Transporting Modern Tanks Without Damage
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2024 5:25 pm
The 1/16 scale r/c model tanks are longer and generally bigger than most of the WW2 r/c tanks that I have modelled previously and transporting them to and from the local club without damaging them or knocking bits off of them is a problem as they won't generally fit into a zipped shopping bag or a suitably sized clear plastic box, so I decided to knock-up some sort of carry-tray to do the job.
I wanted to make the smallest size carry tray possible that would be still be able to protect the model when it is being moved from the house to the workshop to the car and to the club and back ago on a regular basis.
Turning the turret to position the barrel over the rear of the model gives the shortest overall length, and when positioned the barrel slightly off-centre I found that I could make something 26" long by 10 3/4 " wide that would work for my Tamiya Leopard 2A6 by fitting the model inside it.
One of my other hobbies is making fast r/c model boats and restoring classic model power boats so I usually have a good stock of nice wood laying around the workshop, but for this project I wanted to use any oddments of scrap that could find....and save the new nice clean marine plywood for my new builds and restorations.
I found some 2mm scrap plywood that I could used for the base so I cut it to size and then hunted around for something to use for the sides. A model warehouse that I had made years ago for the r/c model truck club had not been used for some time so it was liberated and broken up to use for the sides and ends. I cut this 7mm (approx) plywood into suitable sized lengths and then stripped it to 90mm wide on the bandsaw to make it just high enough to offer some protection without making it too heavy to carry.
A couple of 90mm off-cuts that were left over were cut to length to provide an upright for each end to slide an old broom handle into for me to carry it with.
Suitable shapes were chopped up to make "buffers" at the front and back to keep the tank in place inside the frame and another to hold the transmitter in place. A strip of Velcro was added to hold the tank battery safely as it is never in the turret until the tank is being run to help delay the inevitable Tamiya 2A6 Leopard turret sag.
Although this was only a quick "bash-together" tank carry cot, it has worked well and so I will tidy it up (at a later date) and use it as a reference when making something similar for my other Modern Tank Models.
I took a picture of it on my iPhone and tried to upload it on my iMac, but I got the following message:-
ERROR
File too large: IMG_3323.jpeg
I will try again direct from my iPhone and see if it works better.
I wanted to make the smallest size carry tray possible that would be still be able to protect the model when it is being moved from the house to the workshop to the car and to the club and back ago on a regular basis.
Turning the turret to position the barrel over the rear of the model gives the shortest overall length, and when positioned the barrel slightly off-centre I found that I could make something 26" long by 10 3/4 " wide that would work for my Tamiya Leopard 2A6 by fitting the model inside it.
One of my other hobbies is making fast r/c model boats and restoring classic model power boats so I usually have a good stock of nice wood laying around the workshop, but for this project I wanted to use any oddments of scrap that could find....and save the new nice clean marine plywood for my new builds and restorations.
I found some 2mm scrap plywood that I could used for the base so I cut it to size and then hunted around for something to use for the sides. A model warehouse that I had made years ago for the r/c model truck club had not been used for some time so it was liberated and broken up to use for the sides and ends. I cut this 7mm (approx) plywood into suitable sized lengths and then stripped it to 90mm wide on the bandsaw to make it just high enough to offer some protection without making it too heavy to carry.
A couple of 90mm off-cuts that were left over were cut to length to provide an upright for each end to slide an old broom handle into for me to carry it with.
Suitable shapes were chopped up to make "buffers" at the front and back to keep the tank in place inside the frame and another to hold the transmitter in place. A strip of Velcro was added to hold the tank battery safely as it is never in the turret until the tank is being run to help delay the inevitable Tamiya 2A6 Leopard turret sag.
Although this was only a quick "bash-together" tank carry cot, it has worked well and so I will tidy it up (at a later date) and use it as a reference when making something similar for my other Modern Tank Models.
I took a picture of it on my iPhone and tried to upload it on my iMac, but I got the following message:-
ERROR
File too large: IMG_3323.jpeg
I will try again direct from my iPhone and see if it works better.