Tinmantis

1/6 R/C Mark IV Build

Hi guys
this is gonna be a huge thread, a photo story really, with lots of updates, so watch out!

I’m scratch building a 1/6(ish) WW1 british tank
if that isn’t difficult enough,
I have a budget of zero and very little time, sometimes only 10minutes a week
but it is my baby!

I’m a terrible craftsman, totally disorganized, and enthusiasm seems to cloud reality
I wanted to make this with no plans, no measurements, just by looking at old period photos of tanks, haha! mistake no.1

it all began xmas 2009…

I wanted one of these, and I want it radio controlled…
first one is a female MkIV under german service
second one is a male MkIV with a trench crossing ‘tadpole’ extension on the rear

 

what do I know about radio controlled tanks? nothing
so let’s start with the tracks…

old bike chains, with wood and rivets
wooden toy wheels and some plywood…

about 2 months in!
got to work right?

 

chain tracks, sprocket drive…
I made ‘slider things’ for the return tracks (as in the real ones) out of some old bamboo flooring

 

sponsons are coming along nicely
chop it up a bit, fingers crossed

will this work? will the tracks move?

 

wheels

 

It’s been a journey to say the least!

 

of course those chain-tracks SO didn’t work
but here comes my tensioning ideas…

 

yes, those tracks went in the trash
there was no way I could get them working with a toothed cog etc
so I moved on with a ‘friction drive’ idea, here, hopefully are the rear drive wheels mocked up…

 

the tracks were beginning to become an insane nightmare
anyone who’s tried to scratchbuild an RC tank, and scratchbuild the tracks, I feel your pain…

 measure all you want, it WILL go wrong

 

that’s a strip of treadmill track, aluminum sheet, hand bent, and a million brass nails

 

mitre the track plates etc

 

something’s wrong
I made about 60 track plates, and the real tanks have about 90
suddenly I’m in a world of quantum mechanics and regret

drastic measures
the WHOLE tank is the wrong shape/measurements

 

saw the whole thing up
start again

 

New tank!

 

new tracks are too short
noone knows what a total nightmare that means but me!

 

more tracks, another few months pass

 

totally new tank
but this time measured right, and 90 tracks!
I feel much better about this one now

 

more:

 

I’ll upload more pics tonight
not finished, but more pics!

 

track tensioner again:

I learned from the earlier sponsons(the side gun ‘boxes’) that the wood grain does not look like steel, so I’m going to clad the whole tank in thick plastic sheet (the drop ceiling from our old bathroom) viola: steel sheeting

 

so much bigger/better than the old ones

 gonna do it right this time
(we’re a year into it at this stage)

 

getting there

 

these pics are from this morning
one of the sponsons, with half the cladding on, none of the rivets as yet
it’s been over a year since I started to make those terrible chain-tracks, and the first version of the tank. In fact I made those tracks about 4 times!

 

next step is to finish ALL the cladding on the sides and sponsons
then attempt the ‘engine’
as much as I want to use a steam engine with remote control, I’m leaning towards two screwdriver motors, and chain drive
haha! let’s see. It’s winter again now, so things have had to move in from the garage. I’m hoping to at least have it clad(not pained) by spring?

I’m still in shock that you’re all not making fun of me
but I would push on regardless anyway!

I found some time, and thoughts went to rivets…
I’ve heard that finding the right size and quantity is very hard, and couldn’t believe my luck when I found these small packs of ‘wiggle eyes’. Perfect scale!
I also wanted a handful of ‘bolt heads’, which I roughly made from FIMO. I was surprised how cool they looked! I marked it out, and stuck them on. I tried as close as possible to get the right spacing etc.
Here’s a quick update

wiggle eyes

 

close up
nuts/bolts/round rivets

mini update
the dark side of the moon – the rear sponson hatches…
Almost impossible to find detailed ‘real’ reference of this area, but I’m quite pleased

MORE TO COME……………………………