Slashdot Mirror
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."
Yeah, that would be great, if only certain major shipping companies didn't refuse to ship model rocket engines! Link
How are you going to keep them down on the farm once they've seen Karl Hungus?
Any one else think of that Christmas Story movie where they keep telling the kid "You'll put your eye out with that thing!" referring to the Red Ryder BB gun?
Forget equipping the cannon w/ live fire action... all he needs is for some kid to put his eye up real close to that barrel to look inside; then have the driver accidentally hit forward and jam the barrel into his skull.
I'd also be a bit leery about having those tank treds last very long... wood isn't designed to do that sort of thing... and certainly not after a few seasons of hot/cold-wet/dry...
And how about fire control? Motor's get hot and wood burns... small fire could start inside the tank and the kid might not even know...
Plus my mom never even let me have a power wheels!
No kidding, Children are a lot like computer programs, Input affects output, but in the end its the programmer ( parents ) that direct the nature out the output,
Just as a programmer can filter out certain inputs, a parents raising of a child filters there inputs,
You want a program to ignore a certain command you program it to, You want a child to not smoke you talk to them about it, now just like programming, there may be some bugs and it may not work but the parent has to try.
Im tired of listening to parents complain, when its a fact that parents spend less and less time with there children.
Before a parent can even begin to open there mouth they should look at themselves and answer some very simple questions.
1. Do I spend at least a hour of quality time a day with my child.
2. Do I know the names of my childs friends? Where does his best friend live?
3. Has my child every had sex? Do I know this for sure?
4. What is my kids favorite color
Some of the questions may seem stupid but come on, its your child.
Lets stop spending all our time blaming others and spend more time with our children, that is the only sure way to improve things.
Personal Website
At first it looked interesting. Then he starts running into problem after problem and I'm thinking, Does he want a job at General Dynamics? Because he is doing a ton of engineering. He put some real thought into that thing. I can't blame him at all for the $10-$25 fee for instructions.
Of course he will soon find that the instructions are equally as hard to make as the tank...
Giving a kid a model of a vehicle that inflicted death and mayhem on the Nazis is a Good Thing. Teaching that freedom comes at a great price is a Good Thing.
When I was a kid, I would have KILLED for something like this. We actually did end up building vehicles as we got older - using salvaged lawnmower engines, generally. To this day, my dad bugs me about the disassembled engine in his garage, which I left there 15 years ago.
The big problem was, none of us had access to a welder. The fact that we couldn't actually weld would have proven no obstacle. Eventually, we took to building boats instead, and ended up in a series of harrowing pellet gun wars with the other gang of boat-building kids.
Ah, life in a small town, eh?
He's into detailed restoration, like an auto collector; he doesn't operate the tanks much.