RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Looking forward the build progress. I too have a HL Tiger 1. Just ordered adjuster for the idlers.

Still grey after a year.

Sounds like a cool build! Definitely keep us updated along the way.

I promise it isn't going to happen very quickly, it may take a few years, but I will definitely keep a log over on the 'other builds' thread for everyone to follow.

If there is anyone in the mid Michigan area looking to do some casual tanking, let me know.
The weather is warming up here and I would love to get ol' 007 out more this year before i gut her.

Sigh...from Southern Wisconsin to Lower Michigan is rather a trip, with Chicago in the way and all the fun of getting stuck next to a hog truck on I-94 on the south end of the Lake . There is the ferry from Manitowoc to Ludington, and I have always wanted to try it and go to the Ford museum, too. Maybe someday.

Meanwhile, you are certainly sophisticated at rebuilding RC tanks! I was bowled over by your first description of what you did with the Tiger I.

I'm guessing new metal hulls and turrets won't do much to the weight difference when talking about such a goal, the metal they use is not very dense.
Even if you were to build it from scale rolled steel like the original, you wouldn't achieve the scale weight, because you can't scale the mass of the metal. Although lead weights would help, shame you live over the pond, I have some spare roofing lead kicking about.
Have you given much thought to beefing up the suspension? I doubt those torsion bars would be thick enough, and the suspension arms and torsion bar end retainers that you already have would be far too weak made from pot metal, trying to deal with the stresses caused by the weight of a sixth scale tank.
As for the tracks and sprockets, they too would really struggle with trying not to break, they're also not designed for moving a sixth scale tank weight.
Your tank, your prerogative to do what takes your fancy. But I just thought I'd warn you about some problems you might want to take into consideration

Welcome and your tank looks great. I agree with not going all metal, for the following reasons. The turret is heavy and really hard to modify, I find the Taigen plastic one great to work with. Keep the photos coming


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Mag wheel weights are flexible and self-adhesive. Normally also have weight values on each segment and should be cheap & available locally to you.
They are thin too, so very convenient to locate into small spaces.

Herr Dr. Professor wrote: Sigh...from Southern Wisconsin to Lower Michigan is rather a trip, with Chicago in the way and all the fun of getting stuck next to a hog truck on I-94 on the south end of the Lake . There is the ferry from Manitowoc to Ludington, and I have always wanted to try it and go to the Ford museum, too. Maybe someday.

Meanwhile, you are certainly sophisticated at rebuilding RC tanks! I was bowled over by your first description of what you did with the Tiger I.

Herr Dr. Professor,
Yes, I have made that trip a few times, sometimes being completely stopped on the hwy outside of Chicago for 3 hours. I have always wanted to take the ferry for the experience, and my little one would absolutely love that. If you ever do make your way over, i suggest checking out the Silver Sides museum in Muskegon, that's a cool experience!

I made it a frequent thing last year to get out to any of the lakes (My daughter and I became quite found of rock hunting and tumbling), so i can imagine this year wont be any different. If you do decide to make a trip, let me know and I can plan to head over to Lake Michigan and we could have a beach battle .
Thank you for your kind words. I have always loved to tinker, though, it has come with many failures.

Son of a gun-ner wrote:I'm guessing new metal hulls and turrets won't do much to the weight difference when talking about such a goal, the metal they use is not very dense.
Even if you were to build it from scale rolled steel like the original, you wouldn't achieve the scale weight, because you can't scale the mass of the metal. Although lead weights would help, shame you live over the pond, I have some spare roofing lead kicking about.
Have you given much thought to beefing up the suspension? I doubt those torsion bars would be thick enough, and the suspension arms and torsion bar end retainers that you already have would be far too weak made from pot metal, trying to deal with the stresses caused by the weight of a sixth scale tank.
As for the tracks and sprockets, they too would really struggle with trying not to break, they're also not designed for moving a sixth scale tank weight.
Your tank, your prerogative to do what takes your fancy. But I just thought I'd warn you about some problems you might want to take into consideration

Son of a gun-ner,
While the new metal hulls will increase the weight, it wont be significant for the end goal. I was thinking tungston weights at first but i havent researched much on how cooperative tungston is. I know lead is soft and i can easily cast, cut, shape, etc., to do exactly what i need it to do.
I have though a lot about suspension, the feeble stock torsion bars will probably either bend and develop a "bottomed out" memory, or snap completely. I have access to a decent machine shop and a wealth of knowledge from the people there, so i may have them design some more beefy suspension components made from good quality spring steel. I will burn that bridge when i get to it, this idea is still in the early design phase, so it is still a while out.
Thank you for the warnings, It gives me plenty to think about in any spare time i get. To foresee the problems i may encounter and develop different avenues that may solve them before i discover said problems the hard way.

Markocaster wrote:Welcome and your tank looks great. I agree with not going all metal, for the following reasons. The turret is heavy and really hard to modify, I find the Taigen plastic one great to work with. Keep the photos coming

Markocaster
Thank you! Its nice to hear when all the hard work is appreciated.
The more people tell me to stay away from the metal bits, the more it makes me want to do it. Tame the un-tamable if you will haha .
I ordered the new metal upper off Ebay about 45 days ago (from China), it is out for delivery today. I will post a pic here when i get it, but it looks like a new style (says MATO) with bolt on side fenders and actual hinged front fenders.
I'm hoping it wasn't just a "gotcha" picture with the traditional cast HL mold. I am eager and will update as soon as i can.

HERMAN BIX wrote:Mag wheel weights are flexible and self-adhesive. Normally also have weight values on each segment and should be cheap & available locally to you.
They are thin too, so very convenient to locate into small spaces.

HERMAN BIX,
I have looked into stick on wheel weights similar to these. I think this style would be great for tucking up underneath the fenders and odd spots like that.
The local harbor freight has a 5lb pack of these for decently cheap. Thank you for the info!

The new upper came in. I am going to start a new build log in 'other builds', but here are some teaser pics.