Soulfly3

Hello guys,

I just got this tank [link]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290389839824&ssPageNam e=STRK:MEWAX:IT[/link]. I thought It was a good deal considering some of the prices I seen.

where do you recommend buying a radio (4 or 6 channel) and battle system?

Thanks,
T.

I'll take all the advice I can get....My first time building one of these bad boys. I like my HL pershing....but after watching the Tamiyas in action I just had to get one.

Shabbernigdo

When building be very organixed there is a ton of tiney parts and lord help you if you happen to drop them on the carpet lol.

Personally i found it much easier to keep track of them if i layed all the parts out on a table and when i was building the tank i worked on a white towel. Makes parts you drop easier to find and keeps em from rolling away.
Also a pair or forceps helps out a lot as well.

When i bought my radio i just got a tower hobbies sestem 3000 4 channel remote and it works pretty well.

This is vid i made of a bunch of pics i took while building. its not really detailed or any thing but it may help a little http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc75lDnLKb4

Soulfly3

Thanks!! I'm very excited...I'm going to take my time doing it.

I think I'm to buy the the battle system there too and the rest of the stuff like the zap ca and stuff.

Panther F

Nice score on the price there Soulfly3!! You will enjoy building the Tamiya Tiger I, it's a fun and easy kit. There are a few upgrades you might want, like an aluminum barrel and muzzle brake but it isn't absolutely a necessity.

Most tankers use the Spektrum or the Futaba radio ... I received my Futaba from Tower Hobbies.


- Jeff

pcomm1

Great buy, I saw it on ebay too. Enjoy the fun, John

Agree with Panther F's comments above.

Here are my 2 Cents Worth of basic Tiger Parts Tips: This kit is excellent built out of the box stock, but you can improve overall driving enjoyment with just a few after market parts and not get into great expense either.

Recommended parts:
1. From ETO, Graupner Speed 400 Motors with gear reduction units for accurate scale speed control. Relatively low cost solution for precise speed control with way better torque.
2. From ETO, Daryl Turner gearbox mount brace to help keep the tracks on over uneven terrain.
3. From ETO, a Metal Barrel. The Tamiya kit 2 piece plastic barrel is slightly short and makes the finished model's profile look wrong.
I waited 5 years and last week got around to installing the metal barrel and very much like the improved appearance of my model.
4. From ETO; DP29 Tiger 1 Main Gun Barrel to Recoil Attachment. Use this part to replace the kit's plastic J3 & J4 parts, this new part allows for easy barrel maintenance.
5. Remove and glue solid the clutch gears found in both the turret rotation unit and the elevation unit.
6. Re-install each gear to the same place from which they were removed. Note the order the bushings go and do not confuse parts from the 2 different units.

I got the parts from Bob at ETO: http://www.etoarmour.com/products.php?ViewCategory=10

Soulfly3

Thank for this info....I'll go check out ETO. I may come back to 5. and 6. when I start my build

BTW I live in Corona, Ca. So we are neighbors. I'll be hanging out with SCAT on the 23rd.

Take care,
Tony.

Badgerboy1970

Funny, that was the exact same tank auction I was looking at last night. I was soooooooo close to buying it because I had a Tamiya Tiger I I sold about a year ago due to financial issues and now regret it deeply. Glad to see it went to a good home.

Panther G

You may want to look into getting the sealed bearings for the road wheels. it is much easier to install them on the original biuld than later. for the cost it is a very good upgrade. One I wouldn't even consider not doing. It improves almost everything that has to do with the actual motion of the tank. Even helps make the charge on a battery last longer.

Soulfly3

Hello Panther G,

Are these sealed bearings tamiya brand?

Thanks,
Tony.

Panther G

There are many different suppliers of the bearings. Boca is a good source, you can also find them esily on the bay. I get mine from CRCoustommodels.

Soulfly3

thanks, I'll look on tamiyas site to see if I can get the dims of the bearings so I can get at the same time.

RSEA

According to your auction photos, the Tiger kit you just purchased has the early Type 1 gearboxes in it (it is an older full option kit, newer manufactured ones have the later style gearboxes). I recently acquired a Tiger with the same Type 1 units in it. Here is what I found after purchasing and installing gear downs and Graupner 400s with the Type 1 gearboxes:

When installing Schumo gear downs on my Tiger, I found the the lower (port side) motor can hits the base of the starboard side gearbox. When you screw the gearboxes down in place the motor can will be pressing firmly against the bottom of the starboard gearbox frame. The upper (starboard side) motor can will just barely clear the upper deck of the tank by about 1/8" or less. I've been told that there are no clearance issues like this at all if the gear downs are used with later Type 2 or 3 gearboxes. I was told this by someone in my club who runs the gear downs with the late boxes in his Tiger.

