RichJohnson

Ok so to start, I bought a dmd Sherman in 99 and had fun with it. Then I found out about the full options made later and the battling.
I bought the 76mm E8 turret kit and photo etching parts and found an E8 to take pictures of to make accurate exhaust and rear deck and bought a new Sherman option kit to salvage all the necessary stuff I would need off evilbay. This was back in 09. I lost my job before the full option kit arrived and it never did, it found its way back to hong kong so the seller just refunded me, which was good since I wasn't working.
I attached a photo of my tank as far as I got with it at the time.

Time has gone by and I have really wanted to get back into it. Its kinda eaten at me. So, I bought a built full option Sherman off evilbay just to get into it, and I have my radio ready and a battle Apple and IR bulb to install in it.
Is it best to drill out the barrel of the howitzer and install it at the tip, or further back, or not at all in the barrel, though I cant imagine why not.

Second, I had bought a henlong Panzer III from mato just cause I love that tank, then I got one as a gift, which had a bad circuit card in it, motor on one side didn't move, though I unsoldered its leads and it tested it, it runs fine, its a PCB issue. So the place my family got it from sent me another. So I had two working and one not, well when I got low on cash I sold the two working ones to a friends kids because they wanted them so bad. I still have the one with a bad PCB. At the time I bought mine Panzer, somebody said that a new company was going to make aftermarket IR gear to retro fit airsoft tanks, has that happened and where are they available and how does one go about it?

Im not an RC virgin, had RC10 cars when I was a teen, and built an HO Scale battle ship and submarine and tug and PT boat. So I know my way around general RC stuff.

Thanks anybody for responses.

Pah co chu puk

This is a good place to start learning. Dan is very helpful and he sells the aftermarket kit to convert a HL tank to battle IR with the Tamiya system. He is not the only one, there are other systems but this is what I have used.

.http://battlearmorrc.weebly.com/

dgsselkirk

Talk to Curtis at Immortal hobbies. Google Immortal Hobbies and it will get you there. For the cost you can't beat a Clark board...

thecommander

You need to see the main gun flash from the barrel to IR battle with Tank Clubs. The IR emitter must have a approved clip. tube etc... with the correct diameter & depth. The IR clip in you M4 kit has the correct dimensions. You can also recess it in the mantlet where the optics would be.

RichJohnson

I don't have a kit for the M4. I have an old pre IR dmd motor control only Sherman, and a built one off ebay. no IR clip. What is an IR clip?
Is it just a tube and hood to control direction of the IR, could I just put it in a tube and recess it in the barrel back a little bit?

thecommander

Few barrels have enough diameter/room to fit it all in the tip. It is even worse for those without a muzzle brake. I have used fiber optic cable in a few of my custom builds to get an effective flash for my customers.

Here is a pic of a mantlet recessed IR emitter.

RichJohnson

The two tanks I have are a stock Tamiya 105 howitzer and a (76)W conversion. Both have room the for the IR emitter. I can slip it into the barrel brake on the 76 and probably drill out the howitzer and sleeve it to hold the emitter.
How far back from the front should it be?

Green Amphibian

There needs to be a flash in the end of the barrel that can be seen by other tankers when firing. There is normally not enough room to mount both of them in the end of the barrel. You also need to have an IR emitter, in line with the tanks barrel, that is set back from the end of its mounting tube by 9 mm. That will help channel the IR beam so you don't hit the guy next to you on your team. The tube for the IR can be made from whatever you like, plastic, brass, aluminum, etc. it can be mounted anywhere as long as it is lined up with the barrel.

Herman

RichJohnson

When you say that there is not enough room in the barrel for both of them, what do you mean? There is the IR emitter and what else, are you saying that an LED from the standard tank lighting kit still has to be there to flash? If so, why would that be if the IR flashes and fires. Im kinda confused...

Shark27

Rich,
The full option Sherman kits come with a high intensity flash that goes into the barrel so that your opponent can see your gun firing. It is not possible to see the IR emitter flash with the naked eye. Here is a link to video showing both the IR firing and the flash firing, most video cameras can see the IR beam which last about 1 second. IR & Flash look at around 2:57 and 3:09 in the video
Here is a link to some pictures showing the IR clip that most people use on their Shermans. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-t...e-sandy-3.html

Steve

thecommander

Who is this guy???? Anybody know him?

gqlhonourbv

Google Immortal Hobbies and it will get you there.

RichJohnson

Ok, but some of the tanks I have seen just have the IR emitter in the barrel, they must have eliminated the standard tank lighting gun flash bulb. Will the battling still work ok without the flash bulb from the tanks lighting system, I really don't care about having that, I could just not install that flash LED and out the IR emitter in the barrel. I don't care about a barrel flash.

Pah co chu puk

The IR receiver can only "see" in the 940 nano-meter range of the spectrum. It is not affected by the visible flash at all.

thecommander

The main gun strobe is a very nice effect. Tamiya's is the best and brightest see pic. As long as you don't intend to do IR battle with tank Clubs... build it how you like.

ausf

This whole conversation is taking a roundabout to get the answer.

Yes you can put the emitter in the barrel, but you can equally hide it elsewhere and still keep the flash, it doesn't have to be a choice. As you can make out in the second photo in Bob' post, the Tiger's flash unit is going off, but so is the emitter (look at the glow over the turret MG). The emitter is in the coax MG, as is an option with the Tamiya Tiger. You can put your emitter in any of the existing tanks opening on the mantlet, whether it's a coax gun or gunner's sights. It just has to be of a certain size and length or less. Most mantlets have a opening and move with the barrel so alignment isn't an issue.

I've put emitters in barrels, but it gives you an unfair advantage, even if it's just you and a friend fighting and you don't care to battle a larger group. A barrel tip can poke through cover, firing from spots where it can't be hit.

edoubleaz

My Feedback: (1)

Some of the western clubs are a little looser on the flash in the barrel. In AZ, you barely see it in the broad daylight so we often put our IR emitters in the gun tubes. A tank with working recoil is a good clue as to who is shooting anyway. Many of us are working on flash/emitter setups that allow both in the barrel. I recently fit both into a stock Tamiya 105 barrel.

Your 76 mm is actually a good candidate to have the emitter in the Mantlet by widening the gunsight opening just a bit. I did it on both my T23 turrets. We recommend you sleeve the barrel with some tube to help focus the beam.

I would focus you efforts on the Full Option tank as the older model will cost you just as much as another full option kit to make a battler.

Just my two cents. Make your way to the next LA Tanks event if you can. They have a great assortment of equipment and skill levels of help to get you running.

YHR

I have heard of guys running the IR Bulb behind the flash bulb. The flash LED's are clear and the IR should get through it fine.

RichJohnson

That is interesting, I might try that in a temporary set up and see if the IR works ok behind the flash bulb.

I would think everybody would want to have the IR in the barrel. I saw the DAK guys and that was how the ones I saw did it. Part of having buildings etc is to have your barrel poke out, though if you have short barrels, your kinda useless with brush cover I guess.

Panther G

I run the IR bulb infront of my flash in the barrel of my M26. The muzzle brake on the M26 is plenty big enough. Some others use a large brake also and they really are the only ones you can do this with since you can see the flash from the front and sides around the IR emitter,.