Unofficial Tongde M24 Chaffee 1/16 scale Battle Tank Discussion Thread

[Rubicon99]

These all look so good...

It's been a long time since I've done anything tank-related. Are the V3.0 control boards on these good? Last I was looking into tank stuff the Open Panzer boards were all the rage - even if like half of them were defective. I had heard they were going to have them produced by someone else but I'm not sure if that ever happened. I just loved the idea of the programability of those. Dial out the neutral steer and stuff like that. Is any of that possible with these newer V3.0 boards?

The TD 3.0 system is very basic, not bad, but not good either. Look at the HengLong 7.1 system to replace the 3.0 with, at a minimum. The 7.1 has adjustable steering settings where you can turn off neutral steering and just have skid steering. Even the amount of skid can be adjusted for tighter or wider turns.

[tank_me]

These all look so good...

It's been a long time since I've done anything tank-related. Are the V3.0 control boards on these good? Last I was looking into tank stuff the Open Panzer boards were all the rage - even if like half of them were defective. I had heard they were going to have them produced by someone else but I'm not sure if that ever happened. I just loved the idea of the programability of those. Dial out the neutral steer and stuff like that. Is any of that possible with these newer V3.0 boards?

The TCB is now being produced by Torro, but it's WAY more expensive than it ever was. Motion has them at $179 https://www.motionrc.com/products/to...bo-torop-01007

I have a bunch of TCBs for my large scale projects that were purchased at or maybe a little above the old Hobby King price, but I wouldn't recommend them for 1/16 scale for the price they are now.

[RichJohnson]

Other than the 7.1 that’s a pretty comparable price with Clark, what I used to pay for ibu2 when they were available and Tamiya dmd11 are 250

[tank_me]

Other than the 7.1 that’s a pretty comparable price with Clark, what I used to pay for ibu2 when they were available and Tamiya dmd11 are 250

But the TCB doesn't come with sound or ESCs. Those have to be added to have a fully functional board. You will be approaching $250 by the time you are all in on the TCB. I like the flexibility of the TCB as I'm installing one in my 1/6th scale 3D printed M3 Stuart, but these were the old boards that were less than $70 each.

[Rubicon99]

Size comparison of M24 Chaffee to an M60 illustrates just how small the Chaffee is.

[rampage]

Thanks for all the info on the control boards. I appreciate it! I think I'm going to go ahead and pull the trigger on one of these along with one of the Heng Long 7.1 systems.

I still have my Heng Long M4A3 that I converted to a 76mm tank with the T23 turret and I never finished it, but this could get me there again.

Also making me want to play War Thunder. Haha!

[761st]

The TCB is now being produced by Torro, but it's WAY more expensive than it ever was. Motion has them at $179 https://www.motionrc.com/products/to...bo-torop-01007

I have a bunch of TCBs for my large scale projects that were purchased at or maybe a little above the old Hobby King price, but I wouldn't recommend them for 1/16 scale for the price they are now.

They are now $199.00 and out of stock.

[761st]

Just got this bad boy. Arrived 5 days earlier than expected! Just in time for the" Florida freeze your ass off once a year weather." Initial run was nice. There will be operational changes down the road AND cosmetic. That open gap under the crew's stowage bin will get a plastic bottom. Antenna (s) will be replaced with something accurate (don't remember the source). The hatch next to the TC's cupula has to sit flush. Create a hole for the connection to the MG? The skirts have got to go! That is once I figure out how to separate the top hull. Also need better decals. Any input on who, what and where I could source or make some? I want to finish this one and the M5 in the 761st livery. For now, it's whiskey coffee and cover tropical plants and pipes before our freeze hits. (****!)

