RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

New to the forum.

Retired engineer - east coast US. Lifelong model builder and designer. Main interests: military vehicles and large scale trains. I work in 2D and 3D cad using laser cutting and 3D printing.

My collection of military models is in 1/16th scale. My first RC tank is a Tamiya Sherman bought in 1998? Of course once I built up the tank I needed a transporter so I scratch built a dragon wagon. Brass and aluminum. Never did run the way I had hoped so I scraped it. This past year I took another stab at it and came up with this.

Welcome to the forum. Usually with new members, we tell them about all the help and advice they can find here. In your case, it seems more like the opposite. We hope you can share your skills and help us lesser mortals.

You may have noticed that, in addition to our main topic of military vehicles, we also have a section on trains and locomotives.

Welcome aboard from Illinois! Always good to have skilled craftsmen join our group. Nice looking models.

Alan, Welcome to the Forum When I see some of the wonders that the members of this place come out with it leaves me pondering whether we should consider a change of title
I know we all look forward to your progress in this hobby and as Richard (Silversurfer) said any help you can offer us mere mortals will be gratefully received,
My 2 Bruder 1/16 Low Loaders look ok with trucks on but Armour overpowers them and my HG 806 1/12 Low Loader which carries a 1/16 Abrams or a 1/16 Challenger both of which look like they were built for the 806 but I have not yet found a trailer that WW2 heavies look good on not even the Dragon Wagon.
Perhaps I should knock up a Thornycroft Mighty Antar and a Multi-Wheel Dyson or King Trailer because it does not look as though anyone else will.
I hope you enjoy this Forum and if you do not have any questions we would welcome your answers

Welcome! Having personally driven a real Dragon wagon and trailer with a Sherman on it, this build brings back once in a lifetime memories. I'm sure folks here would love any help with duplicating the effort. The Ft. Snelling Military Museum running Dragon Wagon that we spent so much time restoring to running condition and maintaining is now back to living a non-running life in a US Army museum. She went from this:



To this:



A little bit of paint won't make up for the fact she will no longer be enjoyed out in the wild. We had a WW2 vet that visited the museum one weekend. He mentioned that he was a driver for a Dragon Wagon during the war. When we mentioned we had one his eyes lit up. He couldn't believe it when we fired it up, pulled it out of the maintenance tent, and gave him a ride around the parking lot in it.

Wow! We might have to worry a bit about your qualifications—to humble us. You sure are welcome and I hope you have fun here time and time again.

That's a big, and unusually impressive, introductory image Here's a big WELCOME!

The galline: "I took another stab at it and came up with this." Is that an M35 as the tractor? I only have one book on the M35, and I don't recall (the usual problem for me) seeing the tractor version.
tankme"The Ft. Snelling Military Museum running Dragon Wagon ...is now back to living a non-running life in a US Army museum." Is it a matter of money? Did something go wrong with the mechanicals? Is the Dragon Wagon close to running condition. One can hope that someone will care.

Wow! That is some intro Thegalline!

Very impressive! I think you'll like it here, it's the best Forum going! Enjoy!

Cheers,
Eric.

Thank you all for the warm welcome.

Yes Herr Dr Professor the tractor shell is a M 35 style from Wpl, cut down. The frame and drive train is all metal cobbled together from parts sourced on the internet. The winches are brass that I fabricated, they each work independently. The tractor does have a brass folded tow frame in the rear.

When putting the tractor together I used the Dart T13 as an inspiration. Someday I may rebuild the tractor into a true Dart.

The trailer is a scratch built WWII vintage M 15. It is made from laser cut styrene and has 4 laser cut steel stiffeners running down its length which turned out to be overkill.

Full disclosure, when I retired I knew I needed to find something to do. I decided to do for others what I have been doing for myself all my life. I started a consulting business where I would research and design model projects for clients that wanted something they could not find commercially available. I have been specializing in large scale model railroading for the past 12 years.

Below is the M 15 trailer, an M35 tractor (also 6 channel) with a single winch, lights, sound, 2 speed transmission and working beacons. The third picture is a 1/29th scale PRR tunnel crane that I scratch built. Took 3 months just to develop the project drawings. It was built for the PRR to use in the tunnels of NYC.

Alan