Build Your Own Sherman Tank

absolut.evil writes "OK, so admittedly it is only 1/5th scale, but still pretty cool.. especially if you're a kid. The thing comes complete with working suspension, meticulously built wooden tank treads and X-Arcade controls. Check out the pics and construction timeline."

this sucks

[Anonymous Coward]

That kid is going to outgrow that tank in 1 week. He shoulda made the tank slightly bigger. maybe a 1:3 model instead of 1:5.

Re:WMD are not something to play with

[Jeb3diah]

A tank is not a weapon of mass destruction.

Bowling for Columbine

[dalibor]

Visit clips [bowlingforcolumbine.com] , click on "A brief history of America". THINK!

Re:WMD are not something to play with

[Anonymous Coward]

Tell that to the people from Tieneman Square.
Fuck, if you had a slingshot and a pile of rocks, it would be a WOMD, but only if you were in Iraq.

Come on jerk-off, the whole fucking thing is relative. Why else would GW get his knickers in a knot over a 'Drone Plane' that was made out of balsa wood, weed whacker motors and duct tape, and controlled by a man on the ground at MOST 5 miles away? It's a fucking hobby plane that millions of americans have built for fun, but in Iraq, it's a restricted weapon!

Coolest Dad

[sysadmn]

Well, he's got my vote for coolest dad of the year!

Re:How are you Gentlemen!!

[The AtomicPunk]

Which countries was this not popular in?

Re:War machinery is great

[Slashdot Junky]

Dear World,

Yeah, I play "guns" all the time as a kid, and have never wanted to buy a real one, nor have I ever wanted to use one for anything. Man, those were the days!

Today's kids play with real guns, because their parents were to damn scared of hurting their feelings by saying no and setting real rules!

-Slashdot Junky

Re:War machinery is great

[mt_nixnut]

It's actally far more likely that the kid will grow up to be a model making nutlike his Dad. Since he will remember the project as much as the finished product that allowed him to actually climb inside and drive around the yard.

Who knows he may even grow up to be an engineer.

I worked in prisons for quite a few years and believe me, kids with dads that spend this kind of time with them don't typically grow up to be dangerous and violent.

Re:Awsome model..

[phillymjs]

Unfortunately, in less than one year the boy will have grown too big to fit inside anymore.

At which point the guy could:

a) have another kid
b) sell it on eBay for $$$
c) tinker with it and make it remote-controlled
d) c, then b

If it were me, I'd add remote control along with a motor for turret-rotation, put a wireless cam or two on it and enjoy it for a long time to come.

If his dad does that, I'd hate to live on that kid's block on Mischief Night in 11 or 12 years, if the tank lasts that long. :-)

~Philly

Re:Hmmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

A Sherman tank is around 20 feet long, almost 9 feet wide, and 11 (?) feet tall.

I would suggest using a tubular or box (easier to work with) steel frame. If you want to go cheap then use plywood for the exterior (bolted to the frame). Sheet metal would also work, and probably be lighter, but not as easy to work with.

Grab an old motorcycle or subcompact engine and bolt it in. Creating a tank-like transmission might be hard. I've haven't thought too much about it but you would need some way to direct power to each track seperately. Two engines might work but I've found that the less mechanical parts, the better.

I don't know of a really cheap way to make the tracks. They do make commercial rubber tracks for snowmobiles and other vehicles that you could use.