RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Make them move (MTM) has a unique gearbox setup in their RRC kit. I have found a good model for this gearbox. The Italeri 1/35 Crusader III

Update August 11:
Going full metal tracks on this Crusader The next video will be with MTM gearboxes and Friulmodel metal tracks

here is a video of the right side plastic ITL track being run in on a stand. These plastic tracks are not very durable (IMO)and started to slip on the sprockets during a ~30 degree incline run.
https://youtu.be/s5IBp2N24AY

Here is a video of the Crusader running on the new METAL track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejUtRRqQB68


44 years ago I built my first radio control tank, a Crusader MK III. It had a working incandescent 3v headlamp, (No LED's at that time) that indicated battery was hooked up (3v AAA), a single motor hand made gearbox with 1 channel 27 mhz on\off remote control from a toy car. It was a big achievement for me to get this Tank converted to radio remote control and I marveled at this wonderful little Tank. I had built Static and wired remote control Tanks since I was about 10 years old and wished they could move under their own power. Well, this Mk III was my first and though it only had two functions, Stop, Go FWD. that was more than anything else before and was a good starting point.
I still have that Crusader model although over the years all of it electronics and drive gear have been salvaged for other models, although I think I still have that simple on\off radio receiver somewhere in my collection of legacy radio gear. as soon as I locate it, I will post it here. I am sure it will still work

Back in 1979, some Tank buddies and me had a Firecracker war and the Crusader was blown to bits but I still have the remains of that Tank and have kept it all these years. I thought about restoring it to working order and I may still but in the meantime I found a new one on ebay, still in the shrink wrap. and have decided to do a new build of the Crusader Mk III

This is a far as I got today. This is not an easy model to assemble I mean if you want the road wheels to roll lol. Had a few issues but got it sorted out the the chassis\tracks are assembled and look good.

You get so much more variety of AFVs in 1/35. Then, too, you find replacements after 40 years. Many of Mr. Putin's twenty-first century AFVs look like your Italeri Crusader. Has he contacted you yet about replacing his tanks?

Herr Dr. Professor wrote:You get so much more variety of AFVs in 1/35. Then, too, you find replacements after 40 years. Many of Mr. Putin's twenty-first century AFVs look like your Italeri Crusader. Has he contacted you yet about replacing his tanks?

Well, I would like to have several 1/16 Tanks but I would soon be living as a Bachelor I fear. I live in a apartment with no basement to hide I mean store Tanks out of the wife's view.

Converting the Crusader is proving to be a challenge using the MTM gearbox. I must be doing something wrong with the assembly of the gearbox and now I need more parts to continue with those. The Crusader tracks were a bit tight as there is no way to adjust the track tension without modifying the chassis of the Crusader and I snapped both drive axles trying to get a video. I will try to get more gearbox axle parts from Cush and then I will continue with the MTM gearbox construction.

The gearboxes sure seem to fit well and neatly. Although it could be an effect from the camera lens, in the second-last photo, it seems as if the tracks are pulling the idlers outward. Is that so? Are those polyvinyl tracks?

Edit: I now see the answer to my question at viewtopic.php?f=33&t=33348&p=329783#p329783.

Herr Dr. Professor wrote:The gearboxes sure seem to fit well and neatly. Although it could be an effect from the camera lens, in the second-last photo, it seems as if the tracks are pulling the idlers outward. Is that so? Are those polyvinyl tracks?

Edit: I now see the answer to my question at viewtopic.php?f=33&t=33348&p=329783#p329783.

Yes they are polyvinyl tracks. I think the camera angle made it look like the Tracks were "pulling the idlers outward" The Track tension was a bit tighter that I would like and there was no way to adjust them without modifying the chassis sprocket openings, and they worked great as first but failed after a short while. Cush from MTM messaged me and said the poly Tracks get too much traction and I would need to switch to individual Tracks link type Track. I have some experience with those that are made of plastic links and and will spin easily under torque therefore reducing the load on the gearboxes. I was doing a pivot turn when the gearboxes failed. That puts a huge load on everything when using poly tracks. Even worse are "rubber Tracks" like on my Panzer III

The Crusader III has very narrow tracks and I thought maybe I could get by and if I had adjustable Tracks tensioners, it may have worked. So I will be looking into better tracks although those things take a lot of time to assemble. I will look for ones already assembled as the last ones I tried to build took too long and I gave up

All of my 1/35 Tanks use poly Tracks at this point. That is not a problem for the powerful Tamiya gearboxes. However, after a few hours of operation the Tamiya gearboxes get pretty loose around the output shafts. When that happens, you can see the sprockets moving around in a unnatural way. Never had one fail but to an enthusiast Tanker, one can see the gearbox has experienced some
wear and tare However being metal, that can easily be repaired with some Solder and a good Soldering gun. After repair, the Tamiya gearboxes seem to last forever. I will do a separate thread on this topic showing how this repair or "beefing up" of the Tamiya gearbox is done.

Anyway, when I get new axle parts for the MTM gearbox, I will look into them to see if there is a way to "beef them up" a bit just because I would like to use them in more of my models. How many models you say? (75+MOTORIZED remote control Tank models)

I looked in my inventory of parts and found a set of tracks that work on the Crusader so I am building them up now. After these tracks are built and working I will switch over to the MTM gearboxes.

here is a video of the right side track being run in on a stand.
https://youtu.be/s5IBp2N24AY

Here is a video of the Crusader running on the new ITL track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejUtRRqQB68

Looked around in my old inventory of Tanks parts and found a individual link plastic track kit for early Panzer III, IV Tanks. They did not work on any PIII or IV that I have so they were never used.

I was driving the Crusader III chassis around when the right track broke. So I repaired it then drove some more and it broke in another spot so I realized the tracks in this kit are really fragile and are not suitable for R\C use and are good for display mostly. So I got to thinking about the above track kit which had 1 track 3/4 built and thought I will try this track and see if it works on the Crusader and much to my surprise they do They are a bit wider than the Crusader tracks but seem to work good. So I am running a PZ III ITL on the right side and the stock poly track on the left until I get another track built which takes some time to assemble.

here is a video of the right side track being run in on a stand.
https://youtu.be/s5IBp2N24AY

Here is a video of the Crusader running on the new ITL track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejUtRRqQB68

Cush from MTM says I need ITL (plastic) to use with the MTM gearbox so I will use these as test tracks until I can find a Crusader ITL track.

I will be switching the gearbox in this Crusader back to MTM after I get both poly tracks replaced with the plastic ITL.

I have an idea to make the MTM gearbox's adjustable as far as track tension is concerned using the same adjuster hole and screw present in the chassis now and beef them up as well
This mod will make the MTM gearboxes removable and have a mounting plate that is compatible with the Tamiya gearbox so that they are interchangeable.

More on this as I get time.

I had some time to look at MTM gearbox again and redid the axle with the last of the parts I had on hand on got one side working again and this time I altered the assembly of the axle and it seems more robust. I am getting ready to test it in a half track chassis to drive 1 track and see what happens.

reworked gearbox video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBy7XCbifjY&t=4s