Re: hello again?

[Dale DuPont <ahcp-at-worldnet.att.net>]

I'll get you the E mail address to pre register for D Day.  You might want to go to
your local field and play a game or two with a rental.  They will have rentals
their.   I've got a couple of back up guns. You could borrow one...   If you were
serious.....

Hey, I'm 52 and I just might need it in a few years too.   Here is an serious
invitation for you to  join the our Grey Beard Squad.  You'd feel right at home and
probably be able to keep up....  They come to our ambush instead of us running
around chasing them down....  Just a lot of walking around with 20 pounds of gear in
warm weather with long sleeves on.

The night game is a  fuel supply and ammo supply depot assault.  If they use the
tanks at night they would be fixed in the defense perimeter.

The tanks are a conglomeraton of vehicles.   Most  function like armored personnel
carriers with gun ports  Driver and Gunner only.  Others have turrets and
cannon-like barrel but still shoot only paintball guns.  They've got pictures on the
website..

Base vehicles range from trucks, jeeps, and 4 wheelers to lawnmowers, go karts and
golf carts. All generally 'armored' with plywood.  They are limited to marked paths
only (lots of them) and a top speed of 5 mph so they don't go charging off into the
brush at 20 mph.  Each is accompanied by a ref for scoring and safety.  He has a
remote "kill switch" he can use for safety reasons and to disable the tank when
"hit".  There is an extra entry fee and insurance policy to use a tank...

We are working on the basic safety issue of having a cannon, mortors, bazookas etc.
that shoot projectiles other than paintballs.  The basic safety problem is the
scenerio of some guy's head and facemask being right in front of it when it is
fired.  Insurance and liability issues as well.

So far, they allow commercially available paintball grenades to be shot only at
tanks and fixed emplacements at very slow velocities simular to as if one just threw
it.  ( which is generally more accurate anyway and sure easier to haul around)
Simularly, they allow small paint filled balloons that function about the same as
the grenades.  Most popular is a canvas bag with a strap on it.  Just like a purse.
It is a simulated satchel charge that can be thrown or placed on or near a vehicle.
We of course are developing anti tank mines and remotely detonated satchel charges
to put across the and onto the paths...  The weapon and anti weapon R&D goes on year
round....

They do allow bazookas that are basically paintball shotguns.  15-20 balls in a
styrofoam cup with a paper towel wad behind it for a seal.  No accuracy or range but
decent for taking out a tank.  Any ball break is a kill from one of those.  The
problem is the ref has to be able to tell if the break was from the bazooka and not
some other paintball player just shooting at it.   Hence the 'special teams'  that
know it is a waste of paint to shoot at one and our break fill and shell color  will
be a different color than the paint we use in our guns.   Our bazooka will shoot
flourscent orange fill in a clear shell so it looks the same color going though the
air.  Easy for the refs to spot.

I'm working on a concept that might be developed into a true 50 yard range artillery
piece that could be turrent mounted or a hand held depending on scale.  It is a
pulse, squirt gun.   It will shoot a measured quantity of pudding consistency,
gelled water with pigment.

A pulse 1-2 inches in diameter and up to 2 feet long.  It would not break a facemask
with a point blank hit but there is still concern that a larger pulse might be able
to knock the mask off a player's head and be exposed to secondary injury from a
flying paintball.   We are chasing the ASTM standards down used by manufacturers for
paintball mask designs. That should give us some hard data to design around.

But the larger designs that one might use on a tank or mortar could have the muzzle
mounted over 6 feet off the ground and physically incapable of being pointed below
horizontal.  That would eliminiate much of the potential for a point blank encounter
with a facemask.  Waiting to hear from the insurance carriers.

Going to build a small hand held anti tank version first so the field managers and
insurance rep can eyeball the design in action. But it won't be ready this year.

You can add this to your list of crazy, good times I had back when I was young and
stupid.....

Well, you can see we try to be safe and their is some oversight with the insurance
and liability issures.
Like I said,  we haven't killed anybody -YET.   They did drive over a guy's leg
(didn't break it) last year lying next/in  the path to put a satchel charge on the
tank.  This year is the NEW kill switch requirement for the ref to carry and stop a
tank if someone does'nt have enough sense NOT to lie in the road and get run over.
We've actually discussed using this strategy to stop a tank so we could ambush it.
So far, no volunteers in the Grey Beards....  We decided we don't need a 5 mph tank
to stop for us to be able to hit it at the ranges we have to work in.

