So I jumped into Tamiya fellas. I have an m4 sherman kit and an impact battle system. I should have it ready by next year. I will post a video when it's all ready.

is it going to be stock? planning any mods?

Probably stock.

Your new Futaba radio is on the way Shannon. Link: http://www.rctankcommand.com/tank-radios.html


I am sending you a metal elevation arm as a gift from rctankcommand.com too. It is a must have for every Tamiya tank.

We had was fun battling with you on your first trip to Danville.

Awesome and kudos! I take it this is a kit and if so, take your time and if you have any questions, fire away!

I also would have suggested the metal arm but also, do yourself a favor and address the need for one upgrade... the idler. The stock unit has NO bearings or even bushings! The plastic wheel just rides on the pot metal shaft and eventually will start to become loose and misaligned.

There are several ways to go with this, and of course, money spent on it from just over 100 bucks with Daryl's absolutely beautiful aluminum kit to the Tamiya design OR, do it your self. I don't know if Impact's kit is still available, but at least all of these have bearings and if you're going to battle with this Sherman... GET ONE!

Of course some metal shielded bearings (or the sealed design) for the road wheels would be nice as the kits bushings are NOT shielded and dirt and debris will accelerate their wear.



Like I said, any questions you have feel free to ask here or ME in a PM. I have built 3 so far and have many in the fire too.





Jeff

Congrats on your first Tamiya. You'll have a great time building from the ground up. One other little tip is to sand off 2-3mm from the bottom of the mantlet to get more depression, also I've found it
easier for maintenance to move the power switch to the rear of the lower hull (running the stock wires over the speaker)rather than having it in the turret. Just makes it one less thing to worry about when your taking the upper hull/turret off.

Congrats on the M4, you're going to love it.

Bob hooked you up with the arm, but honestly, I ran mine stock with no mods whatsoever for over 10 years. And my kids beat the crap out of it in battle.

I sold the hull to Bob put all the electronics, motors/gearboxes in my Trumpeter T-34 and that's been running steady for almost two years now.

Beware, you're going to get a bit spoiled by it and may look at the HLs differently from now on.

Do you physically have it or is it on the way? If you have it, what do you think?

What kind of deal did you get? I'm thinking I might get another since Fury came out.

Congrats! Consider yourself infected with the Sherman bug once you open that box. The Tamiya kit is awesome and you will have a blast. I second the Daryl idler kit if you can afford it. I am now on to my third Tamiya Sherman as I am currently building an E8 using a Tamiya kit.

It is a great tank lil tank. Problem is they are like rabbits, they reproduce.

Thanks for the gift Bob. I have the kit in the house. Looks pretty good. Can you explain the idler, im still a lot new to this all.

Basically the rear idler wheel that the track goes around is made of plastic. This sits on a metal shaft and gets worn out very quickly which can cause a wobble which can cause you
to throw tracks. The Idler upgrades mentioned above usually have a bearing in the idler wheel which will stop wear as well as give you some adjustment to track tension as the stock does not.

I don't remember the assembly of the idler, but I do know I only threw a track once in 10 years and that was with a sizeable stick getting jammed in the running gear.

The idler adjusts by two screws in slots. Granted it's not their best design since the tension pulls down the slot, but with a little PVA on the threads and slot before tightening, it won't move (at least mine never did and you guys saw my son drive) until you take a screwdriver to it.

My point is, most people have a bit of sticker shock with their first Tamiya. Don't feel the need to pour a bunch extra into it unless you want to. If your idler becomes a problem it won't be right away (again, mine never did) and if it does, it's an easy switch out at anytime.

There's no reason not to install the elev arm upgrade off the bat since you have it, but I'd build and enjoy it for a while. The only irreversible thing you could do is glue in the bushings. If you want to use bearings, you should do it now.