RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

So I've mentioned this build in a few other posts, but here are some pics of it.

After a bunch of hours of printing I was able to get most of it assembled.



550 M2x20mm countersunk screws later, the tracks were on. I also reworked the original hinges on the hatches to look more like the real tank. The fender straps were deleted as I will be adding more correct straps. They were also recontoured as I didn't like the full boxy fenders. Final drive housings need some fastener detail added.



I didn't print the side skirts as they will be left off. I still need to remove some material from the underside of the skirt to make them look right.



"Look at the size of that thing" - Luke Skywalker



The rear fenders were also cut down. They still need a lot of work to make them look right. Engine access hinges were reworked like the driver's/MG gunner hatches. Still needs a lot of clean up work.



Redid the storage boxes in the rear. The originals were completely square while most of them have an angle at the top so I modified them as shown. The lower tray walls were made thinner and the top lid was reworked thinner. Still need to add the support brace under the rear edge of the box that mounts to the fender.



Then I got busy with starting to install the electronics. This ESC will be running the turret traverse motor at 12V.



The geared 555 sized motors will be running off the 24V buss bar shown on the right of the electronics tray. I printed a riser to mount the voltage monitor and volume knob which is accessed through the hatches when the front glacis plate is installed. I will also be able to turn the tank on/off using the 40amp breaker through the front hatch. The whole system is limited to 40A because that's the draw limit of the battery pack. The battery is a 6S Li-Ion 21700 cell pack rated at 4.5AH. You can see it's 3D printed tray just to the left of the battery monitor riser.





Better shot of the 24V buss bar. It will feed the voltage buck in the upper right. The buck will convert the 24V to 12V for the TCB and the turret 12V ESC. The JS-2 sound card will be replaced with a Ford GAA one from Taigen. I figured the sound is close enough.



And finally the rough overall layout of the electronics. Still not done wiring them all up so a few additions will still be made. The TCB is in orange. Speaker is a leftover from an old small home theater in a box setup that I no longer needed. Gotta love repurposing things...






That's all for now...

that looks really cool!

Well, tankme, I was feeling uplifted because I am managing to convert a HengLong 5.3 to HengLong 7.0. So much for my inflated ego! What a fine project, and quite hefty! I will watch, be awed, and try to learn whatever I can. Thanks for posting about this build.

Tankme, Good Afternoon.
Super job on the M3! One question. Are the tracks 3D printed as well?
regards
Painless ( who has been building a 1\6 M5 Stuart for a long time now)

Thanks for liking the build.

I was hoping to get it mobile so that I can start doing the 3D print line remediation and painting it. I always like to get the tank flushed out before painting to ensure no major changes are needed. Nothing worse than spending time painting something only to find out it has to be changed and repainted. The tank is printed in a combination of PETG and ABS. I already tested out using an ABS plastic slurry to smooth the front right fender. The ABS slurry is scrap ABS waste from the printing process that has been soaked (melted) in Acetone. I seal it up in a glass jar and it gets applied with a brush over the 3D printed surface. The ABS slurry dries in a matter of minutes. It fills in the low spots and then I use a small rotary sander to smooth the surface.

PainlessWolf wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 9:11 pm Tankme, Good Afternoon.
Super job on the M3! One question. Are the tracks 3D printed as well?
regards
Painless ( who has been building a 1\6 M5 Stuart for a long time now)

Yes the tracks are 3D printed in PETG. I actually have a 21st Century M5 Stuart that I recently purchased locally. I was looking at using the track files for this to make new tracks and sprockets for it as one of it's drive sprockets is stripped.

Whoa! That's tasty!

Paint job maybe a desert caunter scheme?
Yes. That would be a good choice. You're welcome.

Mike.

ColemanCollector wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 10:59 pm Whoa! That's tasty!

Paint job maybe a desert caunter scheme?
Yes. That would be a good choice. You're welcome.

Mike.

Not sure about that one yet as I was going to do a caunter scheme on the Matilda.... I've got a couple of parts coming from ECA like headlights and some stuff from Armorpax so the project will slow down while waiting for parts. With the current changes I've made to the boxes and skirts, it more closely resembles a US version now. I think after doing some research, Minialand modeled theirs after a British or Aussie vehicle.

Tankme,
Good Afternoon! I might have an unaltered sprocket laying around for that Stuart. Another question, if you were paid for it, would you print a set of the tracks for the M5? My Stuart's running gear has been modded to not use the original tracks with the center guide teeth but rather a scale version of the real tracks. I currently have a set of the tracks from the static 1\6 Stuart on mine but they are too tight to allow easy running. Let me know if you are interested?
regards,
Painless

PainlessWolf wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 8:10 pm Tankme,
Good Afternoon! I might have an unaltered sprocket laying around for that Stuart. Another question, if you were paid for it, would you print a set of the tracks for the M5? My Stuart's running gear has been modded to not use the original tracks with the center guide teeth but rather a scale version of the real tracks. I currently have a set of the tracks from the static 1\6 Stuart on mine but they are too tight to allow easy running. Let me know if you are interested?
regards,
Painless

Painless, I will probably have some time this weekend to do a test fitting of the tracks on my M5. I'm just not sure if they fit the stock sprockets yet. I bought the M5 knowing the one sprocket was stripped. I bought it after I started printing the M3 so I knew that I was probably going to upgrade the M5 with some of the M3 parts like it's sprockets and install new more robust gearmotors using the M3 type mounts. The M3 sprockets have a metal spur gear embedded in them so they won't ever strip like the original M5 sprocket. It's metal on metal and not metal on plastic. The M3 tracks are heavier than the 21st Century M5 tracks, but I printed mine with a lot of infill. They could be lightened up with less infill.

So right now...it's a definite...maybe...

Good Evening,
Sounds Good. That is a Positive!
regards,
Painless