RC Sherman

First-time poster here.

I received my Mato all metal Sherman a few days ago. Let me tell you, for me there is nothing like an all metal tank. This isn't a 'full-metal-upgrade' scam. It is all metal. It is heavy.

This is not a model, it is a small tank. Now I know you say; ha ha. But I am serious, it has so much personality, and there is nothing like feeling that cold metal when you touch it or the heft when you lift it. Now, our hobby is a big tent and I am not going to knock anyone's taste, but for my money, however nice a plastic tank is... however nice it is weathered, it doesn't do it for me like this tank does.

Now, they are temperamental in the sense that they are HEAVY and will kick out the tracks if they aren't dialed in just right, and/or till they are broken-in. And even though they are metal, they are delicate in the sense that the high-detail parts can be knocked off. One of my spare track holders was broken off in transit. (But Mato is cool and they are sending me a new one promptly.) The 360 turret rotation is fabulous. The recoil is pretty good but I wish the barrel wouldn't wobble a bit when it moves in and out. I will have to figure out a fix for that.

I already have installed the Benedini TBS mini, mated to the included Clark TK22 and wow what can I say, there is nothing like those revs when driving it around. And, the way it operates with higher but smooth revs when you turn; it really sounds like your working the clutch. Just fabulous. The speakers included are adequate, but I already have Visaton FRS7 on its way. I have already built the enclosure and will install in about a week. I also intend to build an acoustic smoker when I figure out how to work it with the Tk22 and Bendini.

Mine is unpainted as I want to color modulate the finish, although I don't want to over weather it. If money weren't an object, I would have two, one to keep unpainted and one to finish. The bare metal does have a real appeal.

One tip; do not run these all metal heavy tanks on berber carpet. It catches on the tracks and makes turning stressful with all the weight.

As far as pictures, for now there's nothing much to show yet as I am fixing up the innards first. When I get the new speakers in place, I will post shots of the tank, especially the inside. Stocking up now on Mig paints!

Love this tank!

clarkmodel

Don't forget to upgrade it with this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgPuU9469TE

RC Sherman

Whoa. Great stuff. Can you still have the 360 rotation on the turret with that recoil unit? If so, where can I get one? What else has to be modded for it to work? Thanks.

clarkmodel

Sure, it does not hinder turret rotation, I will product it after Chinese new year.

RC Sherman

Looking forward to it. Fantastic. Happy New Year!

RC Sherman

Can it plug directly into the TK-22?

welchgc

That sound is tech.

clarkmodel

Sure, it's designed for TK22, just plug two servo to servo recoil port and servo elevation port.

RC Sherman

Clark, is yours using the barrel that was included with the Mato M4, or did you make a new barrel.?

clarkmodel

Mato + Clark insert our barrel to Mato's, I will write instruction after Chinese new year. you can also see the latest update on our facebook.

sergeantseabass

Sherman,

Please keep posting everything you can abot the all metal Sherman. So far you are the only one that I have found that has bben talking about about any kind of review for it that didn't come from MAto itself.

Things that i would really like to hear your opion on are

The Track tensioners,

The ease/ difficulty of installing/using the Benedini

How the Clark board is fairing in a metal chassis

How the Brass gear boxes are holding up to the extra weight.

Basiclly everything that you can talk about on this tank.

YHR

The Clark/TBS is a strong team. The Clark has the ability to turn off the engine sounds, so it allows the Benedin to takeover this, and as far as I know nothing else sounds as good as a Benedini. The Clark cannon, turrut, MG, are excellent and second to none, but the phase shift engine sounds are not up to the Benedini Standards. Together though they are a Dynamite IR/Sound system. The Clark IR is the most versitle and adaptable system on the market.

I understand Clark is good at correcting problems if you should have any. I don't sell Clark units, but do compete against them, and from a Feature/Price point of view they are very tough to beat, especially if you are looking to buy a new ESC anyway.

RC Sherman

Be happy to post my experiences with the tank. Okay the track tensioners:

Very easy unit. I use a small wrench to loosen/tighten the very easily accessible nut. The idler wheel moves far enough for excellent adjustments.

The Bendini is so very easy to install. Directions come with mating it to the Tk22. The hardest part I had was determining the German color of the wires. (Brown is Ground.) Sounds are good, but as I said I want them the best, so I am starting off this week experimenting with a Visaton NRS7 8 Ohm. A buddy is getting the 4 Ohm, so I will try that too.

You need to "teach" the Benedini as per your revs. It is simply press of the button on the board then moving the stick to desired positions so the revs can modulate more realistically. It's all in the instructions and is a snap.

The only oddity I find with using the Benedini with the preinstalled Clark board is that when theTK22 Engine starts up, the rear lights on the tank go on. (If you want them to. There is also an internal switch to run with them off.) But when NOT using the Clark engine, and using only the BEnedini engine, the lights will not come on. I am sure there is a way to wire it so they will come on, but I am leaving that to a later time.

Clark in Metal Chasis? No problems at all so far.

Brass gears are looking fine, but I strongly suggest NOT running on a berber carpet. Too much stress o the tracks when turning. I did have a gear pull away (traveled sideways down the shaft dislodging form the gear above. No damage at all to the gears or shaft. It seems that a allen screw was loose and the gear went sideways. But hey, this is not a lightweight toy. I have been tweaking the tracks after every 5 minutes or so of running as they break in.

