RC Tanks Australia Forum

So I've mentioned many times in other posts that my Bulldog is undergoing many mods, but I never shared any info. Some of the ideas I got are by seeing work that others did, so it's only fair I share mine, too.

I already did all possible metal upgrades, imex new 3:1 gearboxes, 480 red motors from tankarmy, and few other mods that I've finished, then taken apart again to improve even more, but for now I'll only explain what you see on the pics below.

The main thing that was bothering me was the closing system. There's no quick closing mechanism on the market for Bulldog yet, no metal hull, the quick closing bracket from other tanks can't be used on Bulldog because the lower hull sides are different, and removing the screws every time was pi***ng me off. So I started what I thought was gonna be a quicker project, but ended up rather time consuming.

First I built the aluminum frame. The front and rear pieces are glued in, but sides are not, so I can easily unscrew the frame from front and rear pieces and lift it up if needed. None of the screws penetrate any hull parts, they were all filed down so they only hold the aluminum pieces together.

Then I intended to use a combination of bike wheel spokes and springs to create latching on sides and rear. So these below are the first attempt:

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On the above pictures you can also see few other things:

- Track tensioning system I got from rctank.de. This was by no means PnP. The HL metal drive wheels do not jive with the rod and bearing system here, so I had to get the Tamiya type metal drive wheels from rctank.de. The way they're attached is still not perfect because the bearings are a tiny bit smaller than the openings in the wheels, and with strong force you can easily pull them off, but while driving they seem to hold. Then it turned out the tiny Allen screws responsible for holding the tension were not strong enough to do that on a heavy tank with so many metal upgrades, so my tracks kept getting loose. I guess they tested them on lighter tanks. So Dominique send me bigger Allen screws and I had to tap the holes to set the bigger screws in place, and now it's holding well (I think... I haven't had much time to drive the tank after fixing this). Dealing with Dominique was a little time consuming, but he always followed through and reasonably helped me with the parts needed.

- Brass rear hooks and movable tow shackles. There are also brass front hooks you don't see on the pictures. While driving the tank I found these pieces to be most susceptible to damage, and I actually even lost one of the plastic shackles. So after a long search I found a local place that seemed to have better prices than all others I found. Even then, I didn't calculate it all together, with the amount of pieces I needed, and at the I ended up paying for all those pieces almost as much as for the asp. But now I have the templates/molds and making the pieces from those templates would be less expensive. The hooks were easy, I just gave them the plastic pieces and they copied them into the molds. For the shackles, I had to use 2 plastic pieces and file them down so each would be the complementing half to the other, then find and fit in a tiny threaded rod into the base for a later attachment into the hull. Of course it took them several attempts to do the perfect pieces, and I had to later dremel off and finish places where excess sprue was left. Then I had to research and order brass micro bolts, washers and nuts that hold the 2 pieces together and allow them to move realistically. Finally, when the shackle combo is inserted into the hull, I can secure it with the washer and nut so it's really safe from loss and I bet I can tow other rc vehicles when attaching cables to those shackles.

- Removed battery compartment, and the lower door will eventually be sealed with silicone (not permanent, but waterproof).

- The on/off switch was repositioned to the rear, and all holes on the bottom of the hull (except batt comp. screw) were permanently sealed.

_________________

HL M41 Bulldog
Torro Late Tiger I
Taigen KV-1

Wish List:
Torro KingTiger
Panther F or G
Taigen T34-85
Super Pershing

The side latches worked very well, but lack of space in the rear prevented me from doing any kind of latch and pull of rods connecting to middle latches. So this design was scrapped, and I replaced the middle with strong magnets, then did a latching system in the rear only. The front has "hooks" - smaller rods on upper hull that are first inserted into the front of the lower hull, and then the hull is closed front to back, latching it in the back. Opening was initially routed to pull outs located between upper hull fenders and tracks:

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_________________

HL M41 Bulldog
Torro Late Tiger I
Taigen KV-1

Wish List:
Torro KingTiger
Panther F or G
Taigen T34-85
Super Pershing

Here are few more pics, track tensioning, shackles I explained earlier, and also axle supports with bearings from rctank.de, which are great, but to remove grearboxes, you have to take those off, first.

