MAUS45

Check the new Dragon 1/6 scale Sherman out. It is on sale here......just $799. Not sure if it could be R/C'ed thought? Sure looks cool though!!!!

http://www.greatmodels.com/~smartcar...m_num=DRF71451

heavyaslead

Hmm.. Think I'll wait for the sale to end. The retail price seems a better deal

shambrick

My Feedback: (2)

That thing is huge!

Buckeye36

My Feedback: (3)

LOL

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

I need to stop looking at these things....

Panther F

Yeah, really. What kind of math they teachin' these days anyway?










~ Jeff

herrmill

I'd say when you only have one in stock, you can set your "SALE PRICE" as high as you'd like. Sure makes that $599 pre-offer on the Sixth Army Group site look better more than ever.

Speaking of RC, you'll probably find one over on that site in due course if you visit often. I know of someone who's currently working on a Pz II conversion after having already done a Kettenkrad so I'd think it wouldn't be too hard to achieve if you want a big tank to play with.

rivetcounter

Adding RC to the PzII is one thing but to RC the Sherman is another, the PzII is on the edge of the weight the plastic tracks can take and then it will only have limited use and life before the tracks disintegrate, also a lot of conversion has had to be made to give the tank some form of suspension what this tank really needs is metal tracks sprockets and wheels along with further upgrades to the suspension and possibly strengthening the hull.
Sherman, now this is even heavier and is really on the limit for a static model, a number of people have already broke the rear idler mount so this would have to made from Alloy, this tank again does not have working suspension this would have to be modified along with the tracks sprockets ETC ETC however it could be done for running on smooth surfaces it would have an extremely limited running life and the cost would outweigh any benefits of the conversion.
There is always much talk that Dragon will release other versions of the Sherman but the 1/6 market is even more of a niche market than 1/16 even if Dragon released a 250/251 again this would only have a limited life in RC I have seen the Armour Hobbies 250 done a few times most have only ever had little use and still broke tracks on almost every occasion they were used take them on the grass and watch the tracks snap, why do you think I haven’t done one.

Panther F

Well, not everything has to be 'RC-able' (sp), especially at that price. Dragon should making a line of RC capable 1/16 tanks though, and still be in a price range that is profitable. That way they can either be a static piece or let the modeler go all out on the RC gear.

Just a thought. Hello, Dragon? Are you listening?










~ Jeff

mustclime

Why go 1/6th when you can go 1/1? I live next to the cheif of police, I am sure he would get a real kick out me building a full panther in my backyard.....

Panther F

Why? Because I am a modeler, not a fantasizer. I have no interest (even if affordable) in having a full-sized AFV.

I'd rather have a real Porsche or Corvette to run around in ... not a tank.










~ Jeff

MAUS45

Yes, Heavysled, I thought the same thing. I didn't do a good job of being sarcastic about the sale price!!!!

STO_118

I want one, I must have one. Shame if I do get one I will be buried in a ditch somewhere.

Not a terrible price, change the $ to £ multiple by 1.56 and that's your UK retail.

Be careful what you wish for, the last time Dragon took interest in a particular scale field companies went out of business and they produced some pretty good items so it wasn't for a lack of quality. When their retail price on their 1:35 kits are higher than Tamiya do you really want them to produce RC kits?

rivetcounter

Dragon walked away from the 1/16 market some years ago and I can’t see them returning, they are the largest in 1/35 and still account for a large portion of the 1/6 market, I agree with STO 118 21st Century got involved in the 1/6 market and ended up going pear shaped, some believe that Dragon will make a few more variants of the 1/6 Sherman based on the fact that they did this with the Jeep, based on the 1/16 market I can’t see this happening and we may not see another tank for a few years from Dragon again there are some who believe that there will be more this year

Rebellion13

The funny thing is maybe the detail on 21st century wasn't as good as Dragon, but they put out a couple of 1/6 RC at a fraction of the cost of what Dragon is asking for a static. I really thought about getting into 1/6 but just can't afford them. Now if I feel ambitious I will probably scratch build a 1/6 tank. Also FOA has some nice 1/6 out of metal that can be made RC, I mean the Panther goes for around $700, w/o elec. which really isnt a bad price. I wish money grew on trees [&o]


Cheers,
Wade

STO_118

Not sure about that, the early Dragon line wasn't much better than the 21st Century figures, I have a Hans here which I believe to be one of the first releases and a lot of the equipment is very similar, similar being a nice word for copy.