If you want to run the DT gearbox brace with the gear downs on Type 1s, you will have to remove the central support part (with the lightening holes in it). It gets in the way of the lower motor and will not allow you to install the port side gearbox.

If you run Graupner 400s your tank will not track straight when moving forwards and want to veer slowly to the starboard side. The Graupner 400s are NOT designed to spin in opposite directions at the same speed, UNLIKE the stock 380 motors included with the kit. The stock motors are different left and right motors and are designed to run at equal speeds when spinning in opposite directions of each other. Graupner makes 480s that are separate left and right units also, but the cans are too long to work with the gear downs. If your going to run the Graupner 400s, you will have to adjust the rudder trim pot on the DMD control unit to compensate for the unequal spin speed of the motors. To get your tank to track straight you'll end up having to have one motor spinning faster than the other to keep the tank moving forward without veering to the side.

For the above reasons, I am seriously considering replacing my Type 1 gearboxes with the later Type 3 units and just using the stock 380 motors that will be included with them. Multiple Graupner 400s are great when they spin in the same direction, when paired up say in a submarine or skimmer, they both spin in the same direction turning screws that are a left and right hand. That way you get equal thrust from both screws and no speed variance from the motors. Planes can use them without a problem as well. Our tanks require motors that spin in opposite directions. They only spin in the same direction when we pivot turn the tank in place.

Anyway, it would have been nice had I known all this before I got my Tiger, so I pass it on to you.

pcomm1

RSEA, take a look at this photo.

1. There should be no interference between the Tiger mount brace and either motor when using Axel's – ETO's gear reduction unit, as clearly seen, well kinda clearly shown in this photo. The brace is in place per the instructions.
2. The 400 Graupners are not direction specific and you are welcome to drive this tank, this Tiger has no directional control issues, it is just corrected scale speed slow compared to stock speed. Re-check with Bob at ETO on this point.
3. You must use the spacers between the motors and gearbox with your gear reduction units, notice the black rings in the photo, the spacers.
4. You need to use the long pinion gears with the spacers, available from Willy's RC or Bob at ETO, and reverse place them on the motor shafts.
5. Recheck your installation, something is off and or a key part is missing.
6. I have been using this bullet proof setup for 5 years as have many others and for me, when using the right parts, this gear reduction setup proved to be a easy 30 minute install that works fine.

And yes wheel bearings are a number 1 modification for any rc tank.

Soulfly3

Thanks for the input RSEA,

I'm not looking into upgrading just yet. I'll run the tank stock for now....The only upgrade that makes perfect sence during my build is the bearings. The only problem is that I cant find them.

I'll wait for my gears and motors to go out......I'll replace both when one of them go out. I figured I saved about $100 bucks on the kit....I can used them savings later for the gear upgrade.

sevoblast

Problem with the original Type 1 Trans that you have is they are way too fast. You can get the geardowns from me, and use them again on the later Type 3 trans when you get them. The long pinion gears come with the geardown set, and give you a choice of gear down ratios. I've been using this gear down system for almost 8 years now, without a hitch, ever. Use the 10 tooth pinion on the output shaft of the gear down, and the 14 tooth on the motor shaft. Should put you at a pretty good speed.
Bearings are a must, however in the Tiger 1 wheels you may have to ease out the bushing holes a little. Try Boca Bearings for bearings to exactly fit the holes.
Bob
etoarmour.com

RSEA

I have interference with the lower motor as my photos clearly show.

I am using the supplied spacers, mine are white in color.

The supplied pinion gears are installed, 10 tooth on the gear down output shafts, 12 tooth on the motor shafts.

Why would you need to reverse place the pinions on the motor shafts? I didn't. That would make no difference on the motor clearance issue with either the DT central brace or the the area I have circled in green.

I'd really like to see a photo of your lower motor, taken from the same angle as mine, to compare what your installation looks like. Maybe you or someone can tell me what is suppose to be wrong with my installation, I don't see how my lower motor can be raised any higher, other than by putting a 10 tooth pinion on the motor shaft which would just barely raise it slightly higher. How many teeth are on each of your pinion's (gear down shaft and motor shaft)? I would need to buy a set of 10 tooth pinions to try 10 teeth on both gear down and motor shafts as the gear downs only came with (one - 10 tooth, one - 12 tooth, and one - 14 tooth) for each gear down unit.

