Old MSgt

YEAH! Bought me one of them 21st Century 1/6 R/C Stuart tanks that's in practically brand new condition off ebay. Heck, I'd watched it for four days and nobody had bought it SO I begged my little sweetie for some mone... ANYWAY, I bought it!

Got it today (two days later!), unboxed it, plugged the battery in and drove it around. Works pretty good BUT it's speed is only 'GO' or 'STOP'. Very jerky but if the speed could be managed it'd be fun and look good! I ain't taken it apart yet so I can paint and do a little detail work but has anybody heard what ya have to do to get speed control?

I initially wondered if one of my old Novak and other speed controllers would work but I looked'em up and they're for lower voltage and this is 12 volt. And thought about the Tamiya DMD (cause I have one extra) but don't think it'd handle 12v and don't want to fry it.

I've thought about going with a Sabertooth 2X10 if I can't figure out anything else cause I LIKE Sabertooths' and that's what I run in my other tanks.

With some paint, detail, 1/6 figures, and some speed control this would be a decent running tank (for the $312 I paid for it (and that includes shipping!)). I need something to 'wrench on' and I saw this Stuart and now that I've ran it, except for the speed, it's a HOOT!.

Let me know if you've heard anything about this cause I'm ignernant. THANKS!

Mike in Kentucky

Max-U52

I'm pretty sure an IBU2 will handle 12 volts.

wright 971

Hi The IBU will take 12 volts but the 600 motors will kill it(max 20 amps)I have a 1/12 scale centurion running 540 motors at 12 volts set at 20 amps with the IBU. Have seen people use Tamiya DMD and Mf units in the Stuart (should take 12 volts)If you are going to use Sabretooth ESC I would go for a higher one say 25 amp or bigger.

It costs a lot going up in scale you have to use bigger stuff .

regards pete

regards pete

Old MSgt

Thanks for the advice! I was trying to find out info on the IBU2 but couldn't find the 'Info For Idiots' section and that's what I'D NEED. Remember I don't know ANYTHING about electronics. Mechanical, yes. Electric stuff, DEFINATELY no.

I'm kinda afraid to try my Tamiya DMD cause I'd probably fry it and they're expensive. I think I'll get a Sabertooth cause that's what I'm running in my other larger tanks. I'll just hook'em up like the others and it ought to work... I hope...

Well, I finally figured out how to take this Stuart apart and am going to paint it and make some wire handles (cause the ones on it are too thick) and so some other 'little' things.

The plastic tracks seem pretty 'beefy' and ought to last a long time. As you know the road wheels, return rollers, and sprockets are plastic but seem sturdy. LOTS of room inside the hull.

I figure I'll get this running so I can just have some fun speeding it around. Also I think that, since these 21st Century Stuarts have such a large following that they'll be somebody that will start making cast sprocket, road wheels, gear boxes, and stuff like that soon.

Thanks for the info Max-U52 and Pete! Mike (PS: And DON'T you all think I'm going to the 1/6 'Dark Side' cause I still run my Tamiyas' a LOT more than than anything else! It's ALL FUN!)

afv aficionado

Hi
This might be of interest? - http://eastcoastarmory.com/m5.htm -

Mal

Old MSgt

Thanks Mal! I'm definitely going to be ordering some detail parts from ECA. I not too good at detailing a tank but I'm going to try to make it look a little more 'real'.

I KNOW you all have seen these 21st Century tanks but here's what they look like inside because I sure didn't know til I started taking it apart. The gearboxes are large and were DRY of lube. All the roadwheels too so I'll lightly grease'em up when I put'em together. When I was driving it around the suspension worked pretty realistically but the rear return bogies have heavier springs so they are STIFF.

I figure this Stuart will give me something to work on this summer and at the price figure that I can't go too wrong. I've looked at wonderfully detailed Stuarts on youtube and that's what made me think about getting one. What the heck! Worst I can do is have another static Stuart up on the shelf! I've had a static one of these for almost 15 years and now I can swap some of the parts off it if I need'em!

Here's some pics of the inside.

