Fsttanks

It was the Abrams turn on the basic ditch and bomb crater course today.

A little background on this Abrams. It started life as the most basic of the Heng Long Abrams version which I bought for $115. In short order it had some moderate upgrades. The gearbox is now a Heng Long steel gear (not zinc) "3:1" L/M configuration (not H/L) with red Heng Long motors powered by a 8.4v 5000 NiMh bat. and the "radio/receiver" is stock. The track is from DKLM and is dual (inside and outside) rubber padded, the metal sprocket is also from DKLM. The suspension is a "hybrid" of the stock plastic that has been strengthen with the addition of metal external "C" sleeves and the spring rates set to the stiffer factory option position. The plastic road wheels have rubber sealed "dust boots" on them to help reduce wear cause by dust and dirt getting between the axels and wheel (if you what to learn more about this mod please ask). The forward hull and idler wheel mount have been strengthened to better withstand hard impacts and stress. Lastly the tank has some added weights to provide a better weight balance front to rear, currently it sits at ~ 60/40 back to front.

On the course with the Abrams I took a different approach. I know the Abrams would have no issues if I just used burt power and speed (which I did later in the testing). So I went with the slower, crawling over, throw, into and out of the ditches and crater, using power to give a "bump" (off roading term used by Jeepers and rock crawlers) were a little momentum was necessary approach. The Abrams showed it had little troubled getting into trouble as its short comings became apparent quickly. The biggest issue the Abrams has is its LONG hull nose the sticks out past the track. The nose likes to dig into the sides of the ditches during downward (and upward) approaches and will stop the tank died in its tracks causing the need to back out of the ditch or to attack the ditch from something close to a 45deg angle vs say head on. Not an issues if the terrain permits, but could be an issue if it does not while engaged in IR/BB combat. The other issues are the turret size and low ground clearance. When turned to one side or the other for whatever reason be it to clear the barrel from hitting the ground or to engage a target the rear basket sticks out rather far and can be easily dragged or forcibly turned by contact with the ditch or mound "walls". So if you have cool looking "kit" hanging off of the rear portion of the turret basket be ready to possible lose it. Ground clearance is not great and "high centering" was common. Resulting in the need for either backing up and changing angles or the application of brute power. I tended to choose brute power.

On the plus side the Abrams was a natural at slow crawling through the course only really getting delayed (needing no physical assistance by me to recover) for the afore mentioned nose issue and throwing a track due to some body flexing (my bad I only had the 2 front and 2 back screws in, not the 4 additional center screws). Since it did well taking it slow, the time came to see just how it would power through the course and give the "hybrid" suspension arms a hard workout. As expected it was a hoot watching the Abrams get "air" and then come crashing down hard and just shacking it all off as nothing happened. The Abrams "hybrid" control arms performed well with no breakages and the Abrams demonstrated it could maneuver at slow speeds just as well as at high speed. Would I choose the Abrams for IR/BB combat GIVEN SIMILAR TERRAIN?... Sadly NO! The "long hull nose" issue puts the Abrams at a maneuvering disadvantage when compared to the Challenger 2 and T90 tested prior. The extra time needed to back out or adjust approach angles to ditches increasing the possibility of getting stuck and in the process leaves one distracted with driving, thus more exposed.

Below are some photos of the Abrams on the ditch and bomb crater course.

As always feel free to add any constructive input.







Above ^^^^^ When all else fails jump the ditch!


Lossing a track while backing out due to body flexing. Look closely at the photo above as the side skirt can be seen flexing.

Pcomm1.v2

Awesome!

Fsttanks

Here are some more photos taken during the high speed and hybrid suspension testing. They will most likely drive the slow is better WWII fans crazy. This tank is running at a scale top speed of 45mph which is achievable real world speeds for modern tanks.


High speed run and trying to get "air" and land hard to test "hybrid" suspension arms.


About to get "air"


Power on tap + grip = Launching up and out of a ditch!



Teaser. This is a highly modified Heng Long Abrams that will be tested during the next evaluation of the test course. Seen here getting "air" after driving over a shovel handle at near speed.

Pcomm1.v2

Great stuff, no one else is doing this. Your a little crazed, but FUN, love it! I have seen Army Abrams go airborne and fire and score at the range. Amazing stuff, waiting for your IR firing airborne demonstration. And great rc models too!

