On Hold For Now

Most unfortunately, due to lack of passion and overwhelming commitment for the time being, this project will be put on-hold for now. It shall resume once everything is back in order. Till then..

M1A1 Abrams Tank Review

What a review.. it's hot.. both the tank and the girl..

Brazilian EE-T1-Osorio

A well designed MBT by the Brazillian Engesa firm, but unfortunately never made it to the production line. Read more here.

Hextronix Servo

I bought 2 Hextronix Servos for the turret's mechanism. Each of these servos weight around 9 gram and can lift up to 1.6kg/cm. More specs here.

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small and compact..

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3D Drawing for Conceptual Design

Downloaded a nice 3D drawing of the Abrams drawn by Loupie using the handy Google Sketchup. Well, I'll be editing and testing all the conceptual design on this drawing board prior to the actual modification. Good design practice !
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3D Abrams for editing

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Live footage of tanks fighting in Iraq

This is the real thing ! No fake here.
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Laser Targeting System - Intro

Well, basically this build is the easiest of all. The idea is to have a laser beam to guide or assist the turret during targeting. I'll be using a safe class 1 laser beam from a laser pointer for this purpose. There is a nice spot on the machine gun turret located just next to the main turret to snug in the unit. More on the installation process soon.

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Location on MG turret

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British Challenger 2 Tank

Here's a nice video on the British Challenger 2 Tank. Hopefully, in future we will be able to get the 1:12 scale model.

M1A2 Basic Maneuvering

This is the 1st video recorded for the tank in factory stock setting. The standard controls are kind of sluggish and unresponsive, however it is still possible to perform some basic maneuvering.

IR Tank Battle System

I got the main components for the basic IR Tank Battle System conversion project yesterday. Basically, its a Lazer Tag system with an IR transmitter and receiver. To my suprise, the quality of this toy is very good, from the workmanship to the material used, all are well done. Both units have special sound effects built into the system, however i don't think its appropriate to use on the tank as the firing effect sounds more like a pistol rather than a cannon. There are 2 modes of gameplay preconfigured for the unit.

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the complete package

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First is duel match, the receiver will accept 10 shots from the transmitter before it shut itself down. The second is target mode, with predetermined 'target ready' duration in interval of seconds. It means you can only shoot it when the indicator light on the receiver unit blinks to show its 'ready', and an accurate burst of shot to the receiver unit will be counted as a hit. There are no limit of firing rounds in this mode, thus its really suitable as target practice for the tank.

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receiver unit

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Currently, i'm still thinking how or what should be integrated into the Tank's turret. Should I combine both airsoft and IR together or should I separate it as 2 different system? I guessed the better deal would be to have all in one. But there will be foreseeable engineering constraint as apart from these 2, the recoil mechanism, turret tilt system, laser targetting (pointer) unit will also be mounted in the same turret. Luckily, there are plenty of spaces in turret for this purpose, that's the good thing about 1:12 scale, big and spacy.

For now, I'll try to think of a design for the turret mainframe which will house other components in the future. Without this, I guessed not much features can be added in for now. Till then.

Project Plan

Well, I've compiled all the projects into a few stages. Each of these will take place one after another, with additional mechanisms and electronics to be added to make it a better and more capable tank. The design and approach will be based on good engineering philosophies, cost effective as its using COTS parts and simple to build. At the end of Stage 2, it is expected that the Tank will be technically competitive with the existing 1:24 VsTanks and Tamiya or other counterparts, however in the unique scale of 1:12.

Stage 1
1.1 Removal of inaccurate stock parts
1.2 Repainting of body camo and minor detailing
1.3 Upgrade with Laser Targeting System
1.4 Dual Antenna Upgrade
1.5 Stock track changeout

Stage 2
2.1 Tx/Rx Upgrade/Changeout for additional radio channel
2.1 Turret Tilt Control
2.2 Turret Stabilization System
2.3 Sound Module
2.4 IR Tank Battle System (Basic)
2.5 Additional predefined speed setting (3 Fwd, 2 Bwd)
2.6 Dual Turret Rotation & Tilt Speed (Normal and Precision mode)

Stage 3
3.1 Automatic turret scouting mode
3.2 On board camera (remote telepresence control)
3.3 Night vision upgrade for video camera
3.4 Turret Recoil effect

Stage 4
4.1 Sonic Range Finder (Auto Targeting in Sentry Mode)
4.2 Realistic Firing Special Effect Module

Well, hope to kick start the project in double time. More sub-project to be added in soon.

IR Battle System for R/C Tank

Well, I have each and every details of my project mapped out in my head, just need to key it down in a master project plan, very soon ..

One primary project of significant importance is the Tank Battle System (TBS). It's something similiar to Tamiya Battle System, however at my pocket reach. Basically, the system is based on the LaserTag concept, using invisible infrared beam (IR) exactly like the TV remote control system. Will write more on the details soon, but for now.. walaaa... I have secured the primary parts needed to make this project happen at a very affordable price of RM 61.

IR LaserTag Gun and Sensor in one package.

Nice M1A2 Paintjob

I've been thinking what camouflage schemes to used on my project, found lots of it over the web. For now, I'm settling down with Desert Camo (currently used in Iraq and Afghanistan). Well, it might be to early to start to focus on the paintjob but no harm for planning though.

Here is a nice photo from TJD Models showing their R/C 1:16 M1A2 Main Battle Tank which is currently selling for about RM 510. The detailing and weathering on the tank's body is very realistic, splendid ! Hopefully, I can achieve 1/2 of this quality work on my project :) .

Another M1A2 (Tuned)

Actually, by the time I realized that there's such a big 1:12 tank available in the market, the rest of the world have been busy with it. I found an excellent tank tuned by WackyWheelz in HobbyHavoc forum and the quality of work is simply astonishing. Well, this is the direction I should be pushing my tank to be, but for now let's get the basic priority such as fundamental tuning done at double speed.

WackyWheelz's M1A2 Project (Aus)

My New R/C 1:12 Scale M1A2 Abrams Tank

Finally, I got my tank for good. It's been a long wait after all these years, it's now a reality rather than just a dream. There are so many projects that I've thought of for this tank, hmmm... let me list it down soon and it will become the roadmap for this interesting project.

Here is the 1st photo taken from the tank immediately after exiting the box, more at my Flickr (here).

The Beginning

I've been in a quest for years to find the ultimate platform for my R/C Battle Tank project. Most of the R/C tanks available in the current Malaysian market is either in 1:24 (VsTank), 1:18 and 1:16 (Heng Long). For the rest of the world, apart from the ones mentioned, you will be able to find odd range such as 1:15 (Bandai), 1:35 (Tamiya) and etc.

The rest will be custom built by tank hobbyist and enthusiast, and normally will range from 1:10 and 1:8 to 1:4 (this scale will certainly provoke the local military).

Lately, I managed to find another scale which is so perfect and serious enough for big boys to toy around with. It is 1:12, which in other word, 1/12 of the length of the real tank. I've seen this during my last trip to KL in Times Square, it is love at first sight. However, I can't managed to get it because of logistic issue, the package is just too enormous in size for me to carry home.

Last 2 weeks, it came to my suprise when I saw it on the shelf in a local toy shop. Priced at RM 399, kind of high but I believe it is worth to prevent the agony of regretting thereafter for not bringing it home.

Plan to go and cash it out during the weekend, and it will be the 1st masterpiece to roll out from this R/C Tanks Factory.

Hello Tankers !

This marked the establishment date for the founding of R/C Battle Tanks Factory.

14 May 2008