Mike

YHR

On these bigger tanks I would look at using a sabretooth controller for powering the motors. An RX18 with a BARC could supply you all the turret functions and supply you with sound,( one advantage of the BARC is it can be used with any ESC),

You could use any electronics actually and just parallel the servo esc controls to the Sabretooth ESC, and plug the motor into the sabre tooth instead of the other board.


So really it will come down to cost and sound quality as to which it the best way to go for you. Just be aware that as soon as you use do this then the IR battle damage will not function, as the electronics have no way of interfacing between the Sabre tooth and the ESC.

Clark is supposed to be coming out with the TK 60 which can handle 60 amps I believe, but as with all things the time between an announcement and actual delivery to market can be months if not years.

Clark is optimistic he will have the out before Christmas.

Cheers

Old MSgt

Thanks Dan. I think I understand some of what you're explaining... I'd use the Sabertooth JUST for the drive motors which is all the Sabertooth does anyway, then leave all the other electrics as they are. But what would I do about radios? This tank came with it's own radio and I know Sabertooth ESCs take commands from the radio receiver. I guess maybe if I knew which wires that came from the stock receiver, then hook them up to the input of the Sabertooth that sends electric to the motors...

I wish this instruction book came with a diagram of what goes in and comes out of these two mounted boards but it don't. Things would be a lot less complicated.

There's no sites or youtubes (that I know of) that tells HOW to wire these tanks up. There are LOTS of videos of Stuarts driving around with sound, speed control, and turret function but no info on how to do it.

Mike

TheBennyB

Willy used to run his with dmd's. Could probably look around his site for some pics.

sassgrunt

My Feedback: (1)

Hey Mike. I don't know a whole lot about these things, but I'm in the same boat as you regarding electrical things. Along with East Coast Armory, you can also look at Armorpax in UK for white metal parts, and also Panzerwerk sells replacement wheels for a more late-war look. Tracks that look more scale-like in appearance are hard to find. There was a man named Jack Yang who made some really nice ones several years ago, but no longer does. If your static M5 is one of the ones that was made that way, you can swap the tracks and wheels to your RC one, so that you don't have a groove running down the middle of each wheel. Here is a link to someone who switched out the ESC's for robot speed controllers, but that's probably too complicated for me to follow: http://www.savagecircuits.com/conten...R-C-Conversion I have heard that you can use the Tamiya DMD and MF units in these (I have not tried it yet), but run a 7.2 volt battery with it so you don't fry the electronics. I believe that the 12v motors will still operate with this setup; just that they will run more slowly. The only other thing I know about these tanks is that the back of the sprocket has a tendency to split, and can be remedied by screwing a small hose clamp around it to beef it up. -Mike in Hawaii

Old MSgt

Thanks BennyB and Mike! I'm taking it apart right now and that's pretty easy because all the handles, lifting lugs, rear tool plate, MG, about EVERYTHING is screwed on. The lugs and handles are too thick anyway so it'll be easy to glue (JB Weld) in new ones.

My other tanks have two Sabertooth ESCs; one 2x25 for the motors and one 2x10 for the turret and elevation. IF I can't figure out how to make the stock electric boards work (and I DO like the stock sounds) then later I'll just have to either keep stock and later get a Sabertooth. The other tanks are pretty heavy, not anywhere close to the 20 pounds this one weighs.

It's FUN to assemble a tank but I'm used to just plugging in all the electrics and GO.

Thanks! Mike

wright 971

Hi You could use the sabretooth to drive the tank ,then wire the dmd/mf with splitters (y connector's) so you have the sounds and gun flash ,save you buying a sound card.

regards pete

MAUS45

Hi Mike, you may be able to use this as a guide. It is an electronics diagram, for a 1/6 Tiger or Tiger II, I found on the internet years ago to use for my 1/8 Tiger II. You would drop the multifunction decoder. The v-mix, turret rotation & barrel elevation switchers, and the speed controllers as two sabretooth ESC’s would take their place to control the drive motors and the turret rotation and barrel elevation. The Tamiya DMD and MF units would be connected via the "Y" connectors to the sabretooth ESC's and the radio receiver to function as sound and control. They would be connected to their own 7.2 volt battery while the sabretooth ESC's would use the 12 volt battery to power the drive motors.

