RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

atcttge wrote:

SteelBird wrote:To me, tanks should move slowly and powerfully.

Depends on the tank. Modern main battle tanks are pretty fast given the weight. The M1 can hit 60kph which is pretty fast for a 70 ton tank. Even on uneven terrain it can probably hit close to 50kph thanks to the suspension.

The ZTZ-99 is a Chinese copy of the T-72 and that can run pretty fast especially since it's lighter than the M1 at under 60 tons. Wot you may want to consider with the T-72 and clones is the reverse speed which is I heard is practically useless, unlike Western tanks that have a max reverse speed around half of the max forward speed.

Heavy WW2 tanks like the Tiger, KV-2, etc would move slower considering that engines back then weren't as powerful as today.

Regarding whether the ZTZ-99 is a copy of the T-72 or not, has been a hot topic debating on another military forum, namely the Sino Defense Forum. I'm a member of that forum with the same name, SteelBird. We aren't going to debate the derivative of the T-99 here, right?

No matter how fast a tank is, it is a very heavy equipment. It needs to move heavily. I think the low speed would imitate the heavy weight, and the soft suspension would also show its weight as well. I'm not a fan of F1 tanks. I play my tank with rough terrain, climbing hills, water and mudding would nice but I'll try to avoid that.

Currently, the Pantiger is my only tank. I'm not satisfied with its performance let alone its name. I always blame stock electric for the performance but I think it's a combination of electric, motors and tracks as well as remote control. The best remote control setup for me is the left stick (no self center) for speed and right stick for left and right.

In addition to the 4:1 lower ratio gearbox you can reduce the pinion on the motor from 10 to 8 tooth which makes quite a difference in Torque. (some minor adjustments needed to get the smaller pinion to fit properly)

SteelBird wrote: Regarding whether the ZTZ-99 is a copy of the T-72 or not, has been a hot topic debating on another military forum, namely the Sino Defense Forum. I'm a member of that forum with the same name, SteelBird. We aren't going to debate the derivative of the T-99 here, right?

Well, I mentioned that because the video shows a ZTZ-99 tank, da? Anyhow, it was a point on fact I was making, not debating, to make the point that modern MBTs, while heavy, still move fast. I too am a member of a tank-centric forum where many of the members are current and former crewmen of various tanks and other AFVs, from M113 ambulances, to T-72s, to the M1A1 and prototype M1A2. We even had a M60A2 crewman on that forum, as well as one for the M551. Their posts and others from various countries have been very educational for me with regard to how these great steel beasts are operated.

SteelBird wrote:No matter how fast a tank is, it is a very heavy equipment. It needs to move heavily. I think the low speed would imitate the heavy weight, and the soft suspension would also show its weight as well. I'm not a fan of F1 tanks. I play my tank with rough terrain, climbing hills, water and mudding would nice but I'll try to avoid that.

With RC tanks, I prefer something that runs closer to reality as well. That said, I want my modern MBTs to run as fast as the real things are in either smooth or rough terrain - of course, according to scale. Having a 1/16 RC M1 at 60kph is unrealistic. Rough terrain will naturally slow the speed of an RC tank vs running over pavement or the floor. I too play my tanks rough, so much so they are often under repair more than in running condition, with parts broken off here and there, and track tension often getting loose - just like the real thing they are meant to represent.

Anyhow, with updated electronics, one can make the tank crawl as slow as one fancies.

As for suspension, I've often read here that when one uses metal tracks, wheels, etc, it is best to use harder springs for that. I've stayed with the stock springs which are said to be soft. I've also added lead weights to my tanks and these have made the suspension work nicely on rough terrain. But there are limits to the HL tanks with regard to suspension, and one day - when I win the lottery - I will buy one of those fancy metal hulls with torsion bar suspension just like the real things. That'll only make the RC tank more accurate in terms of running performance.

Reducing pinion tooth from 10 to 8 is interesting; however, there are two problems:
1. it's not easy to find an 8 tooth pinion
2.look like changing the pinion is not an easy job and require proper tool to work with. I saw this video on Youtube


Moreover, after changing the pinion, would the 8 tooth pinion has smaller diameter than the 10 tooth one? Does it still contact with other gear well? How to adjust?

