Unofficial Coolbank M5A1 Stuart 1/16 Scale Light Tank Discussion Thread

[Max-U52]

Hmm. Maybe it's time to crack open this tank. Anyone have the smoke work?

Mine isn't working either so please post your results.

[PanzerLoco]

As documented in earlier post by SoCalBobs.
The elevation of the main gun came back in mid-position after firing and releasing the control.
I like my riding my tank when theirs horn are up high !
In any way shape of form ; any ideas/suggestions to fix this? (beside swithing electronic)
I though at some point using glue on the gun mantlet.
Thank You RC tank Community !!

[Chris curran]

I'm late to this party, but I'm so stoked that this tank exists. Got mine a week ago and went crazy with it.

[MaverickTank]

Hmm. Maybe it's time to crack open this tank. Anyone have the smoke work?

[tank_me]

Engine exhaust on a real Stuart is through the exhaust diffusers:

[MaverickTank]

So- where is the smoke supposed to exit? In the post showing the opened tank, I can see lines connecting to the bottom of the tank? There are no outlets on mine that I can find.

[MaverickTank]

That's cool info guys- thanks for that.

[RichJohnson]

Yeah at that time, if the strap was permanently attached to the vehicle, then it was often leather, most others were canvas. The leather ones were wrapped through a footman loop welded to the vehicle and then stitched together to stay on the vehicle. Later on they were just wrapped through the footman loop and could be pulled out and leather slowly changed to canvas.

[tank_me]

I know Rich knows quite a bit about WW2 stuff as he has some WW2 vehicles of his own.

When we restored "U-Go", they used leather straps. http://www.752tank.com/fsmmstuart.html They extensively researched that tank and it's history.

I know that they have used leather on some vehicles as they are still available as NOS WW2 surplus straps: https://www.hayesotoupalik.com/U.S.%...le%20Parts.htm

There were so many companies making stuff for the war effort that there was some variation in what was supplied.



Ordinance part numbers for the straps are here as a set of 5 for a Sherman:

https://powderriverordnance.com/shop...v=f24485ae434a

[MaverickTank]

I was going for this...leather straps. I will try out using green for the other various tarps bits though.

[RichJohnson]

Try it with green. I used flat dental floss and painted it green as almost all straps were OD canvas in wwii. The exception was often on canvas vehicle tops or accessories that were attached to a vehicle, they sometimes has leather straps sewn to them

[MaverickTank]

I know a trick for making leather straps and rifle slings that you might find handy. Nowadays you can get duct tape in just about any color you want, so I picked up a roll of brown and cut a strip of it and then folded it over so the two sticky sides are stuck together. Then with a good sharp blade and a metal straight edge I cut strips about 1/16 of an inch wide. They make great straps and slings.

Ill have to give that a try!

[tank_me]

Anyone planning on cutting off the mud/sand skirts? I am too chicken to do it. I tend do steps 1-9 perfect, then mangle step 10!

Straps really do make it look better. Not sure if I'm going to cut them off yet or just swap the entire upper for the Classy Hobby one as it doesn't have them by default. I did cut the skirts off my old 1/6th scale Stuart and it really does make a difference in the way it looks.

[Max-U52]

I know a trick for making leather straps and rifle slings that you might find handy. Nowadays you can get duct tape in just about any color you want, so I picked up a roll of brown and cut a strip of it and then folded it over so the two sticky sides are stuck together. Then with a good sharp blade and a metal straight edge I cut strips about 1/16 of an inch wide. They make great straps and slings.

[MaverickTank]

I made "leather" equipment tie-downs out of a piece of mail envelope, acrylic paint, and a wire from a Christmas ornament. This small detail really made the tools look better. I also took a scrap of the part tree and made an axe head holder. The tools are not positioned on the model like the tanks I have seen in museum photos, but a friend of mine that was in the army said not to fuss over which tools were where, because units tended to improvise in the field. I have some part trees from Heng Long tanks coming in the mail so I can add Jerry cans and the like. This has been a fun project!

Anyone planning on cutting off the mud/sand skirts? I am too chicken to do it. I tend do steps 1-9 perfect, then mangle step 10!

[MaverickTank]

If you put an XT60 connector on the tank, it will slide inside the battery compartment wire hole and leave room for the battery. Worked great.

I took 1 link out of each side because the track was curling up around the sprocket. It seems to work great with the single link removed.

I had some issues with the tank very briefly intermittently pausing at 10'-15' away from the transmitter. That's my only issue so far.

So far, I am very pleased with the model. I am in the process of detailing now. By the way, Vallejo 70.894 Camouflage Olive Green is a very close match to the tank color. I recommend the solvent type, brush-on cement for the various pieces.

For those of you in more temperate climes, I don't recommend running this tank in grass. The various bits of the suspension are very nicely constructed to resemble the operation of the prototype, but not suitable for hard use.

[MaverickTank]

Ah the battery. There had to be something, eh? Why did they put a weird balance plug on the battery and no main plug? I'm going to put an XT60 on the tank. The plug looks like a JST connector, but the wire order is opposite the balance plug on my other batteries. Any thoughts?

[Milspec1]

I thought I had seen somewhere on here where I could find 1/16 scale detail parts but can't seem to find the post. I'm looking for U.S. WW2 bags, ammunition boxes etc. Anyone know where I could find them?

[Sureshot]

I ordered one of these from Bangood today. Looks like a fun little tank! They are on sale right now for $115.99 with free shipping.
I think I will try re- wiring the battery pack in parallel to cut the voltage in half and double the capacity to see how it runs. It's pretty fast in the videos I've seen. Might try a 1s Lipo too.
My Torro half track was way too fast also and reducing the cell count helped it a lot.

Steve

[tank_me]

Try to remember how to put it back together:)

Oh...I labeled all of the cables before removing them.