RC semi-scale Tank

thingiverse

This is an edit of the speed Tank with added body shell loosely based on a Renault FT tank. The whole thing is ABS, except the tracks which are PETG. The tracks have been modified to improve traction. The base plate is made for 2s-3s 2.2Ah Lipo batteries, and has 6mm extra ground clearance on the original. The turret turns, but is not motorised. It can be modded to enable this feature as the body mount has plenty of spare holes to mount mechanisms onto. At first I ran the tank with the SLR printed pinions the teeth managed well enough, but they rounded off in the center. I bought the correct 1/8 11t pinions and SLR printed a spacer to allow them to fit onto my 3.2mm motor shafts. The metal teeth work well against the ABS gears. The tracks needed a little adjustment. one side was too tight. I drilled out each link as I printed it, with the single hole at one side being 3mm and the pair of holes opposite as 3.2mm this minimized any lateral slop and held the bolt centred. To loosen the one tight side I drilled out every forth link or so, so the two 3.2mm holes were 3.5mm. this worked very well. This has been pretty well thrashed by my 10 year old and it has held up. I have told him not to blast around at full speed all the time, as the motors do get rather hotter than your average RC car. I have ordered some fan assisted heat sinks to try to improve cooling, though they will need to be orientated pretty low to clear the body and may need modifying. The build is pretty much as per original instructions, though I found the wheels need M4x65mm bolts, not x60mm and I used 43 track links per side. The wheels have three cut-away strakes in the grooves so Cura supports are easier to remove.