Custom Modified Camera Tank

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Custom Modified Camera Tank
Topic Started: May 20 2006, 05:15 PM (241 Views)
betty.k	May 20 2006, 05:15 PM Post #1
Swayed by the Trax Posts: 5 Group: Member Member #72 Joined: April 16, 2006	g'day! first let me say how cool it is to find a forum just for tanks! i thought i was the only one! so i thought i'd show off my recently completed tank. it started life as a "dynatrack" kit that was designed to be a racing kinda tank. but i like mounting wireless cameras in things so i can drive them around without leaving my seat! i also modified a stick tx for tank use only. so a little while back i decided to iron out some issues with this thing. the stock gear ratio was 10:1, too high for a crawler so i checked out the tamiya gearbox range. i settled on the "high power gearbox", can be set up as either 64.8:1 or 41.7:1. i went with the latter, i felt it would be low enough. i needed 2 and they took quite a lot of modding to fit them in the chassis. in fact that back end took about a week to modify in order to accomodate the new gearboxes, it's pretty much rebuilt but you can't really tell by looking. it's using 2 stock tamiya escs and hitec 29mhz am radio gear. i bought an intellect 1200mah pack to run it, i estimate i'd get at least 30 mins of continuous run time from it, more than enough. i also wanted the camera and it's battery mounted in the chassis with the rest of the guts. it was also too low, kept getting caught on grass and the old gearboxes didn't have the grunt to get out of it and the plastic tracks offered no grip. not very becoming of a tank! i softened and bent the idler wheel axles and raised it a full inch. then i set about cutting and glueing 152 little blocks of foam rubber to eack section of track (just as painful as you think it was!) now it tears through any terrain within reason. the combination of grip, torque and clearance has made a night and day difference. i can crawl up a wall and flip on my back if i want now. :-o it's no speed demon, top speed is walking pace. so i got it to walk the walk but it still needed to talk the talk! so a little weatherproofing was in order. i bought a replacement lens for motorbike goggles (made from lexan!) and made a window for the camera. i screwed it onto some more foam rubber for a watertight seal. the rear needed a cover and i made one from a maglite case, was the perfect size! sealed it the same as the window and it's easily removeable for hot weather. i also plugged any holes in the lid and i just use a blob of blutac around the camera aerial and i'm happy to report it can withstand a heavy vertical downpour without a drop of water getting in! it can also go through puddles up to 1 inch deep without issue, 2 inches for short periods. here's my favourite little hidey hole, i can drive it there without leaving my seat and it gives me a full view of the driveway and street. so there ya go, probably a month's solid work from start to finish but worth every second to me.



outcastrc	May 21 2006, 02:16 AM Post #2
Administrator Posts: 1,150 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: December 13, 2005	You are my hero! What a first post! That is uber cool! Thank you very much for sharing! I always wanted to set up two Tamiya battle tanks with 2 video cams each, so they needed 2 crew per tank just to run them. The driver could only se forward and would need help from the turret. A small room with cardboard buildings could be a blast! to



betty.k	May 21 2006, 04:01 AM Post #3
Swayed by the Trax Posts: 5 Group: Member Member #72 Joined: April 16, 2006	thanks boss i've never tried any of the battle tanks before but it looks like fun! i'm more into track driven vehicles for their manouverability and "no road" capabilities. the only reason i painted it camo is so i can hide it in the garden without it being noticed.



spoon37	May 21 2006, 05:57 AM Post #4
Trax Master Poster Posts: 602 Group: Admin Member #11 Joined: December 14, 2005	very cool! what scale is the original tank? I had always thought the Tamiya gearboxes a little small for RC use(mind you most of my RC's are 1/10th scale monster trucks so I guess they need bigger gearboxes! :lol: ) I love the Tx modded for tank use... genius!!



karbonkid587	May 21 2006, 05:59 AM Post #5
Wish I Owned a Trax Posts: 10 Group: Member Member #73 Joined: April 17, 2006	hey will you get a vid or some pics of the tv when driving it? i think that would be pretty neat! kevin



betty.k	May 21 2006, 05:34 PM Post #6
Swayed by the Trax Posts: 5 Group: Member Member #72 Joined: April 16, 2006	on the box it says this is a 1:20 scale vehicle (12 inches long). got some vid of it driving from my room to it's little hidey hole: http://home.iprimus.com.au/trentheffer/spytank.wmv



Keith	May 21 2006, 06:49 PM Post #7
'Tis I Posts: 20 Group: Family Member #7 Joined: December 13, 2005	Very cool indeed! I've got a little camera that was originally in one of my planes. I've considered placing it on my Heng Long tank, and probably will one day. I would like to use the turret machanisms to pan and tilt the camera as well, but wouldn't want to destroy the tank in the process. The best way I see would be to mount the camera to the barrel, problem solved! lol



betty.k	May 21 2006, 07:54 PM Post #8
Swayed by the Trax Posts: 5 Group: Member Member #72 Joined: April 16, 2006	even better, remove the barrel and replace it with the camera. you don't need to go overboard mounting it, blutac will hold it in place just fine.



Keith	May 22 2006, 07:14 AM Post #9
'Tis I Posts: 20 Group: Family Member #7 Joined: December 13, 2005	You know, there is plenty of room in there with the gun mechanism removed, and mine is broken anyway... Perhaps I could take it out and replace it with the camera... It would be reversible should I decide to put a new gun in... Thanks for the idea!



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