I received a green WSN T34/85 from Phil at RC Tank war. I am very happy with the amount of detail and the paint would be fine as is if preferred. I like the rubber tires, the operating drivers hatch, and the fact that most of the detail pieces aren't attached.
I don't like the awful AA batteries and the electrics leave much to be desired. I would like to drop in some nice electrics.
I think I,m going to love working this one over. Does anyone know if there any build threads on this one that I cannot find?
If you want one that is reliable and a good runner there are several things to do.
The gearboxes are not good - holes in the plastic wear oval and the gears come out of mesh. It is possible to get a metal gear conversion kit, but this does not fully solve the problem. I eventually fitted Walker Bulldog boxes and used one of the gears from the conversion kit in the final drive casings. Fiddly job. This gives an extra reduction stage and slows it down a bit.
Don't run it with the tracks too loose - if you do they can catch the lip where the hull/deck meet above the drive sprockets and cause damage.
The suspension and wheel bearings are not very strong and after a few hours running the wheels will start to point outwards at the bottom. I made new swing arms, but I think you can buy them these days. The wheel bearings and idler bearings were fitted with ball races.
The idler adjustment is feeble and needs looking at, and the front of the hull between the idlers can be stiffened. I think there might be a thread somewhere on here about that. It might be possible to buy metal adjusters, I'm not sure. I made a pair out of brass.
If you keep the suspension towers with the compression springs inside them (not the best system in the world) strip them down, clean them out and lube them with Tamiya ceramic grease. Don't use anything petroleum based or it will eventually attack the plastic.
The electronics, as you say, are pants. I replaced mine with Tamiya KT units (the KV wasn't available in those days) and KT recoil unit but retained the original rotator. Barrel was made out of ally tube and Milliput using the rolling pin method. Speaker sits on a baffle board in the hull top above the gearboxes, but its quite a shallow one. It was a salvaged item and I can't remember where I got it. I think I had to shave a couple of mm off the top of the gearbox frames to get it to fit.
I've never bothered to fit metal tracks because the originals seem to wear well.
Watch out for the plastic pillars used to secure the hull to the deck. They strip and crack very easily.
Thats about all I can remember - its a very long time since I built this one. With mods its a very good tank and I've had a lot of fun with it.
Thanks for the pointers. Phil has a tensioner setup for $50 that I plan to purchase and I planned to have a peek at the almost nonexistent suspension travel.
I also heard low profile panzer boxes will work and I'd like to use Lipo and install Elmod
I took it to the battlefield for a shakedown today and flattened $6 woth of AAs in a few short moments. I'll post some pics of it stock from the box when I have a minute before I start any mods.
I just purchased one as well. The idler upgrade from Phil is on the list and I plan to use Daryl Turner's fix for the gearboxes. This will include fitting Tamiya Pershing Geaarboxes and new metal outdrive egars, as well as a specially designed metal sprocket and metal suspension with bearings in all wheels. This should make a very durable tank. After that is completed, I will either fit Elmod PRO oir KV-1 electronics. It is planned as a long term project, but we'll see. Contact Bob at http://www.etoarmor.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Or email him direct at etoarmor@yahoo.com
He can set you up with Daryl's parts and prices.
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
I would like to drop in some nice electrics. 
I'll post some pics of it stock from the box when I have a minute before I start any mods.
