29 replies to this topic

[commiedoor]

ever since gothcat started his half-track idea , i was smitten by the concept . i decided to go the 6x4 semi trailer route so as not to clash with him . well now that project is well and truley finished i have been looking around for ideas for a half track .i was going t do a cut and shut on a tank but the scales where never right .
i have been collecting bits and pieces to have a go at one and have decided tgo this way . by using the following


for the front wheels


the TL01 chassis



a pair of these mattrack tracks for the back



a parma 1934 ford pick up body for the ...ahh body , i might build up the sides with rails , depends .



i was after an axial b17 '' betty '' body , but couldnt find one at a reasonable price .

after i finish i hope it will look like a cross between these two old millitary tracks .


and


i have a pair of marui hunter spot lights to go the front guards or i have a set of LED alloy spotlight i could use so that i can run it at night with '' black out '' hoods fitted ! lol . colour will be either olive drab or a grey , most likey the grey to keep in the time period of between ww1 and ww2 ..

[Percymon]

The narrowness of the TL01 chassis should allow a few options to mount the tracks. If there's enough room under the bonnet/hood you could perhaps also mount a small lipo pack longitudinally up front rather than across the middle of the chassis?

[Mad Ax]

Neat idea. The TL01 is a great chassis for custom work, easy to cut and shut and you can loads of them for next to nothing. Plenty of new parts still seem to be available too.

Note that M04 suspension arms fit front and rear if for any reason you need to narrow the track but still have proper suspension.

[commiedoor]

so far , the wheel base is fine , its the track width that a bit of a worry , the mattracks stick out a bit , the front is spot on . that info about the m04 arms being shorter is handy ! you wouldnt know how long they are ? i would like to tuck the tracks in under the rear fenders a bit more .
i hope to have a mock up this arvo . i'm waiting for a couple of 30mm stand-off pillars to turn up in the post so i can mount the mattracks to the axles . i just found out the axial have discontinued the b17 betty body

[Mad Ax]

I don't know exactly how wide the M04 arms are but if I remember and I have time I can check when I get back from racing tonight, I've got an M04 on the shelf and a shortened TL01 with M04 arms.

[commiedoor]

things are moving nicely , just waiting for the stand-off posts to come off back order and i will be able to mount up the mattracks . heres a mock up of work so far ..
the front rims needed to be spaced out on the hub cause of tyre rub .


the back carriers had to have a pin fitted in them to stop the track hub from spinning 360 degress on the hub , theres a resecc in the tracks for a stopper on the tandy hummer they are from .


i found that TB01 front arms fit the TL01 chassis and are 4mm shorter , giving me a narrower wheel track ( track track ???) . i can still use the standard bones , just ! , 38mm pin to pin bones would be perfect . i then had to make up some adjustable top arms to suit the screw set up .these are made from a 15mm screw , shocky eyelets and half a servo mount.



this is every thing at the waiting stage

and with the body sitting on the chassis .

[MadInventor]

Have you thought about the difference in diameter between the front driving wheels, and the rear drive sprockets for the tracks, assuming that you want to keep the front wheels driven ? (I assume this is the case as the front drive shafts and centre drive shaft are still fitted.) If the front wheels have a larger diameter than the track sprocket they will scrub as they are trying to cover a further distance in one rotation of the wheel.

[Katan]

Have you thought about the difference in diameter between the front driving wheels, and the rear drive sprockets for the tracks, assuming that you want to keep the front wheels driven ? (I assume this is the case as the front drive shafts and centre drive shaft are still fitted.) If the front wheels have a larger diameter than the track sprocket they will scrub as they are trying to cover a further distance in one rotation of the wheel.

The tracks will also be turning slower than the front wheels (if they are driven) due to the reduction between the sprocket and track.

[commiedoor]

once i get the missing bits , i can worry about that .. if it doesnt workout i can always loose the front bones ..

[commiedoor]

its been a slow prosecc but .. the TL01 chassis didnt eventuate because off the different ratios by having 2.0 wheels up front and the OVERALL size of the tracks , i forgot about that ..doh !
i even tried using larger diameter wheels but would need 5'' wheels .. ahhpoo ! but i just happened to have a 2wd onroad chassis that fit the bill . i put a pin in the rear hubs like the TL01 to stop the tracks spinning around and lucky for me the front axles where hex drive types so the land drover wheels fit straight on . it drives ok but is a bit '' pushy '' on cornering at speed , not that it goes hard ! them tracks take a fair bit to drive !
the old ford style side ute body sits on it fine and will only need a bit trimed of the rear guard to fit nice . painting will be next but im not sure what colours it will be . im leaning towards a millitery grey or o.d .. not sure yet ..

