go.

I also have the 1/6 scale Stuart, had been making it true hobby grade RC but got sidetracked... And my LCM 3 is also the one from Thingiverse. I wish they had not designed it quite so wide- a medium tank looks like a Stuart in it LOL I've done a bunch of different sealing techniques for my 3D printed boats (I am in the Winnipeg Model Boat Club, hense my many years not tanking), and fiberglass resin applied with a brush works well. I've also used ZPoxy sealing resin, and I have even used dishwasher safe (hence waterproof) Mod Podge.

[Dmon1996]

2009 to 2025, you were not kidding! How was the vacation? Welcome back to armor.

The nice thing about such a long gap since I last was tanking is everything I have seems to be all new toys! I had forgotten that I had gutted my Mato Sherman and HL'd it, and I have a brand new Panther (steel/rubber wheels, suspension and tracks installed) AND a brand new Jagpanther fresh out of the box along with metal steel wheels, suspension and tracks to be installed. Unfortunately, they are FM not 2.4GHz so I am unsure whether the IR battle system will be compatible with the newer HL system.

[Ecam]

Couldn't say as I've never set up a tank for IR. I think you'll be impressed by the newer 2.4 GHz systems over the old FM systems (heck I still remember when those replaced AM systems).