Hey guys,

I've been interested in these lately, but I was wondering- how are they? I know they are 1 speed, but how are they built? Do the tracks hold up to out door use? Are there any major problems that would make this not worth it? http://www.backyardarmor.com/WSN_T34_Tank.htm

Well some of my friends at BTN (a RC tank club) have this tank.

It's fun for the money but not as strong or advanced as the tamiya tanks.

One of the members however was really disappointed and decided to buy a Trumpeter T-34/76 and convert it to a full option RC tank. Really amazing what he does to that tank

So, the opinions are different from each person but for the money I think it's a good tank

Martin

The three guys in my RC club that have it replaced all of the internal components with spare tamya components.

Tanks

It depends on what you want to do with the tank. I ran it stock just to check out the drive train and it does only have one speed ... too fast, and the functions are a bit funny. The main gun if held down will operate like a machine gun ... continually firing with recoil. But the turret rotation unit is awesome!

I installed the Tamiya electronics from the M4 using better motors, stock drive train with Daryl Turner's aluminum suspension with bearings and used the stock elevation. I ran it in it's first battle a few months ago and was so impressed with it not only am I keeping it as is, but bought another WSN to convert to a SU-85 to do the same, minus the suspension update. The tank is a bit light and our battles are inside, so with that in mind I think as long as you run it with some care and thought towards lasting it will serve you well.

Of course I did beef up the lower hull with some .032" aluminum and sleeved the front idler and packed the plastic gears with ceramic grease. The stock treads are very smooth!

With a little work it is a real nice little runner for the money.


Jeff

Jeff:

How much did Daryl's upgrade cost? I bought one, and my impression in talking to Daryl myself that it was cheaper to get a used Tamiya off eBay than it was to upgrade the T34. I dumped it at a 25% loss, and it took a month to sell at that.

I'm more than a bit disappointed that everyone focussed on cosmetic upgrades to the T34, and ignored the very poor suspension completely. Without mods, the suspension arms flex a good 10 degrees before the suspension springs begin to compress, emphasizing the cheap grade of plastic used. The Marui guys said the suspension is worse than a HL's.

The traverse was very good, but noisy (easily fixed with a different motor) but the recoil seemed very slow and unrealistic, and often stopped at the wrong spot. The wiring was prone to pop loose if handled even gently (snapping at solder points)

I think Tamiya can do a much better job if they decide to compete, and I ~will~ buy a Tamiya if they make one.
I'd sooner have a T34 instead of the rumored Panther.

The aluminum suspension arm kit was around $70, but worth it! I did have a lot of work cutting the wheels for the flanged bearings and then setting the correct 'crush' when re-installing the wheels.

My second effort has the wheels 'sleeved' with brass (thanks to Lynn from our group) and I'll back-fill the arms with some J-B Weld and frame out the inside to 'stiffen' them some. But the biggest problem with the flex is where the arms attach to the chassis. The fit there is very bad and sloppy and has way too much side to side play.

Like I said, our battle are inside, so using the stock gears and drive it with care it should last a long time. What Daryl was eluding to I bet was installing the Pershing gearbox with a set of outdrives, then changing out the drive axles to the T-34's sprockets ... this would make the T-34 bulletproof and more than capable to run outside in the elements. That alone has the cost soaring and I agree it would be cheaper to get a used Tamiya off ebay.

But with the M4 electronics, you can toss the recoil out and keeping the stock elevation and turret rotation, adapting some of the WSN plugs in certain areas, stock gears and better motors, it's a real easy CHEAP runner. I ran mine all day instead of the M4 and got a real kick out of it how smooth it turned out. With the 3300 batteries, it ran all day ... 8 hours!

But like I said ... a lot of work, especially inside making room for the electronics and cutting the battery box out.


Jeff

Just a few pics of my WSN T-34/85.





It's not a 'beauty queen', just a battler. :-)


Jeff

I just couldn't pass up the alure of a 1/16 T-34 and just HAD to buy one, here's mine already repainted with something that I believe looks cooler, not necessarily accurate, but deffinately cooler. mI'll be replacing the electronics slowly, they are deffinately not cheap!

Jeff, that's a nice looking tank! Looks like you filled it with Tamiya electronics?

How about the bunker-looking thing behind the tank? Is it a bunker/other kind of structure? If so what material did you used?

gonna concentrate me on 1/16 battlefield building/bunkers till I can afford a second 1/16 tank again so..

Martin

Tanks Martin!

The 'bunker' is made out of the blue styrofoam used in normal housing construction. It allows paint to go directly onto the surface without any sealer or primer and is real easy to cut. I assembled it using Gorilla Glue ... some pretty strong stuff.

I'm about 97% finished with it ... still need to paint the doorways and inside black, add some kind of weathering or vines to the outside and maybe a figure at the doorway to top it off.

And yes, the tank has the Tamiya Sherman electronics (minus the gearbox) and battle system installed.


Jeff

Call me ignorant, but what's the black cylinder on the top of the turret?

Dave

This will explain it better than I ever will:


http://tamiya.com/english/products/53447battle_system/battle_system.htm


Jeff

Clever, thanks.

Dave

Jeff, where could I buy the upgrade for the suspension?

Is it a complete new suspension or are just some new improved parts included?

Do you have pics available of this set?

Martin

Hi Martin;

Daryl Turner makes the aluminum suspension kit for the T34's. It consists of precision machined arms with metal spindles and all the necessary crush spacers and washers. You will have to purchase 20 850 flanged bearings separately and enlarge the hole openings in the wheels for those bearings.

That was last March and I don't know if he's making them anymore or if any are in hand.

Bob at ETO Armor http://etoarmor.com/ would be the person to contact for he carries Daryl's products and is a great guy to work with and has PayPal too.

Hope this helps!

Jeff

Hi

Not sure if I understand the English correct so...does the upgrade supply all the parts needed for the suspension or do you also need parts from the WSN/trumpeter kit?

I'dl ike to use the suspension mechanism for another project you see.....

Thanks,
Martin

Okay;

All this kit does is replace the stock plastic arm/spindles ... what the wheels physically attach to.

There is no other suspension parts in the kit.


Jeff