The October War, annual Arab - Israeli tank battle hosted by 619th Tank Battalion in San Diego

[RichJohnson]

Every October we host the only Arab - Israeli themed tank battle event in our hobby.

This year will be extra special as IDF Centurians will join the Super Shermans against the tan panzers and russian tanks.

Sunday October 9th 10am at the Mission Bay battlefield.

[Rubicon99]

This is a perfect event for those with Russian armor to pit them against Western armor. Doesn’t matter if they are painted tan or not.

Russian / Arab amor also typically gets an extra life (re-spawn) to help with the feel of overwhelming numbers against the IDF forces. This can make for some rather ferocious fighting.

Here are a few more photos from past years Oct War themed battle day.

[761st]

This is a great set up.

[RichJohnson]

In case you missed it at the top the schedule is Sunday October 9th at 10am Mission Bay battlefield.

[SoCalBobS]

Working on a participant, it won't be cosmetically finished by 10/9, but almost. In any event it's a working tank.



A Sherman in 1967, you say? I'm taking my inspiration from an IDF Sherman on the web:



Decals and smoke grenade launchers are enroute from Forgebear. My LHS was out of paint to complete the job. Apparently these tanks used duckbill tracks sometimes, makes sense in the desert.

[Rubicon99]

Looks good Bob!!

[Rubicon99]

More past October War battle day photos.

[Rubicon99]

Had some time to upgrade the IR bulb in my “desert” T72 before next weekend’s battle day. Removed the old and used up HL stock IR bulb from the mantle and replacing it with a new higher powered IR bulb now located in the barrel. But that’s not the reason for this post.

I though some might find it interesting to see just how much dirt the HL gearboxes and red 390 motors can handle and keep running without any issues. This T72 has not been served (opened up) for almost three years and is one of my most used and loaned out tanks so it sees abuse in dirt and sand often.

Keep in mind this T72 was from the first production run and is almost five years old and still running the stock steel gearboxes. The upgrade red 390 motors are even older as they served in one of my HL Abrams for a few years prior to making their way into the T72.



Oh and the new IR bulb being test fired. Purple light in end of barrel. Can’t see it with the naked eye but your cell phone camera can pick up the IR light.

[RichJohnson]

Working on a participant, it won't be cosmetically finished by 10/9, but almost. In any event it's a working tank.



A Sherman in 1967, you say? I'm taking my inspiration from an IDF Sherman on the web:



Decals and smoke grenade launchers are enroute from Forgebear. My LHS was out of paint to complete the job. Apparently these tanks used duckbill tracks sometimes, makes sense in the desert.

Nice Bob, I haven’t seen anyone do that one and it’s a fairly easy IDF build too. I have that first aid kit box on the side of the hull if you need one. Let me know I can go digging.

[SoCalBobS]

Sure Rich! Little details always enhance the overall impression. I'm not trying for extreme authenticity, I just want a vehicle that fits in to the planned era for our battle. I do have a altered rear deck, grenade launchers and a storage rack sold by Forgebear for an IDF Sherman enroute, but they won't be installed in time. In the movies, I believe they use "inspired by" to rationalize the differences from reality!

[Rubicon99]

[RichJohnson]

[SoCalBobS]

Ready to rumble...

[DavidN]

Are those markings hand painted or decals? If they are decals, where did you get them from? Thank you!

[SoCalBobS]

Are those markings hand painted or decals? If they are decals, where did you get them from? Thank you!

Decals from Forgebear in the UK.

[RichJohnson]

Mine are all hand painted. You just draw it with pencil and paint it in. That way your not limited to the decals. I copied tanks I had photos of but any unit can be made up when you have the info

[Rubicon99]

Bump.

[Rubicon99]

Notice the city has closed the mission Bay Area for a bicycle race we have diverted to the National City historic railroad depot. Google that in the map app and it will bring you right here.

[RichJohnson]

So, after we relocated to an alternate battlefield we had a pretty good time after setting up. I hope everyone that came out found us. So far I have not heard of anyone that got lost and did not find us.

I think this will be the last time for that National City Railroad Depot field though. The spike laden seed pods destroyed all of our shoes and took a long time to get out and it seems most people dont care for the mixture of dirt and rocks with the terrain.

I will get some pictures up soon.

One of my IDF shermans had a problem, I have been testing all afternoon and I figured out what happened today as to why it was taking hits so poorly.
My problems were two fold.
First the tamiya apple would not receive hits beyond a couple feet no matter what tank it was in. I took it apart and cleaned the tinted glass inside it with alcohol. Problem seems to be solved. I shot multiple tanks with it from a great distance.
Second, it seems my old IBU2 in the tank rejects any IR code that comes at a rate faster than an interval of 5 seconds, and then waits 5 seconds before it will take a hit. So a light tank firing continuously every 3 seconds the tank would only get the first hit and then reject all the IR coming in until it was clear for 5 seconds. If two tanks were continuously firing at it there would never be a 5 second period without incoming IR code so it rejected all of it. I have had to retire the the IBU TCB and install a different one that tested out ok.

A good point to double check when you get reliable info that previously well built and operational model has a problem. Sadly, it cost me a $175 control board that I cannot replace. Electronics get old and can get finicky like this.

[SoCalBobS]

As always, you did a wonderful job running the event.