[Rubicon99]

Just got this bad boy. Arrived 5 days earlier than expected! Just in time for the" Florida freeze your ass off once a year weather." Initial run was nice. There will be operational changes down the road AND cosmetic. That open gap under the crew's stowage bin will get a plastic bottom. Antenna (s) will be replaced with something accurate (don't remember the source). The hatch next to the TC's cupula has to sit flush. Create a hole for the connection to the MG? The skirts have got to go! That is once I figure out how to separate the top hull. Also need better decals. Any input on who, what and where I could source or make some? I want to finish this one and the M5 in the 761st livery. For now, it's whiskey coffee and cover tropical plants and pipes before our freeze hits. (****!)

When you have it all opened up I would recommend going a few steps further since you are removing the side skirts and adding more torque to the torsion bars. This will lift the tank to a more accurate ride height and believe it or not it will smooth out the performance over rougher terrain. You will have to adjust the the Idler wheels for to compensate track tension for the added height but that is easy given it has adjustable idlers.


Mine with higher ride height after torsion bar adjustment.

[761st]

Thanks Rubi. Spot on. I looked at an earlier post from you. Will I need to add additional track? I like your paint job. This tank will be getting more initial work than some of my existing projects in waiting. I find the idea of the Chaffee interesting. Considering the replacement of the M5 with this light tank and the evolution of design along with functionality being a pretty big step forward for the time.

[Rubicon99]

Thanks Rubi. Spot on. I looked at an earlier post from you. Will I need to add additional track? I like your paint job. This tank will be getting more initial work than some of my existing projects in waiting. I find the idea of the Chaffee interesting. Considering the replacement of the M5 with this light tank and the evolution of design along with functionality being a pretty big step forward for the time.

I did not need to add any more links, only needed to adjust the idler wheels.

[761st]

Idlers adjusted. Primer and base coat applied to lower hull. Question. I may be over thinking it but, how exactly do you adjust the torsion bars?

[761st]

Another day with the Chaffee. Sand skirts are cut off. Found a Dremel "buzzsaw" blade at Harbor Freight. It made quick work of cutting the plastic. I was able to surprise myself and maintain a pretty straight cut line. With some filing and some sanding, the line should be spot on. Removed the smoke unit and the plug adapter on the turret door. The door still does not sit flush so maybe some magnets here. Rattle canned the upper hull and matt clear coated the lower. Also "cheaped out (burnish fluid is expensive and will take days to get here) so rattle can for the tracks. Thanks to Rubicon's help my next project will be the torsion bars. As you can see nothing has been adjusted. Too cold to work outside so I will be taking a day or two off from tank work.

[761st]

Hey guys. These look like straps. So far research hasn't turn up anything. Is this a cargo tie-down area? Thanks.

[tank_me]

Depends on when the Chaffee was in use. I would guess that early production used this location for the pioneer tools. I've also seen them mounted in a pioneer toolkit frame mounted on the tank's side skirts.

[761st]

Thanks Tank. That makes sense. Not much clearance to begin with. This is an easy set up to duplicate.

[761st]

Torsion bars adjusted. It was interesting as I made it more of a hassle than it was.

[Rubicon99]

Torsion bars adjusted. It was interesting as I made it more of a hassle than it was.

Looks so much better with just a little more ride height👍👍.

As I tell everyone working on tanks, it's only seems hard the first time you try and often not as hard as it sounds.

[761st]

Very true. I was concerned that I might twist the torsion bar too much and deform them. Turns out I had to "re-twist" as I adjusted in the wrong direction first. I did have a challenge with the torsion bar under the motors but got it sorted out. I may go for a darker paint and source out the 7.1. Thanks again for all the help.

[Rubicon99]

Very true. I was concerned that I might twist the torsion bar too much and deform them. Turns out I had to "re-twist" as I adjusted in the wrong direction first. I did have a challenge with the torsion bar under the motors but got it sorted out. I may go for a darker paint and source out the 7.1. Thanks again for all the help.

I forgot to mention you had to remove the gearbox to get to the torsion bars, but that is easy and fast. I went with the 7.1 in mine, much better driving dynamics than the TD 3.0.