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1/16 Tiger 1 with airsoft-gun mechanical upgrades
after the electronic upgrades ,
here now a few tips for mechanical upgrades...
most of the gearing ( excepted the main-gearboxes for the tracks )
and the airsoft-gun are almost identical with the internal parts
from Maruis 1/24 scale tanks
the Marui parts are from a better quality ,
therefore I decided to exchange the turret-rotation , gun-elevation units
and the airsoft-gun....
the turret-rotation is a direct bolt on
as well the gun-elevation
note the little piece of black plastic ,
I glued to the end of the gun to get a different working-angle on the gun-elevation
the Marui airsoft-gun ( from an M1A1 )
needs a little reshaping of the mounting-areas
where it connects with the Tiger mantel
here now the upgraded turret
as you can see I also used different wiring with plugs for easier removal
I removed the muzzle-brake
for better BB-shooting performance ...
here now a little modification to the battery-compartment
note the slot milled out to give the battery-cables more room ..
as well the new on/off switch under the right exhaust
as well a little board for the power-distribution
Hull-layout with the new electronic-components
see also :
I added flux-rings to the motors ...
these flux-rings reduce the rpm's and increase the torque of these motors
a good upgrade option are also my "black-motor's"
I use in my 1/16 Tamiya tanks
here now a gearbox upgrade :
much thicker shafts , 4mm and the outdriveshafts are even 5 mm ,
all in bushings , 2 mm thick alloy case
Note :
original I had Mabuchi RS 380 SH motors included ,
but it is recommended to re-use your HL motors ,
since the Mabuchi RS 380 SH are to slow on rpm's
nice 80:1 gearratio , makes the tank running in scale-speed ....
compared to the fast 40:1 original gearratio
outer shafts still need to be turned down to make the drive-sproket fit...
for someone with a lathe , not a big deal ..
cost for these gearboxes $ 75,- for a pair ( 2 gearboxes )
here with the modified output-shaft to fit the drivesproket
this can be done by machining the output-shaft from these new gearboxes ,
or by reusing the output-shaft from the old gearboxes ,
and cutting it down 5mm and drilling a 5mm hole to be pressed on to the new shaft
if you don't have the capability to do this ,
send me your 2 old output-shafts and I will do that for you
in this case I am asking for $ 100,- for a pair of these gearboxes
additional work required for installation :
cutting out the front center post ( mount for the upper hull )
( upper hull has still enough fasting points , like the holes in the fenders )
drilling holes in the bottom of the chassis as well drilling holes in the gearboxes
to mount them into the chassis on stand-offs or spacers about 10 mm tall
gearbox-case it easy to be drilled ( 2mm thick aluminum )
gearbox can be easily disassembled for drilling
requires just a 1.5 mm allen-wrench to loosen up all the setscrews
and then all shafts and gears can be removed
if there is enough interest I will prepare drop-in-kit's,
means you just would have to drill a few holes in the chassis
and I supply these gearboxes also with stand-off's / spacers
and detailed instructions...
drop-in conversation kit's $ 125,-
you may experience a higher running-noise with these upgrade gearboxes
fact is , as more gear's you have in a gearbox ( higher gear-ratio ) as more noise is to be expected ,
but it is also a question of proper lubrication
check out the video-clip , comparison "NON lubricated" and "lubricated" gearbox :
( click on the images below to watch or download )
on these video-snap-shots you can also tell that there was much more drag on the non-lubricated gearbox
the motor of the non-lubricated gearbox draws much higher amp's and there is also a higher voltage-drop
as on the lubricated gearbox
for questions or feedback please use this form :
Willy
November 2005