IMG_0953.jpg
The small Allen screw for holding tension, visible on the right side between the wheel and hull is the original, which I later had to replace with a bigger size, as explained earlier.

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IMG_0951.jpg

_________________

HL M41 Bulldog
Torro Late Tiger I
Taigen KV-1

Wish List:
Torro KingTiger
Panther F or G
Taigen T34-85
Super Pershing

The rear latch mechanism was also later changed. I found the flat levers on the sides were being slightly blocked by top of gearboxes, so I scrapped those and made the opening pull rods now under the exhaust covers (i'll have to mount them on velcros or something, instead of the original screws from bottom). So now it closes and opens really well. Keep in mind, all this had to be fabricated and routed to clear space for the smoker and its pipes (besides the gearboxes). BTW, the hole in the upper hull near the engine area was so I could add oil to smoker, because the smoker is attached to upper hull, not lower like in most other tanks. And I had a rubber plug in there, and was intending to later attach some sand bags or something to cover it up from view. But my direction is going away from the HL type smoker, and I'll be installing TARR smoker there, so I can have the fill pipe routed elsewhere and will eventually patch up this hole before painting.

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Below you can see the front attachment "hooks" a little better. Looks delicate, but it holds extremely well. The small rods hook into small holes in the lower frame's front aluminum plate.

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And below is the top view:

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The other mods visible in the above pictures:

- Driver's visors were corrected. I'm fairly certain they were designed by HL that way to allow sufficient openings for the sound from the speaker located underneath. Now that they're corrected, the sound will be restricted, but I'm planning to open up the hatch and make it movable, I just don't know yet exactly the best way to cut it off with minimal damage so I can use the original for a template for 3d print. Or if someone has a way to design that hatch in stl with correct size, it wold help me a lot.

- The turret motor was upgraded. I was assured by the guy in a local rc shop that it is much faster than the original I showed him. Well, it's definitely much louder. And the turret turns fast, I'm just not sure it's much fastER than the original. Hard to compare from memory and I didn't run speed tests with the old motor, now I don't feel like soldering it back in place just to compare.

- The wires in the front are going to headlights - 3mm flat top super bright white LEDs. Yes, I know realistically the tank has only 2 headlights and the other 2 are infrared, but there are way more things on this tank that are not realistic, starting with track and fender width, so who cares. I like it like that. It's an awesome effect and plenty of light at night.

- I've also changed the wiring on the interconnect board so the main gun fire warning LED located in gun mantlet is no longer there. Now the LED in the horn (which originally by HL was the headlight) serves this purpose. It's still the original white LED, but at some point I'll change it into the red LED I took out from the mantlet. In the mantlet opening, I mounted a machine gun I created from different parts, but that's another mod I'll get to later, at some point. And obviously the opening in the mantlet will have to be slightly repositioned (I know, I just said earlier: who cares about realism, but the bottom line is, it's all a matter of personal preference).
Anyway, this interconnect board will eventually be replaced by another one I'll design after I finally get all the pieces I need and will know what wires I want connecting there.

There are few other mods I had, like 360 turret with slip ring, HL improved smoker with prop. board and 10mm fan, but those will be changed for one reason or another, so I won't go into those.

And there are few other mods I already have done, or have planned out, but will mention or show them in future posts, because I'm running out of time now.

_________________

HL M41 Bulldog
Torro Late Tiger I
Taigen KV-1

Wish List:
Torro KingTiger
Panther F or G
Taigen T34-85
Super Pershing

One more pic with front view: headlights, brass hooks, and driver's visors.

20160831_001050.jpg

_________________

HL M41 Bulldog
Torro Late Tiger I
Taigen KV-1

Wish List:
Torro KingTiger
Panther F or G
Taigen T34-85
Super Pershing

Hi..i am a new user here. I am also looking to build a tank. Can you please help me in this about the Electrical part? How you are building the controlling unit and what exactly you are using for that? Which battery will be sufficient for the model you built?

ASP2 is the controlling unit. As for the battery, u got some choices. There's plenty of threads on those, if not here then some other tank forums. Just do some searches.

_________________

HL M41 Bulldog
Torro Late Tiger I
Taigen KV-1

Wish List:
Torro KingTiger
Panther F or G
Taigen T34-85
Super Pershing