The best fit I could obtain was so there was enough gap in the green circled area so that I could just barely slide a piece of 20lb bond paper between the motor and the starboard gearbox frame. But, when I had it that way there was a slight catch (bind) between the motor pinion and the gear down's white gear so that they did not spin 100% freely. It was as if the pinion was meshed too far into the white gear, causing some friction every half turn or so. The gear down can only screw on the gearbox one way, it is not like you can install it backwards or something.. I really want to see a photo, ditto like mine, of your lower motor installation.

Bob at ETO said I would probably have to drill new mounting holes on the starboard side for the upper motor to clear the Tiger's upper deck. This was not necessary. But as you can plainly see, I have clearance issues with the lower motor.. Drilling new mounting holes on the port side gearbox would be one solution.

sevoblast

Try putting a 1mm or 2mm washer on the left trans mounts, between the mount studs and the TU frame. 1 or 2mm will not make any difference at all in the track alignment etc, and may well give you enough clearance to do the jub. Just a thought, and I've done that too. It works.

pcomm1

Some answers to your question:

Bob from ETO gave you the solution for motor clearance and your brace came with some washers too. In my Tiger the clearance is tight, but the motor clears and fits.

I understand you bought a used tank and restored it and it was a Danville runner. I think you just might be dealing with a hull that has twisted and flexed a little bit so its world of dimensions is probably a little different now than a new hull out of the box. But that should not be a problem to adapt your parts to work in it, just requires a little more tweaking.

The longer pinion gear in the first photo gives you a little more wiggle room to adjust the fit (lash) between the motor pinion to reduction gear. That adjustment is probably to tight in your install and that may be why your tank pulls to one side or another.

Enjoy, you'll get it running good with the parts you have with a little patience and observation and adjustments.

RSEA

I notice one significant difference between our installations. Your DT brace is located and held in place differently than mine. It is further forward towards the front of the hull. Your rear mounting screws do not pass through the holes on the rear horizontal brace cross member. I can see your mounting screws are coming up through the hull behind the brace cross member and not through it. Therefore that cross member is not directly underneath your motor but infront of it. That explains why your able to have the entire brace installed including the central support piece.

I suspect then that you have no mounting screws going through the brace cross members at all and your brace is just laying under the gearboxes being held in place only by the downward pressure of the gearbox frames resting on top of it. Each brace cross member has two holes drilled through it near the ends. I assumed those holes are meant for the 4 gearbox hold down screws to slide up through. That is how the original owner of my tank had the brace mounted when I received it.

Daryl told me that the central support piece with the multiple holes is not really needed (for the hull bracing effect) and is there as an alignment aid for installing the brace. I've sent him an email asking him what is the intended correct way to install the brace in the tank, since he is the one that designed it.

Your reversing of the motor pinions has the added benefit of being able to torque the motor pinion set screws down after having aligned the motor with the gear down unit, which would make it easier to check for proper meshing of the gears. In my case, I was having to torque the motor pinion set screws down before I mounted the motors on the gear downs. Having the pinion loose so it just spins around on the motor shaft is better when checking for proper meshing. I will probably try reversing them like you did.

pcomm1

I am getting a little tired of field stripping my Tiger and using it as an instructional tool for your fun build, but one last time and everything you suspect is wrong newbie.

And yes the cross brace is optional, Daryl told me the same thing and on the King Tiger build I did not use it, but it screwed in place just fine in my Tiger IE.

The photo below shows you where to place the gearbox mount assembly and how to assemble the brace with the 2 provided screws.

You can't see the rear cross member in the previous above photo, it is hidden, but it is there, see the 2 photos below and look for the orange bar and square to answer your questions from above.

Now boot give the forum 25 and 5.

25 push ups and 5 laps for not following instructions.

John

RSEA

I never said any of your DT brace parts were missing, yes I can see all 3 parts are there. Your "entire" brace (all 3 components combined and not your gearboxes, just the brace) is situated further forward in the hull than mine is. Only in your one photo of a barren hull with just the brace and no gearboxes does it look positioned similar to mine (that is where I have my brace located). In all your other photos of the installed gearboxes, it is not in the same place (when compared to the photos posted of my installation). I don't want to argue about it. Your photos have shown me our braces are not in the same location, period. That's good enough for me.

I hope your field stripping wasn't too much of an inconvenience. I seem to be the ONLY person in my entire club with Type 1 gearboxes in a Tiger (and there are a LOT of Tigers in the club). Otherwise I would have compared it with one of theirs. Thanks for your help, I will ask Daryl any further questions that may arise in reference to the brace.