You have to extend the mounting holes a bit to get the slightly smaller pinion to mesh.
You can use that type of tool or Max-U52 showed how using another tool also works
for removing pinions. He has a video showing how to remove and install them with this tool!
http://mitosal.com/HopUpGear.htm (website for pinion)

atcttge wrote:

SteelBird wrote: Regarding whether the ZTZ-99 is a copy of the T-72 or not, has been a hot topic debating on another military forum, namely the Sino Defense Forum. I'm a member of that forum with the same name, SteelBird. We aren't going to debate the derivative of the T-99 here, right?

Well, I mentioned that because the video shows a ZTZ-99 tank, da? Anyhow, it was a point on fact I was making, not debating, to make the point that modern MBTs, while heavy, still move fast. I too am a member of a tank-centric forum where many of the members are current and former crewmen of various tanks and other AFVs, from M113 ambulances, to T-72s, to the M1A1 and prototype M1A2. We even had a M60A2 crewman on that forum, as well as one for the M551. Their posts and others from various countries have been very educational for me with regard to how these great steel beasts are operated.

SteelBird wrote:No matter how fast a tank is, it is a very heavy equipment. It needs to move heavily. I think the low speed would imitate the heavy weight, and the soft suspension would also show its weight as well. I'm not a fan of F1 tanks. I play my tank with rough terrain, climbing hills, water and mudding would nice but I'll try to avoid that.

With RC tanks, I prefer something that runs closer to reality as well. That said, I want my modern MBTs to run as fast as the real things are in either smooth or rough terrain - of course, according to scale. Having a 1/16 RC M1 at 60kph is unrealistic. Rough terrain will naturally slow the speed of an RC tank vs running over pavement or the floor. I too play my tanks rough, so much so they are often under repair more than in running condition, with parts broken off here and there, and track tension often getting loose - just like the real thing they are meant to represent.

Anyhow, with updated electronics, one can make the tank crawl as slow as one fancies.

As for suspension, I've often read here that when one uses metal tracks, wheels, etc, it is best to use harder springs for that. I've stayed with the stock springs which are said to be soft. I've also added lead weights to my tanks and these have made the suspension work nicely on rough terrain. But there are limits to the HL tanks with regard to suspension, and one day - when I win the lottery - I will buy one of those fancy metal hulls with torsion bar suspension just like the real things. That'll only make the RC tank more accurate in terms of running performance.

Today I took my Pantiger outdoor again. It has been running indoor for too long. I was blaming the tank for it unresponsive behavior. When I want it turns, it doesn't care to turn or turn slowly. I thought it was the fault of HL's electric but when I replace the metal tracks with stock plastic ones, the tank becomes very responsive (I have metal gearbox with blue skin motors. made in China). However, plastic tracks aren't for rough terrain. I always got thrown tracks, and once, the track got stuck with the idler. It took me a hard time to remove and return it back to normal.

Regarding torsion bars, I love it so much but what I hate about it is the fact that the left and right road wheels offset a little from each other. I came across a fully upgraded L2A6 with lower metal hull on taobao.com, and the tank costs about USD630. That is quite a lot of money for me though I still can afford it. However, I finally gave it up for the Tiger I's parts and components that I am going to build a Tiger out of my Pantiger. I never dream of a fortune but maybe after I have saved enough money, I will go for the metal Leo2. Up until this moment, I have not considered a Tamiya yet.

Fyi...Max's tutorial on pulling pinions is under "Gear removal on motors..best method" in the forums.

Max-U52 wrote:Something like this is what I'm looking at

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... 05M_T.html

that could be hidden in something like this

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/ ... 506d31.jpg

I think it would be very easy to hide that camera and still keep a scale look.
The camera tx can easily hide inside the tank....but the antena wont be so easy to hide.....depending on the model you buy.

My m41a3 came in...im very pleased with its current speed and power.glad i listened and waited before buying the imex 4:1.
Instructions are bare minimium,im guessing 6mm rounds go in the hole in the hatch,also guessing smoke oil down the exhaust .

Has a slight steering issue,sometimes when i slowly turn left she turns right about a second or 2 then goes left.
The 2.4 radio is decent.
Cant wait to go run her some more.
Thanx

Put the 6mm rounds...they all wound up in the chassis...guess its time to pull hter apart....lol
And start a proper thread


Edit
Wrong hole fool!
Turns out the hole under driver isnt where the rounds go.on the old model it was liaded there,newer models load under hatch with switch.
Fired 25 rounds....working great.