takevin

good point, Dave will have to offset it by putting on another one on the other side

Rex Ross

That battery pack idea is brilliant! I have considered putting batteries in a trailer before, but never thought of the way you solved that problem...............

CountChocula

Buckeye, I haven't tried it in battle yet, but it will get it's chance tomorrow at our DAK battleday.

Yeah Airbrusher, it does look like the Flintstone's car ready to tip, but the battery is so light and the HT heavier than you think.

Thanks Rex, I think it will work out perfectly... unless I shear all the stuff off against a building or trees! I really didn't have another choice given the size of the vehicle (roughly 10" in length, 4.5" wide and 5" tall at the turret)

Dave

bullyhys

I do have a question, and with no disrespect to your fine project, my question is how are you and your club

battling with your ht as it has a 20mm cannon?

What vehicles is it allowed to engage?

You have a really fine project there and i look forward to being to see it in person at some point in the near furture..


Regards,

bullyhys

Panther F

I really like this project and wish I had the energy to get one running too. It would have to be a fighting vehicle and not just a driver either, so what to do about up-gunning it? Maybe an 'open' flak gun unit?



~ Jeff

CountChocula

Bullyhys,

Good question. Technically, I'd most likely be running around the field as cannon fodder (and sometimes that is indeed how it goes), but in our club, I battle it as a light vehicle and leave it at that. If the idea of a 20mm cannon taking on shermans or even Tigers (as I played on the allies side sometimes in order to help balance the teams) ever came into question, then that would open the door for other "unrealistic" things such as movement (most tanks on the field can outrun my HT as it is) etc.

So it's all in good fun. As you can see from the pic, it's not quite finished. I'm going to paint over the hinges on the green duffle bag, tone it down here and there along with some additional paint/weathering.

I'm proud to say I battled in 5 or 6 battles straight and the battery never did die. The HT has been solid mechanically as well so I'm very pleased.

Thx all,

Dave

edoubleaz

My Feedback: (1)

Dave's SDKFZ 250 fights as a light and is an impressive vehicle. In reality, any Auto cannon will wreck havoc on armored vehicle so the plausibility is there for it to fight as an AFV. DAK allows a bit of leeway on combatants as if anyone wants to spend $500 dollars on a combat vehicle, we won't argue too much. Every so often we have to reign in the insanity....... but Dave gets a pass this time around.

Ethan

DAK CO

Panther F

Well, I'm impressed with the project. I'd love to just RC the halftrack into a fighting vehicle.


~ Jeff

Rex Ross

~~~~~~~~~

If I'm not mistaken..............that 250 looks like it's equipped with that experimental 20 mm cannon that fires a nuclear sabot round. I know a guy who says he tested it at Area 51 after the war.

Green Amphibian

Hay Rex, Ya I know that guy too. Didn't much care for the green skin though.

CountChocula

Panther F,

I think you could put a fighting HT on the field without too much effort really. I had no clue what I was getting into when I started this project, but in hind sight, I don't think it was all too tough to do looking back. I had more frustration with the front end suspension/steering then the back half! But simply taking the steering knuckles off a cheap RC car did the trick for me and was much easier to integrate then my previous failed two attempts by building it all myself. It was a little more work as well because I chose a 250 over the stock 251.

So if you built/bashed a 251 HT, it would be much simpler indeed. I'm considering the 251/9 the 75mm L/24 howitzer version. The work should be much less since there's no cutting off of the rear 3rd of the HT. There would be more room inside as well (although still tight) for a recoil/elevation of a cannon. The work would boil down to the front steering and modifying the sprocket to use the PzIII tracks. After that, it's whatever type of gun HT you're wanting to go with.

Dave

CountChocula

...and of course, mounting the gearbox... which ever type you choose to use.

CaptainB

Hi,

Great build idea but I have a question.

How does this thing steer? does it need a differential of some sort or just drag the tracks round?

Cheers

CaptB

Panther F

Thanks for the vote of confidence because this is going to happen. I sat and stewed about it last night (planing out what I need) and I want "something" like this. I would even entertain putting tracks on a truck instead of a driven straight axle and put a massive flak gun in the open bed.

So, to pick your brain ... would it be simpler to go with a standard straight axle gearbox (single motor) and weigh down the front end for the steering to be more effective? This would eliminate the need for a dual gearbox set-up and keep it from neutral steering from the rear. I have some Academy motorized set-ups and really don't want to spend money on a 1/18 RC PIV.

Whatcha think?


~ Jeff

CountChocula

Panther & Captain,

I'm using a small dual motor gearbox so I can control each track independently. My first pass at this was to simply have the front wheels steer the thing. I thought it would possibly work because the track length was shorten (ala 250 vs. 251) and thought the wheels could pull it around ok. Well... after a few test runs in real dirt (works "ok" on carpet) I noticed that the wheels were slipping and being pushed through the dirt (also hard on the steering arms) and the turn radius was way to large. One of the reasons for this is most of the weight is in the rear (electronics, turret, etc.) I had my AAA batteries up front, but it still wasn't enough weight to make it bite in the front.

So I recommend the tracks to assist. To do this, you can simply hook up a Y-harness to the steer servo and ch1 coming off the DMD (I believe, I'll have to check that when I get home). It works great as you apply more left/right, the tracks engage to assist. In all reality, the front wheels are more for "show" than anything as the tracks whip it around on a dime if need be.

I think a straight single motor/single axle can work, but you might not like how it steers. I'm not sure you want to add that much weight to the nose. I laid a stick pack across the hood just to test it and again, on carpet, not to bad as it bites. On dirt/pebbles/etc., it certainly makes a wider arc. In the heat (and panic!) of battle, sharp turns can be the difference between life and death!

Dave

Panther F

Thanks for the reply.

I'll experiment with the caster and camber, then make sure it isn't toed-out to get a good idea on the front wheels steering the thing. I know what you mean by the thing wanting to push or under-steer through loose ground.

But, I may just install some tracks on a truck and have it pull around the Nebelwerfer if unsuccessful.

Thanks again!


~ Jeff

bullyhys

Hi Dave,

The way I got past the steering issues on my 251 was to use the Ail/Rud mix function on my transmitter,

The only change made was to connect the track steering function to the rudder chan, and the front wheels to the ail channel.

and because I have a 7ch radio this was not an issue.

my 251 setup works very well and behaves like the real vehicle.

Regards

Merle

CountChocula

Well, after 3 years of battling on the rigorous DAK battlefield, something finally let loose in the gearbox! I also noticed that the front wheels were wobbling a little too much for my liking. So I decided to drop/replace the gearbox and fix the front wheels once and for all. I thought this would also turn into a long term maintenance project but things just fell into place quite nicely actually. Here are a few pics of the gearbox being pulled along with the front wheels. There was so much dirt caked underneath that she really did have a nicely weathered under carriage. Anyhow, I replaced the gearbox with a Tamiya twin motor one which is weaker with smaller motors, but tests show it seems to move quite nicely.

Dave

CountChocula

On more...

Airbrushler

i'm sure it will be as good as new when you are done not too many of these around you have to keep it going , looks great