RE: we seem to be gearing down ?

["Steve Tyng" <stevet-at-stcharlesmd.com>]

As the owner of the heaviest operating thank in the hobby, A few points,

*       Do not sacrifice durability for any weight savings.  I used 1/2" shafts for 
my drive and idler wheels and 1/2" grade 5 bolts for my road wheels.  I experienced 
no damage in this area after two days of battling.  Even though I was blasting 
through terrain that stopped or damaged other tanks.
*       A strong chassis is paramount.  I built mine out of 1/2" 7 ply birch 1/2" 
plywood.  Remember that your vehicle is going to have to lug a lead acid battery 
around and of course everything else.  Its going to want to bend and twist in all 
sorts of directions as drive it around the battle field.  If your planning on a 
friction drive, the chassis will also have to resist the tensioning of the tracks.  
When I tighten T005's tracks to "battle tension" they are drum tight, and there is 
considerable compression placed on the chassis.
*       Make sure your battery mount is strong.  Unless you plan on fighting on 
nothing but parking lots, the battery is going to want to bounce around.
*       Save weight in your battery.  I designed my tank so I could quickly change 
batteries during play.  In fact I did this during our third battle.  I have four 18 
amp batteries with quick disconnects that I brought to the battle.
*       Filled CO2 bottles are heavy.  Use the smallest one you think you can get 
away with.  There's going to be a CO2 fill station at the battle so plan on using 
it.  T005 has a 4oz bottle.  I was shooting paint as fast as anyone and had no 
problems running out of CO2 during play.
*       If your going to use belts in your drive system, consider using 3L (3/8" 
wide) series belts and components instead if the 1/2" stuff at the hardware store.  
The 3L stuff is lighter.  The belts also bend easer (robbing less power from your 
drive) than 1/2" belts.  I had no problems with the durability of the 3L components.
*       Sprockets.  If your going to use chain sprockets, see if you can figure a 
way to use hub less plate sprockets instead of the much heaver hubbed sprockets.  
Check out the pic of one of my drive wheels on the site to see an example of using a 
plate sprocket.


Some areas I could trim some weight on T005,

*       
        The road wheels.  The wheels I purchased are heavy.  Someday I may replace 
them with plywood ones to lighten things up.  I could probably trim 10 to 15 pounds 
doing this.
*       
        The gun I installed (ZAP 80) is a heavyweight.  I'm working on a lighter 
replacing now (GTVe).
*       
        I have a separate battery 6volt (2.5 amp lead acid) for my turret.  I always 
have my eye open for a lighter alternative.  Maybe a NiCad pack?

 
And remember -- its a tank.  Its supposed to be heavy!  ;-)
 
Steve Tyng