1/16 RC Gepard modernised
 

Hello,

I always wondered if one could modernize an old 1970s Tamiya Gepard and retain the gearbox and big 540 motor and clutching system

I bought an old bashed up one from eBay and set about doing it.

I kept the original gearbox with 540 E-Motor but attached a modern speed controller. The clutching turn system gives a realistic feel to the drive system and the 540 motor provides lots of power at even low speeds and lots of top end too. The turning clutch power was improved with the use of a 20kg crawler steering servo.

The turret was brought to life with servos for the canon movement and also a winding servo for the turret turn and it all worked great off a 6 channel RC system. The canons have a servo each linked with a Y cable and one of the servos is reversed to that it moves the same as the other one.

The real Gepard has a silencing system for the motor and so is whisper quiet and so the lack of a boombox and sound system does not matter so much except for a firing sound for the canons.

It was a great project and the result better than expected and I am going to try and get a better base model and do another one and find a way of putting sound in it.


Thanks for reading and looking.

Alan