John

armornut

Cool stuff man! Really the only reason I've been toying with the idea of a Leo was to get those scale speeds that are fast.

tankme

Did you make the dufflebags in the turret basket or purchase them?

Fsttanks

Half I made the other half were purchased 13 years ago from "Build A Rama" for the 1/18 scale 21st Century toy line. I had them on a packed away display tank and decided it was time to get more use out of them. Unfortunately they are no longer sold, but they are reasonably easy to reproduce from scratch.

Fsttanks

Scale speeds are easily achieved with some simple low cost "off the self" upgrades. I achieve it with "3:1" gearboxes, "red" Heng Long motors and the special ingredient an 8.4v battery pack. The Heng Long electronics can easily handle 8.4v batteries (they are rated to just over 10 volts but get really hot anything above 9 volts) and the red motors really come alive with the extra volt or so. I have been running this combination for almost 9 months in all my HL tanks with no ill effects.

You have to watch your overall weight. Quality metal/rubber pad tracks, metal idler and sprocket will not really cost you noticeable top end speed, but metal road wheels and control arms on top of them start adding a lot of weight and you will see a sight drop off in speed. Though you will gain a much smoother running tank that soaks up the terrain and does not bounce around like a toy. This smoothness work to make the tank look much faster and drive smoother. In my side by side testing using two identically set up (upgraded motors, gearboxes and same batteries) Abrams the only difference being one had plastic track and the other metal/rubber tracks. The plastic Abrams was faster over a 100 yard flat concert surface and repeatedly beat the metal/rubber track Abrams by two tank lengths. The results was the same when I switch the tracks between both tanks. The one with the metal/rubber track aways lost. That said it all changed when running them side by side over uneven terrain. The metal tracked Abrams being heavier by 2lbs and with more grip had greater controllability and resists being bounced around by small rocks or sticks. Whereas the plastic track did not and needed continues corrective inputs. These corrective inputs cause the tank have to cover more ground and thus negate any slight speed advantages. Needless to say off road on uneven loose surfaces the metal/rubber tracked Abrams proved overall faster. Sorry kinda long winded....

The Abrams used in this thread actually has two sets of track. One metal/rubber and the factory plastic. With the plastic I can get higher scale speeds as I mentioned above somewhere in the 50mph range, but loss a far amount of smoothness elsewhere. The fun part for you will be playing around with what works for you based on where you intend to drive your tank.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing you Leopard 2 photos and build up thread soon.

Fsttanks

Thank you. Trust me if these were $1000+ Tamiya Abrams, Type 10 or Leopard 2 tanks I would not be doing crazy things with them, but being low cost Heng Long tanks that are super simple to work on with relatively inexpensive easy to come by spare parts and upgrade, why not push them and have some fun. To date and prior to these fun yet simple "write ups" I have not broken any parts say for a plastic track link here and there. Worn out some parts yes, but not as yet outright broken any.

Hopefully my doing these fun test courses and little "write ups" will encourages other to do so as well. Tanks can be fun and exciting, they just have to be shown as capable of being so, other wise they look kinda boring to the non indoctrinated.

Pcomm1.v2

Fsttanks

Not saying Tamiya tanks are over priced just not at a price point where I wish to bash the heck out of like the cheap Heng Longs. You will get NO argument from me about Tamiya quality they are fabulously engineered model. Though they lack a decent line up of modern tanks. I have owned several of their tanks in the past 35 years, the earlier ones had garbage transmissions that were no match for the current HL tanks. Still the quality of the models then and now is unsurpassed in detail.

For me I no longer need super detail, butter smooth operation and the complexity that come with it. Simple and rugged that requires only two hand tools to work on wins the day for me. As far as detail, I can add all the detail myself (40 years of model building) if I like. Yes the Heng Longs can get just as expensive as the Tamiya tanks if one does not watch their expenses or understands their actual needs, but it is slower processes of expense spread out over a much longer time that makes the pain feel less. Heck and most folks buying a Heng Long are rather new to tanks. Heng Long is a good starting point to get them hooked. And if I can somehow show they are able to be fun and are cheap to start off with then great. We will have another tank convert that will in time discover Tamiya tanks that they would otherwise cough at the price to play and never start.

Now lets see those Abrams of yours out playing hard, getting dirty, flexing their suspension, kicking up dirt in hard high speed turns and having exciting fun. Let show the new folks tanks are exciting.

Pcomm1.v2

Fsttanks