At NEAD we run year round. As far as I know we are the only RC tank club to have a winter battleday in real snow....I may be wrong. We had a great time and it was just like the real thing...we had the same troubles as the real tanks did in winter. Here is a video from my tank-top camera system. As you can see...winter camo does matter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z6VU-b6s5U
There are a few "do's and don'ts".
Here are a few:
DO:
Allow your tank to aclimate to the cold before running...Warm tracks and wheel will attract snow and ice.
Lube the bottom and the tracks with a spray funiture wax or silicone lube. It casts off the ice and snow.
Keep the batteries warm.... cold batts lose power. Keep them in a warm car or inside a interior coat pocket.
Upon finishing a battle lift the tank and run the track a FULL speed both directions to cast off debris.
Clean off the Idlers (most common trouble in trowing track in winter is a packed idler wheel).
Check tracks, wheels & pins after each battle.
If a tank is left for more than 10 min. hand rotate each track to be sure the track and wheels haven't frozen together. Traverse too. Just ask Gen. Von Paulus...
ALWAYS...put your tank on a block to keep the tracks hanging loosely when not in use.
ALWAYS...open your tank up at the end of the day and make sure all is clean and dry inside the hull of the tank.
DON'T:
Drive the tank with snow packed in the tracks or wheels.
Try and drive a tank with locked up wheels and/or tracks (you are begging for stripped gears).
Drive thru any water or puddles and then sit for more than a moment.
Make tight turns... you will pack more snow into the tracks.
Stop in deep snow unless you move forward and back a few inches each way to pack down the snow. If you get hit (IR Battling is what I do) you will have less power to get moving again.
Expect your tank to behave the same way it does on dry ground.
Drive on icy slopes...even with metal tracks you will have NO control.
Good luck and have fun. I love winter and the snow.