Comming?  Wanna be a Grey Beard?


Rich Upton wrote:

> Good Lord, Dale!  Where can I sign up?  I'll be in the soup kitchen since
> I'm 50 and probably physically challenged as you put it compared to the
> rest.
>     What are the tanks employed?
>
> Good hunting and have a safe time!  (Being around tanks at night must make
> y'all just a wee bit nervous, no?)
>
> Rich
>
> on 5/8/02 8:11 PM, Dale DuPont at ahcp-at-worldnet.att.net wrote:
>
> > yep.  The first full moon in June.  2000-3000 paintball players do  D Day in
> > Oklahoma on about a 1000 acres.  They have real tanks, night vision equipment,
> > anti tank weapons.  Land mines, bouncing betties, grenades.overhead flares,
> > and
> > play 72 hours straight....  And they haven't actually killed anybody yet...
> >
> > Haven't been there yet but I'm going this year. I'm with 3  anti tank team
> > from
> > St. Louis thats been practiceing for about 3 month with anti tank weapons.
> > The
> > Germans have won 2 years in a row with their tanks being a critical factor.
> > They've been way to cocky.  We plan to humble them a little this year...
> >
> >
> >
> > Now that I'm on track, I probably contacted your group of RC tank players
> > because I'm working on a project to have a RC tank playable on a commercial
> > field so physically challenged individuals could play the sport of paintball.
> >
> >
> > Brian Kraack wrote:
> >
> >> Well, the tanks I am talking about are RC tanks used in combat against each
> >> other.
> >>
> >> What is this DDay scenario you are talking about?  is it some human
> >> paintball thing?
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: Dale DuPont <ahcp-at-worldnet.att.net>
> >> To: <tanks-at-rctankcombat.com>
> >> Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 2:43 PM
> >> Subject: Re: hello again?
> >>
> >>> I know less than you Brian.  I'd be happy to help but don't know how to
> >>> contribute constructively.
> >>>
> >>> And that this point I'm a little confused.  Is this a paintball tank for
> >> use in
> >>> a paintball scenerio game or just a modeling project for a RC controlled
> >> tank?
> >>>
> >>> I've been talking to people about both lately.  I'm on a special forces
> >> team to
> >>> take out German tanks at the D Day scenerio war game in June.  So if you
> >> think I
> >>> could help somehow, help get me back on track with your project.
> >>>
> >>> Brian Kraack wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Well, here is where I am:
> >>>>
> >>>> I have a scale 'model' of a Tiger I tank that I plan on using to get my
> >>>> dimensions off of.  In case anyone cares, it's the Tiger tank from the
> >> model
> >>>> quality WW2 toy line they sell at toys-r-us - and it is really nice.
> >>>>
> >>>> So, I will be ready to start framing up the tank itself very soon.  More
> >>>> pics of the inside of the tanks would be nice, and/or more info about
> >> the
> >>>> framing, etc.  Also, more detailed shots of the cannon system would be
> >>>> helpful.
> >>>>
> >>>> any tricks or traps you know of (besides what's on the page already)?
> >> What
> >>>> thickness sheeting did you use, and how did it stand up to paint hits
> >> ...
> >>>> What kind of batteries are you using?
> >>>>
> >>>> Basically anything more you have would be great to see (from an
> >>>> inspirational point of view).
> >>>>
> >>>> thanks,
> >>>> /brian
> >>>>
> >>>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>>> From: Frank Pittelli <frank-at-navius.com>
> >>>> To: <tanks-at-rctankcombat.com>
> >>>> Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 1:05 PM
> >>>> Subject: Re: hello again?
> >>>>
> >>>>> In Reply To Brian Kraack Who Wrote On  8 May:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> So, is anyone besides the two on the website actually building
> >> tanks?
> >>>>>> anyone near dayton, oh?  I'm getting ready to start on my Tiger I,
> >> so
> >>>>>> more (and more detailed) pictures on the site would be appreciated.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> We've heard reports of numerous tanks being "started" around the
> >>>>> country, but we haven't seen any photos of works in progress yet.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I've got some additional photos of the existing three tanks and we can
> >>>>> always take custom shots for those who are interested.  What would you
> >>>>> like to see?
> >>>>>
> >>>>> As far as the email traffic on this mailing list, I think it will
> >>>>> increase as people start building things and there are more
> >>>>> questions/comments to be made.  Since the beginning, it has always
> >> been
> >>>>> a quiet list ... but perhaps that will change ;-)
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Frank P.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >