I'm new here

[mannie1952]

Hello all,
Greetings from the Cumberland Valley of Maryland, USA. My name is Mannie. I'm originally from Michigan, married, a father, a Navy veteran, and a retired park ranger with the National Park Service. I got my first tank last August (an HL Sherman) and have been playing with it almost daily since then. I got an HL Pershing about two months after the Sherman, as I was having so much fun. For almost a year, I was running that Sherman pretty hard, and was doing a lot of tinkering and repairs. After a losing battle with some pea-gravel one of the metal tracks broke in four places, and upon closer examinination I found others that were cracked. I've subsequently ordered new tracks. Last week, I took delivery on another H/L pro-Sherman which I think will be for indoor and pavement combat, and the Reconditioned Sherman, I'll continue to fight on more rugged terrain. It is a wonderful hobby and not only let's me do pretend combat, but also gave me the opportunity to paint, weather, and detail to the point were I also have a very attractive static-model. I'm very fortunate to have three good friends who are also RC tankers who all live within 30 miles from me (one just around the corner), and we have some epic tank battles. One of my friends has a very large basement which his wife gave him for tanking. In one half of the basement is a fortified German position with lots of targets (toy soldiers, mousetrap-exploding bunkers, artillery, etc.; and in the other half of the basement, using cardboard boxes, he's created a 1/16 urban environment with lots of sidestreets, and even a bridge, where we do our I/R combat. Man, I love being retired.

[michaelwhittmann]

Welcome from South Jersey.

You're in the right place.

Lots of info. Lots of good advice.

Any pictures? The tanks I have are listed below.

And yes retirement is great.

[tankme]

Welcome from a former Maryland resident that escaped to Texas.

[MrChef]

Welcome to the forum Mannie from New York I know of a few RC tankers in your area. One or two of them are even on here but are much more active on Facebook RC tank groups.

Enjoy getting to know the group.

I'd love to see your friends basement playground.

If you're interested this FB group definitely has a couple of tankers in your area-
https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1FRx1RVtEd/

[Meter rat]

Hello and welcome from Argyll and Bute. Used to live in Cumberland. This was the real one, before it got swallowed up by Cumbria.

[Arffchief]

Hi mannie1952. I’m new to this forum and RC tanking. Im trying to figure out how to navigate the forum and did search for Maryland as I was looking for tankers near me. I live in Ellicott city, MD and hoping to find someone who is good with repairing etc. I have two MATO King Tigers. One is still new in Box and the other is disassembled. I had so many problems from track misalignment barrel recall and smoke not working etc. Mato has been of some assistance but very disappointed that Im having these issues with new tank with very little run time. I have painted the tank and added small details it looks great. Hoping to hear from you and others in Maryland in hopes of assisting me and meeting up. BTW how do I find your response to me in this forum?

[MrChef]

Hi mannie1952. I’m new to this forum and RC tanking. Im trying to figure out how to navigate the forum and did search for Maryland as I was looking for tankers near me. I live in Ellicott city, MD and hoping to find someone who is good with repairing etc. I have two MATO King Tigers. One is still new in Box and the other is disassembled. I had so many problems from track misalignment barrel recall and smoke not working etc. Mato has been of some assistance but very disappointed that Im having these issues with new tank with very little run time. I have painted the tank and added small details it looks great. Hoping to hear from you and others in Maryland in hopes of assisting me and meeting up. BTW how do I find your response to me in this forum?

IIRC "Shameless86" is in your neck of the woods. Maybe shoot him a PM-
memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=12140

"Tank driver has Mato experience but He's in florida-
memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=11964

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Hi, mannie1952! You are fortunate to have friendly enemies nearby for tank warfare (and repair help, and general retirement fun). I seem to be in an RC AFV desert here in southern Wisconsin.

You seem already to have learned that pea gravel can tear up tracks (and sprockets, idlers, and road wheels) by getting stuck inside the tracks and ripping things apart. I stick to short carpeting and the basement floor. However, I do run my AFVs quite cautiously.

Arffchief: I am sorry to hear of your trouble with Mato AFVs. I have two Mato AFVs, the "old" plastic Sherman which actually runs well, albeit with inaccuracies and limited control functions. I did install a larger speaker, for the old Sherman was too quiet even for me.

The other is an M10 I've had to rebuild because of shoddy parts, poor assembly, and fit problems. After five or more years, I finally have it all working after new tracks and a whole new turret without the just 320 degree rotation. All I can suggest is patience and slow spending on better parts. E.g.: the original tracks on my M10 were jamming incessantly even though I repeatedly and carefully adjusted the tension and alignment. I changed out to new sprockets and tracks (also Mato brand) and with a bit of tension fiddling, the problem was solved.

[Gbo]

Like meter rat I still live in Cumbria formally Cumberland but now sort of back to Cumberland again( don’t ask ) welcome