RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Good Morning From Alabama USA.

I am an FRC Robotics Coach in Alabama. My team competes against other high school students from around the world in themed robotics competitions. Our high school students get the competition guidelines in January and we have approximately 8 weeks to build, program, and practice with our bot before competition. We have been kicking around a show piece for our program. Something that we can take out to special events. Since we are located about 20 miles from Redstone Arsenal here in Alabama we have been thinking of ways to incorporate some of the Army hardware into our show piece. My wife had the honor of working on the hellfire platform for 17 years and we know that the Army mounts hellfire rails to strykers. That being said we are searching for a company that would be able to make a body that is large enough to fit our show piece. Under mount part of the robot would be about 48"/122cm x 32.5in/82.55 cm. Upon completion we hope to have a US military looking stryker that will have hellfire painted tubes that will launch t-shirts to crowds at various events around our area.

Here is a round of competition from last year. ( https://youtu.be/0mnW-WjjzOI?si=FqyJCJFnD8MNJzyX)

I joined the group because I genuinely hope that some of you folks might point us in a direction of some companies we could talk to about our project to see what the body will cost. We have been given estimates from local fab shops for fiberglass in the 3-5K range just for the body. I was hoping that if some of the shops that currently make RC bodies already had the models that a body might be able to be done for a more reasonable price given we are a HS program that has to fundraise to compete.

Any info you can provide would be great. I will cross post this information in another area that may be more suitable than just the intro area.

Jayson England
Mech Tech 3959

I suppose that cover the Intro too!

That's about 1/6 scale, so that price is likely not far off what you'd expect to pay in the event there was a 1/6 kit out there. If you CAD it all up onto a frame can you print it in parts?

When you say print it up, are you talking about 3d printing it or something else. I am not sure how fiberglass would hold up with HS students moving it around all the time. Not to mention driving it. I am asking here because this is the biggest undertaking I have done.

I put an extra blurb in the intro section as well.

Fiberglass is used for car bodies and boat hulls. It will hold up very well. It'll be heavy though, depending on strengthening system and thickness.

Google 3d printing car bodies. There's a guy printing a Jaguar D-Type replica body for his Mazda Miata chassis that looks great and will be fully functional. Crazy!

Mike.

Yes, 3d printing. Fibre glass is good stuff but needs a mould/form and isn't nice to handle. If you design it right (ie in sections) it'll either stand up to high school driving or you can print a new part. Axles etc will need machining, but I assume you've got a craft teacher to hand?

Welcome to the forum. There really isn't much in the way of Strykers even in the smaller RC scales. Bespoke builds will be expensive and custom. There is a Stryker in 1/16 that can be printed, but scaling it up that big would be very problematic as it's designed around 1/16 scale tank parts for driveline components. I think Hooben makes one in 1/10, but who know if you would ever receive it. Both options sound way too small for what you are looking for.

there is a 3D printable stryker in 1/16, but you can upscale it to your size necessary https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/m1128-stryker
maybe it can be a start for your project

Hmmmm, so the wheelbase will be around 4' x 3'? I'd get somebody to print the cults3d file Jee linked above so you have a scale model to base your scaled-up vehicle on. The Stryker is pretty angular, and would not be that difficult to make a reasonable facsimile of with light Baltic plywood and Coroplast sheets. You can source 4x8' sheets of coroplast at a sign shop. Add surface details with actual boltheads and screws, containers, etc., and I'd think you would have a Stryker-ish looking vehicle. If your school has a woodshop they'd be able to handle it easily. If you need added strength, sheath the plywood or coro with fiberglass matt. A cool project for sure.

Brings back memories of building a 14' long Loch Ness monster superstructure for a 14' jonboat powered by an electric trolling motor to use in a historical drama...

Good luck!

Mike.