I am currently trying to convert the 1/16Renault FT kit to R/C. I built up the small dual motor Tamiya gearbox and it will just barley fit. My question is this, I need a small proportional speed control for the thing. I thought about buying that tiny 1/72 R/C tiger and robbing the parts from that but it is not proportional speed, it's either "on" or "off" when it comes to the forward and steering.
What is out there in the way of tiny circuit boards that will allow me have a realistic speed and steering of this thing?
Larry




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If you can find one, this is what you need



It's made by Kevin Grannum at RC Tanks Australia and it's a motor control specifically for small tanks like yours. If you send Kevin a message he might have one in a drawer somewhere.

Check out RC Tank Warfare Forum in the Other Build Section. Someone converted the same type of model to RC. I can't post the link because I don't have enough posts yet.

Does anyone still consider using servos as gearboxes for small tank models? They are compact, powerful and easy to modify for such use.
The gear trains are robust enough for smaller models. all you really need to do if you want to use them as a gear drive is bypass the control board
and control the motor directly. If you want to use them as a controlled gearbox with a built in esc you need to bypass the feedback pot. You also need to eliminate the
limiter that usually prevents the servo mechanism from turning 360 degrees. There used to be articles all over the web including RCU on how to do this.

This technique apparently has fallen out of favor but it would seem perfect for such an app and servos are available in just about any size and power level you'd need
as well as being reasonably priced.

Jerry

Hi
Here is the instructions on how to do what Jerry said with a servo its a long tutorial but has pics and instruction on how to do it .
http://vocaro.com/trevor/blog/2007/12/29/convert-a-servo-into-a-high-torque-motor/comment-page-1/

Thanks
Jimmy

Pretty cool mod. Gets the idea wheels turning..I don't know about reasonably priced but metal gear, dual ball bearing servos can get expensive. I guess if you need something like this it'd be worth it though.
Without knowing how hot they'd get I think it would be prudent to either leave the lower case off or at least cut large vent slots in it if planning on running them continuously for any length of time.

I know that high-quality servos can get very expensive, but if you compare them to the price of some of the high-quality gear boxes, like dklm, or ETO, the price of servos doesn't look so bad after all.

There is another option for this. Go to www.35rctank.com They will certainly have something you can use, possibly an entire kit.