Sherman
Tank Toy Project
This
page describes
my Sherman Tank Toy. Based on plans written by W.E. Johns at www.gizmology.net,
I have clearly
gotten carried away with building a toy for my kids. The toy
is
still under construction, and I plan to update these pages as progress
is made.
Latest
News
Aug 19, 2007
Today
was a hot one, but still had time to play. I finished the riders
compartment by installing a shield to keep the rider out of the drive
train. See the updates page.
Aug 18, 2007
Such
a nice day I thought I'd work on the tank some more. I've
installed the front body panel and started fitting a seat. The
firewall was installed in preparation for putting an air intake on the
rear panel. The idea is to let the engine suck air in from the
top and let it exhaust out the bottom of the engine compartment.
The firewall keeps the kids from the heat.
In other news, I've been playing with my 'el cheepo' wire welder. See the updates page.
Old News
How
to get started...
Buy the plans from W.E. Johns!
For a small fee you'll get a high-quality 80+ page document loaded with
photos and enough info to build a 1/5 scale Sherman tank toy.
Johns has done an excellent job documenting his toy, and while I won't
be nearly as through as he was, I hope to record some of what I've done.
Features and Differences
- Size -
I've decided to scale the model
150%. The toy is 3 feet wide, and about 6 feet long.
- Power
Source -
Gasoline engine driving an
alternator.
- Drive
Train -
AME D-Pack electric motors
with belt / chain reduction.
- Motor
Control -
electronic motor
controller to allow variable speeds.
- Suspension
-
Lawn mower wheels (ball
bearing) with Chevy valve spring equipped bogies.
- Body
and Frame -
Scaled Johns' plans
150%, with an additional 1" added to the upper tank sides.
This
was done to make room for the engine. In addition, a tubular
steel frame was added to offload stress from the wood shell.
- Track
- Use steel, aluminum, and wood to make a heavy duty track
that hopefully will last.
Tank Videos
tank_track.mpg
(3.9 Meg) - closeup of the tracks in action
tank_ride.mpg (12
Meg) - running around in the backyard
Email questions and comments: chadady [at] iglou [dot] com