Dragon did improve quite a bit over the years but then their prices went up each time as well. I really like the 21st line up, it is a shame the Bradley and Abrams were not scale accurate at least in terms of size but still big toys in their own right. The little bird is quite nice though.

Dragons 1/18 figures are a lot better, less toy like though so probably wouldn't handle some GIJoe style battling. (or Action Force as it was called in the UK).

DirtyBird69

The whole concept of a 1/6 "static" model that's not Rc'able is just rediculous![:'(] What fun would it be to have something that big and detailedthat just sits there??? Very coolmodel but a complete waste of money unless you wanna sit in yourliving roomand play with your poseable dolls.....

Rebellion13

May the schwartz be with you

YHR

I would think a tank of this size could be made to be RC'd. Lots of size to work with, and the things that have been done to improve the Mator Sherman coud be used here. ie. turning the suspension into something that works. The size means you might be abe to improvise using Auto parts. Power window gears and motors for a drive train. Maybe look at some lawn mower parts.

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

Dan, I was waiting for you to chime in ont his thing. Did you place the order yet? I know Benedini makes a killer sound system for that scale! One little problem would be getting it from home to Danville to show all the hard work.

Rebellion13

As Rivet stated, people have broken the idlers just putting the kit together. I also wonder how durable the plastic would be when RC'ing it.

herrmill

Some folks at Heng Long were keen on developing 1:6 RC tanks but that was a few years ago. Perhaps they got smart & did the math.

Still, if anyone wanted to do an RC conversion of this new Sherman it could be done but certainly wouldn't be the type of project you'd do at the kitchen table. At least you'd have plenty of masters to make your molds with.

rivetcounter

RC converting a 1/6 tank size is not the issue nor is it helpful in this scale the tank was purely intended as a static model and was thus designed and built this way, yes it could be converted to RC and the parts you could use are the upper hull and turret the lower hull and running gear would require changing as it’s just stirean plastic this may be ok for a 1/16 model but imagine the 1/16 model with 0.25mm plastic hull this would twist in every direction and would probably pull the motors out of the mountings in 1/6 scale the stress and strain on the hull are a lot higher and require larger and heavier motors to drive the tank not to mention heavier batteries this will double the weight of the original hull making the plastic tracks and running gear useless so all these parts would require changing to metal and these parts are not available and if they were then they alone would set you back well over 1000€ in short there is no cheap route into 1/6 with the exception of the Stuart, but I would delay like to be proven wrong at your own expense.

Field of Armour and Battle ready Armour are the same company with the exception of the Tiger the others are made from sheet metal of approximately 1.5mm thickness for around 800€ they can be converted to RC but require a lot of modification’s to achieve this, strengthening the hull is a must adding bearings to the wheels is another and I think you have to make your own suspension arms this is by no means easily done as there would be dozens around and of cause the price will triple by the time you have finished

Onondaga

When the 1/6 static Stuart tank first came out I RC'd one using 2 electric screwdrivers and a tamiya dmd controller. It worked well.  For the Sherman maybe you could use 2 used power drills?

YHR

No doubt this conversion is not for the feint of heart. Internal metal bracing and metal parts etc would be required. However in this scale your Auto or motorcyle parts supply store could be supplying much of what you need. There is also the 1/10 scale buggy crowd to call upon. Bearings etc in this scale could be used on this tank.

You have to think that the model itself is a plastic shell, and you need to build an internal metal frame to provide the strength you need. Think of Nascar. The race car is the frame underneath the sheet metal

The most questionable part of the exercise would be the suspension. I would think you would have to add metal plate behind the swings arms to get the strength you would need. Here is where you would have to talk to a machine shop about making some made to order bracing.

I wonder if this has rubber tires?

SO I agree it will not be cheap, but the detail that plastic injection molding provides and the cost makes this a tempting project.

One thing I always stress to people is look outside the Hobby for parts etc. A have found stuff at a hardware store for a fraction of the cost someone within the hobby wants for it. I can pick up a 12 volt power window gear assembly for less then $60, and it is more then enough to power one of these.

I will not say it is easy, and it will cost you some money, but it would be a fun challenging project, and I agree proceed with caution.