Two nice things for the price of one.

[BarkingSquirrel]

*Please forgive the bad photography*

I got two Kitty Killers the other day, though I was only expecting one



My sister just drives up, says "Here take this." and leaves. I have absolutely no idea what breed he is and to be honest I didn't want him, I'm a cat person not a dog person. That said, the cute little bugger's grown on me.



I initially kept him because I didn't want to take him to the animal shelter. Almost every animal there has to be put down because no one out here adopts. I've adopted two of my three cats there and they know me by face and name, that shows how few adoptions they get. Two of the cats absolutely hate him, the other just loves him to death. What can I say, cats are weird.



As for the other Kitty Killer, its a HL M-26 Pershing S&S with metal tracks & gearboxes. It has the distinction of being my first 1/16 tank. I bought it from a stateside dealer. A few of the fiddly little bits broke in shipping, but it doesn't bother me. There were a few curious things though:

1) It came with the proper stickers and .50cal MG/Mount for the pershing, but came with a solid green German Commander(The kind with the hat like a baseball cap). I prefer the look of tanks buttoned up so that doesn't bother me the slightest.

2) It had an RX-18 in it which surprised me. I thought only the new stuff(Stug/Jagd) had it so far.

3) It had factory installed metal gearboxes, this isn't what surprised me as I knew it was coming with them. What surprised me was that they had absolutely NO grease on them. Which wouldn't be so bad except the local shops don't have any grease in stock and the soonest I could get some delivered from an online shop is July 7th, so I can't drive it until I receive that package Atleast I have a puppy to play with in the mean time.

[BarkingSquirrel]

On a related note, the tracks droop like crazy when I pick the tank up. I'm inclined to think there's entirely too many links in the tracks. How many links should be on each side? Currently each side has 82 links. Thanks.

[wibblywobbly]

Well he is a cute little feller! probably a pedigree Bitzadog.

[Tankie]

Don't worry about running the tank without grease - it's actually a good idea in my experience to run them in dry because the teeth are cast, not cut so need to bed in - the motors will then run cooler & the RX 18 last longer.  I've run all of my tanks in 'off load' by removing the tracks and running for an hour on a model train controller.  You could achieve the same by chocking up the body and using the battery - it may take a couple of recharges.

Petroleum Jelly is a good alternative to silicone grease.

Lets see how adorable your 4 legged kitty killer is after he's chewed off the barrel of your tank or watered the electrics!!

[BarkingSquirrel]

Thanks for the info, but the place I bought it at broke them in for me. I'm sure they need some lubrication since when I push the stic I hear the motors run but theres no movement until I push the stick further. Plus it screams when its moving. I can wait for the grease to arrive, it gives me time to paint it

Yeah, the little monster's already tried to eat the tank. Luckily this isn't my first rodeo, my mother used to breed beagles when I was a kid, now THOSE are little monsters

I don't know what to think about the tracks. With the number of links they came with, it droops like crazy when held up(Like I could fit my wrist through the gap). But with one link removed, I had to fight to get the tracks back on.

[Saxondog]

Sniper kitty,my tank killer.

[sevoblast]

I use just ordinary 10W-40 motor oil on the TU's. Seems to have worked well over the years. On the gears, just a spot of Tamiya "ceramic grease", aka Teflon grease, does the trick.
As for the dawg, now you know why my tank fabrik has a lock on the door. Vco raises show collies, and whilst seldom in the house, the two puppies have been known to sneak in. Katya, the black one, is not a chewer. Sophia, the blue one, is however quite the thief, very cunning and quite, with her innocent smile when nabbed.
This is Sophia with her mum. Sophia will also quietly sit outside and watch the tanks run for hours, no barking or chasing them.

[philipat]

Those are some gorgeous collies.

Nice pup, too.

What US vendor did you buy it from?  I would suggest double checking the vendor's break-in, especially while you have the tracks off.  Just pull the motors off and see if they turn freely.  (mark the motors for left and right first, though...I've forgotten to do this.  :-X)  Better safe than sorry.

[BarkingSquirrel]

This is what I meant by the hesitation before turning. Video may be a bit loud. Sorry about the air conditioner, It's Florida. Its 8:30am and already 92 degrees.

Motor or Gearbox Problem

I found a tiny bit of grease to use so the gears aren't screaming like they used to. But the motors still make that sound when the stick is pushed a little.

I bought it from RCTankWars.com Upon further inspection, it looks like they were greased, but apparently got really hot in the truck as its almost completely pooled below the gears.

[BarkingSquirrel]

Sniper kitty,my tank killer.

Gah, can't believe I didn't see that until now. Good thing my cats are outside at the moment - don't want them getting any ideas