Tips so far: The little hubcaps that come off to expose the allen bolt that holds the drive sprockets onto the axle are ripe for the losing. They are press fit and a little joolt can dislodge them . I don't want to have to send to Hong Kong to buy them after losing them in the weeds. So I made a fix. I bought little tiny 3/16" magnets and glued one each onto the back of the cap, so the magnet grabs the head of the bolt. Solid, not coming loose now. A simple pry with a point dislodges them but I am confident they will not come off with use.

On the subject of the front Drive wheels, I noticed that the bolt was loosening with usage and one time did cause the track to come off. The fix? Tiny lock washers. I put two under the head of the bolt and they served tow purposes: It keeps the bolt firm without over tightening, and raises the head of the bolt more towards the little magnet that I placed under the cap. Win/win.

Another tip; if you need more room for a speaker upgrade (and you will) you can remove the battery as delivered (it is in two brackets on the floor towards the rear.) I put it on the left side of the top facing of the lower hull. The upper hull fits over it nicely. I also have done some wire management. (I'll posts pictures soon.)

I'll report back with speaker choices and more tips.

sergeantseabass

Great thanks for the reply. Those are some good tips. Are you using the stock radio that came with it or are you using one thta you already had around. I think that mato stated it was hobby grade but it didn't really look like it. Hard to tell sometimes just by a picture though. I look forward to hearing more about it and seeing some more pics.

RC Sherman

It is a decent radio. And maybe it is "Hobby Grade" because the commands required for this tank don't even utilize the two toggle switches. I don't know anything about it's programability yet. At some point I am going to utilize all of the power of the Bendini by mating it to either a three position switch (Mato one has a two pos) or a dial with a push button to access all the different sounds. Down the road a bit though.

RC Sherman

Well, first significant trouble; I mentioned that the tracks needed attention during break in. But I have been noticing that the one side was failing more than the other. Then I noticed that the rear-most rubber boagie wheel (on a two wheel A arm) was frozen. All the others spin just fine. this one; dead frozen. Just contacted Mato to get the part. But here is the real problem: I am very mechanically inclined and can NOT find a way to take off the suspension piece. It looks like the wheel and bearing is fit in, but there isn't a way to take it off that I can see. Very frustrating. Clark, if you have a clue on how to take off the suspension wheels I'd be grateful. Thanks.

Imex-Erik

Unfortunately Clark is just an electronics board manufacturer (so far ) so he might not be able to help with mechanical questions like that. The MATO rep is here on the forums somewhere, you might be best off to contact them direct and ask.

RC Sherman

Yes thanks. Clark is the only one I know that actually has the tank also, that's why I asked. I did contact Mato. Waiting for a reply. I just can't find any way of getting them off and there are no instructions on their website. They have instructions for the M4a1 (plastic version), but not the M4A3.

Real puzzler. I think that the entire A Arm wheel assembly is press fit into the lower hull. I see that they sell the parts and an entire assemble hull so i am sure there is some way of changing them. It just escapes me.

sergeantseabass

Looking at the pictures of the the road wheel assembly that they sell it looks like there is a secondary piece that comes with the road wheels. Possibly the mounting bracket that is used to attach the road A arm wheel assembly to the tank. If I'm looking at it right, it looks like the A arm assembly is attached to the hull from the back of the assembly. I think that it might just simply slide off, or slide up and on and lock. But like I said that is just from trying to look at some pictures on the mato mart page for the metal upgrade parts. I have no idea what it looks like on your tank. This is all just a guess and you probably already tried all of that. I hope you can figure it out.

YHR

You will have to remove the suspension from the tub. There should be a couple of screws you remove, and then pull on a retaining clip.( from the inside of the hull) The bogie can then be removed. Once removed you will have access to the backside of the suspension tower where there are screws that hold the bogies together. Remove the screws and pry apart the metal halves. Try to discover what is binding and polish or lube what you have to.

clarkmodel

Sorry, never have problem with it so don't know much about the structure, I think Mato will fix your problem.

RC Sherman

Well, Good news/bad news. I was able to free the the A-arm. Thanks Dan for your tips. Unfortunately the setup in the M4 was a little more complicated and I think unnecessarily primitive. It is press fit in then a bendable clamp secures it from the inside. I think some CA glue is also added. Whey there isn't a screwed clamp is a mystery. Anyway the bad news part is while trying to push and pull the arm free The outer part cracked off the base. After that happened I just punched out the remainder from the hull.

So all that is left is for Mato to reply and get me the entire A arm unit. Ahhh hobbies.

YHR

Hmmm. Bummer. That clamp you mentioned used to have screw holes and was fastened down with screws. Weird that they did not carry forward the idea to the metal tank.

RC Sherman

Yeah the clip is merely placed over the inserted (into the hull) shank and actually wedged onto it. There is evidence of CA glue on the face plate.

Good news is I installed a Visaton FRS7 8 ohm in a nice enclosure and fit it into the rear by the engine screens. Sounds really good. Makes the sound cards shine. The key is a good enclosure. Really took some engineering to fit it all into that tight space. I think I will definitely have room for the proportional sound-smoker. I'll be using the Aurasound 1 inch speaker to drive it. I left room on the sides of the rear-fifing main speaker enclosure to run the exhaust hosing. The actual exhausts behind the rear screen are already drilled out.

Still waiting to hear from Mato for the replacement a arm. Hope to hear by tomorrow.

clarkmodel

How do you fit Visaton FRS7 8 ohm, could you show us some picture?