Hope this helps, Rudy

Old MSgt

Thanks Pete and Thanks Rudy! I think I realize what you're saying. I'll study the schematic some more. But...

ME trying to do this is like getting a chimpanzee to wire an F15 Fighter. But my brother (who was an F15 electrician in the military and is now a high electrician in the union) to look at it. HE can probably figure it out cause he's got a 'EEELECTRONIC BRANE'!

Thanks Everybody! Mike

P.S.: AND I was just out in the garage looking at the motors and can't see any writing on'em. BUT the drive battery is: 12 volt 7 amps. I was looking at the Sabertooth site and I kind of like that 2X12RC controller. And I could get one of the 2x5 ones for turret (there's not any elevation unless I'd hook a servo to it and that's an idea!) I won't use the sound I guess because it does sound a 'little' rough (about like my wifes' mini mule Coco passing gas). Awww, I got lots of time to think about it.

bhop73

I'll be watching this. I have a Stuart that's been collecting dust for years.

MAUS45

Hey Mike, I will try and redo the schematic and delete the parts you do not need. It looks a little busy because it uses switchers and extra ESC's you do not need. That’s not a bad idea using just a 2X12RC and a 2X5RC to run it, $125 to be able to run it with a hobby grade Radio and have proportional speed.

Old MSgt

Yeah Rudy, when I did the R/C Armory KT I got my brother to wire it and then when I did the T1 I used the same kinds of ESCs. My brother was working so I just looked inside the KT and wired T1. Sabertooth 2x25s for the drive motors and 2/10s for the turret/elevation and they work great. So I figure for a twenty pound Stuart, a 2x12 and a 2x5 ought to be enough. The 2x5 does two small motors so, after turret rotation, I COULD put a servo to move the barrel up and down.

This is going to be a very 'simple' detail job on this Stuart. Heck, the holes are already there (after I unscrewed those THICK plastic handles, lugs, etc.) so I'll just bend some brass wire and JB Weld or Milliput'em in. Add a few welds, a decent flat, light OD paint job, then a little weathering and it'll look a lot better driving around my driveway.

And what little I drove it around I liked the looks of the suspension working so good. Except for the rear idlers cause they didn't move any from what I could tell because of their STIFFER springs (and no lube anywhere). The gearboxes were a little loud but I'll grease'em up to. Hope that helps.

I've already cut off the MG shield on the turret and am going to get rid of the side skirts soon. I noticed that the side skirts edges were a little above the hull edge so I'm going to turn it over, mark with a pencil, then cut'em. Then I can file off flush the tops of the skirts remaining.

I'm going to do what I can, as CHEAP as I can cause I ain't got no money and getting the ESCs will be another "Sweetie Pie Honey Bun (kiss, kiss, GROPE...) can I get a couple of tiny really cheap things for this cute little tank?..."

And I have a few 1/6 figures up on the shelf just standing around loafing, doing nothing right now... wonder if any of'em could be talked in to joining a TANK CREW?

WISH ME LUCK!!!!! Mike

MAUS45

Mike, here is a simplified version of the first schematic. You could drop the Tamiya DMD stuff and just run everything off the Sabretooth ESC's. Sound would be cool though. May the Force be with you!!!

redskyhawk

I have been running the motors on mine several years now on a Sabertooth 2x12 R/C. I picked up a cheap Orange receiver to control it and bound it to my Spektrum transmitter, The tank is a joy to drive, For turret traverse I just used a standard servo tugging on a SPDT toggle switch, its what I had handy and it works fine. I don't miss the sound card, the tank makes plenty of noise as it is.

Old MSgt

Thanks Rudy for the betterer wiring diagram. I could follow those colored lines around with the tip of my banana a lot easier! I'll use it when I go to wire it!

And Joe's right! This Stuart was FUN to drive around! And I REALLY like the servo/switch advice cause, remember, I'm doing this project on a BUDGET! THANKS JOE!

Mike in Kentucky