New 1:20 Scale IR Battle Tank

Well, these are not VS Tanks but its equally fun to play with. Got myself 2 units of T-90 for my first experience with IR Tank battle. They're fun really, although not as exciting as Airsoft capable type. The best part is the IR system, will definitely use it as a transplant to my other platform. Other than T-90, another available models are M1-Abrams and Leopard 2. Some photos, mind the silly stickers !

M1 Abrams

Leopard 2

T-90

Anatomy of an Abrams Tank (Pt.5-Final)

Last part of the video..

Part 5 (Final)

Anatomy of an Abrams Tank (Pt.4)

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Part 4

Anatomy of an Abrams Tank (Pt.3)

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Part 3

Anatomy of an Abrams Tank (Pt.2)

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Part 2

Anatomy of an Abrams Tank (Pt.1)

Well, the title explains it all. A piece of informative and salivating eye feast for Abrams die-hard fans. Here is Part 1.

Part 1

M1 Abrams in action..

in real action.. 

Original R/C 1:12 Abrams Tank (unboxed)

Yippie... it seems like some photos of my Abrams are still accessible from Flikr. These are some snapshots when it was taken out from the box. Few things have changed like no more silly insignia stickers on it, macho looking missiles (cool concept but not on a Tank !), funny 200 ltrs barrel (like those from T-72) and the odd looking lost commander are all trashed the moment it was unboxed.

huge baby.. about 2.5 ft in length

cheapskate Tx, will replace or built a custom one :)

the details are ok .. quite satisfied with the molding quality

the machine gunner mounting and hatch for commander

some accessories attached to the body

I'm BACK !

OMG, this blog has been deserted for about 4 years now. Oh well, change of job, relocation to another state, and expat assignment .. all bundle up in that 4 years, amazing. Now ! the timing is just right, it is time to continue with my little M1-Abrams project and start blasting from those barrel. Stay put, this monster will be ship from my hometown Kuching to current location Melaka this Dec'12.

fire, fire, fire......

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.