[bromvw]

To me it looks like the Russian military Half Tracks of WW2 . It might look good painted up in those colours with lots of weathering .

[TAZ-NZ]

i found that TB01 front arms fit the TL01 chassis and are 4mm shorter , giving me a narrower wheel track ( track track ???) . i can still use the standard bones , just ! , 38mm pin to pin bones would be perfect . i then had to make up some adjustable top arms to suit the screw set up .these are made from a 15mm screw , shocky eyelets and half a servo mount.

Great looking project.

Just a quick question, do you know if the TB01 rear arms are shorter than TL01 rear Arms, like the front arms are ?

[commiedoor]

heres a pic of the bottom of both chassis ..the tb is only just narrower than the tl now ..if you could find shorter axle carriers , it would really narrow things up .

[TAZ-NZ]

Thanks for the quick reply.

If you use TL-01LA uprights with with the standard TL-01 rear arms, you can shave off about 8mm on each side.



I'm only trying to shave off a 4mm each side, so it sounds like the TB01 arms might just do the the trick.

[commiedoor]

ok , development on the body front , not being happy with the way the old ford body would sit and not being able to find a axial b17 '' betty '' body , i found a close copy and after a couple of false starts , i found them for sale , seperate from the crawler they come on in 1/8th and 1/10 scale , pre-painted , in australia and cheap ! since i will be painting it on the out side the colour dosen't matter .. w00t a win ! ...just need to fit new rear short hubs and mount new body fitter with new side boards and a few wooden boxes and jery cans in the back and off i go to resupply the troops on the front line in the middle of a cold , wet , muddy winter ..

[commiedoor]

i was concerned about how far the tracks stuck out from the body , so i dug around in my spares boxes and found a heap of rear hubs . this set , i think is tl01 ? , fit the bill just right . i even found a set of short dog bones to use as well . now all i have to do is get the body to sit properly and off to the paint shop it goes .. mind you .. the body shape is a real pain as i have tried 2 bodies and neither fit well .. ohh well keep on trying ..

the left side has the new hub and bones

[Tamiya1/10]

That is one cool project. Since I lack the conversion skills, this is what I want tamiya to release, some nasty looking old work horse, non of the modern SUV type, 1/2 track with a hard body.
Look forward to more photos and the finished product.

[commiedoor]

ok , since i posted earlier ,the body thing has bugged me something silly . after being crook for nearly 3 weeks , i felt good enough to have a look at the problem . i dont want to buy another body . so i played around with 50's ford crawler body .
i cut the rear wheel arches off and made a mock up of a stake side body . there are plenty of reference pics on the web to show that this was a common set up and most bodies sat up heigh on the chassis .
so what are your thoughts on this body ? it will be finished in polycarbonate sheet screwed and glued together then painted o.d .

[mtbkym01]

Yep I'd go with this body, looking beyond it's current paint, it looks spot on, good stuff

[bromvw]

ok , since i posted earlier ,the body thing has bugged me something silly . after being crook for nearly 3 weeks , i felt good enough to have a look at the problem . i dont want to buy another body . so i played around with 50's ford crawler body .
i cut the rear wheel arches off and made a mock up of a stake side body . there are plenty of reference pics on the web to show that this was a common set up and most bodies sat up heigh on the chassis .
so what are your thoughts on this body ? it will be finished in polycarbonate sheet screwed and glued together then painted o.d .

I like the look of it . Very true to the spirit of these things as many were cobbled together basied on trucks of the period . Once you get some primer on it you'll be suprised how it comes together visually .

[Sayer]

I like the look of it . Very true to the spirit of these things as many were cobbled together basied on trucks of the period . Once you get some primer on it you'll be suprised how it comes together visually .

It had better! that paint job is eye burning-ly bad. Tribal carbon fiber effect flames...It's like someone bet them they couldn't include every painting cliche on a single bodyshell.

[commiedoor]

hey , what can i say .. it is a $15 pre-painted shell it was the lest eyeball burning paint job they had ... lol but as its being painted on the outside .. dont matter !

[commiedoor]

i was looking for dark grey policarb paint and getting now , then i remembered i had a can of auto vinyl paint in dark grey i had made up about 5 years ago . it worked a treat , stuck well and looks good . i am in the process mading some wooden crates and stuff for the tray to make it look a bit better .

[bromvw]

Looking way better . The body sits a little high though . Is there any way you could make up some mud guards for the tracks to visually lower the truck bed ?Someting like Pumpkin step side arches might look ok .

[commiedoor]

the body does sit lower ..its just that i havn't adjusted the ride height or sag yet .. bin slack mate ! .........plus it does look a bit like this one