Hi Dale,
Interesting choice for your tank. There's no turret so you'll only need a four channel radio, 2 channels for your motors, 1 for gun elevation, and one for trigger. You could use a tether control system to reduce cost if you want. About the $1000, I don't think this particular tank will cost anywhere near that but the money is spent over a year or so, so don't worry about costs so much.
This tank has a large rear drive wheel (around 7 to 8" in 1:6 scale) so you could probably use two surplus Saturn wiper motors with direct drive to get decent performance ($12 each). With that hull shape you'll have plenty of room for batteries. One or two 12amphr lead acid batteries would fit just right or maybe even one 26amphr (wheelchair battery). I would build it on a base of 3/4" plywood which you could fit a removable Lexan cover over (or 1/4" luan plywood). Color doesn't matter and it does not have to match exactly.
Like the original Char d'Assaut your vehicle will be prone to getting stuck in ditches because of the long front and rear overhangs. Don't let that detract you though. I think it's a cool, historically significant vehicle, and you'll get a lot of questions on the battle field about it.
Steve Tyng
Hi
its me dale again. Your email was very helpful. It came some what of a shock to me 1,000 is alot of money! But my parents will not let me give up. There are more questions for you. How big of a motor to push the tanks? What kind of batterys? How can you control the gun with the remote? Is lexsand (or some thing of that spelling) good for this project? My dad can get some from his job. The tank I will build is called a Char d'Assaut St Chamond is there any other tanks like it in the field? Does the color mater? And the last question, does it have to match the tank perfectly? thank for your help and the encourgment!
sinserly dale
gary owings
Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.