tomhugill

I recently snaffled an r/c model of the Sterling T26 proto-type US Army tank transporter scratch built from aluminum and plastic.


The first axle and the rear 2 axles are driven through gear boxes made by myself using meccano gears (the wide ones) and miniature bearings.


The front 2 axles steer together like a turn table. the motor and gear box is from the Como range. Drive axle and suspension is from Tamiya truck range. Tyres are from Lego. So if anything goes bang all items are easily replaceable.


Chassis and trailer are made from aluminum. The cab is made from plastic. The ramps on the trailer are powered up and down by a motor under the trailer.


Hopefully get a video soon!

ChuckATruck

We are gonna need to see that in action.
Looks great

CaptainB

Very Impressive - well done old chap.............love to see the video.........

CaptB

TheBennyB

Looks awesome, looking forward to the vid.

Panther F

THAT'S a real beauty there... and a lot of work has gone into it.

NICE!

Crius

I'll say it again, Tom, "Where does he get those wonderful toys?" (in my best Jack Nicholson voice).

That is one seriously awesome piece of kit. With that turntable steering I really hope you'll get us some videos! Maybe that redheaded guy can help?

And thanks for the support, Bro. You know what I mean.

tomhugill

Any time matey! This bad boy was on eBay, I'm surprised I won it, but very pleased! Does mean I'll have to pull my finger out and get some US armour completed.

Hopefully a video will follow tomorrow when I collect her.

Crius

I just finished that cool Abrams so you could always just send it to me instead of going to all that trouble of making your own US armor. I know how busy you are with all those projects so I'd be happy to help you out, Bro. Or should I say Matey?

And here's another example of two great nations separated by a common language - when I hit "reply with quote" my computer underlines "armour" for spelling error. I wonder if it will do that for "colour"? Nope, it looks like it recognizes that one.

Cruiser133

Tom is like the RC Tank whisperer. I have no idea how he does it.

Crius

You know, after seeing some of the excellently realistic tanks Tom has done I thought we might nick-name him "The Weatherman". I've never seen anyone consistently get it just right the way Tom does. Not too much, Not too little, Just right.

tomhugill

You're too kind Gary! I can't even put this one down to some wheeler dealing, just a straight up Ebay auction!


Anyway I digress, I picked her up today, what a piece of model engineering, aside from the cab she's mostly alloy,, details ace, and despite my ham fisted attempts in the video she drives welll. I need to replace the diode and maybe limit switch on the ramps as they're slow in one direction but nothing big. The best part was the seller had the out of print bible for the t-26 signed by the author him self.


So some more pics and the promised video:





























And the book:





The video:

https://youtu.be/o10BzaS3y38

TheBennyB

Too cool! I'd chop that tralier in half and extend the rails a bit so you can get something longer than a Sherman/PzIII on there. Guesss it wouldn't be historically accurate, but more functional. Though my perspective could just be off as well on the trailer.

tomhugill

Hey Benny, that trailer was designed for larger tanks so you easily get a Pershing on there. I'll try and get some pictures with my various tanks.

Crius

Hey Tom, I've still got this Abrams so you can feel free to send me the truck to get a check on the fit of modern tanks.

Seriously, though, that was a great find. Do you battle with a club, and if so, do you think you could use it to recover fallen comrades during a battle? That would be too cool.

I really love the way the fenders move when the ramps go down. That's one hell of a nice touch. If you ever get some outdoor videos I'd really enjoy seeing you put that beauty thru her paces.

TheBennyB

NO worries, was just an observation. Know you guys have alot of Leo's and such around and was thinking how'd to make it work. Some real tinkering involved with the ramps and wheel wells at the same time. Got my head scratch'n in a good way!

Airbrushler

Very Cool looking Machine

tomhugill

I think a Leo might be a struggle, even more so a challenger 2! If you're interested I'll get some shots of the mechanism, it's surprisingly simple but seems very effective, just need to figure out why it's slower in one direction, but I think it's the wiring.

@Crius, yeah I'm in one of the uk clubs and we do IR battling, that's a great idea could use it to round up the dead tanks in our battles. We do a couple of shows each year and I think with the dragon wago in the club we could do a little display!

Crius

I remember seeing a video of a Tiger that threw a track and the truck came out and the Tiger limped up onto the trailer and then the truck drove off. I thought that was one of the coolest videos I've seen in this hobby, and it's stuck with me ever since. Now I'm trying to figure out how one could attach a cable to drag a tank onto the trailer by remote. Interesting problem, and I may never figger it out, but it would be oh so cool, eh? Maybe some kind of arm to extend with a hook? Much more thought needed on that one.

TheBennyB

You'd have to get the tank into "neutral" as well Gary so the track would roll. You can easily throw a crawler winch on a trailer though.

http://store.rc4wd.com/RC4WD-110-War...ch_p_3734.html

Crius

I hadn't thought about the neutral part, Bret. I think the hardest part would be getting the cable attached by remote, eh? I have a Tiger with brass gears and it actually rolls fairly easily when it's completely shut down, so maybe that's why the hippie brain didn't think about the resistance.

tomhugill

I think working winches could be done, there are two on the semi truck. With suitable gearing I think you could drag a tank up.

In other news I've had some tanks up in the trailer, I even managed to get the tiger p on there!

































i gave her a run out in the park, she seems to manage off road nicely, even the scrubby grass and quite a steep hill.

https://youtu.be/enqvgG5pq74

Gary promise I'll get one with a tank rolling on and off.

Crius

That's a very cool video. She handles the grass pretty well for most of it. A little wet in that one spot, maybe? Have you thought about sound? I wonder if one of those das mikro things would work. I think they come with just Ford truck sounds, but better than nothing, and I think you can change the sounds in one.