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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."
I can hear the shrieks of the gun control activists now!
Curb CO2 emissions: Kill yourself today!
Anyone els think the kid in the tank looks like he's got to take a leak?
What they failed to mention was that the Sherman tank was built AROUND the small child ...
Kindergarten is going to be rough for that little one.
Man it looks like a Estes(sp?) model rocket motor would fit right in the canon. Look out neighbourhood cats!
-- www.globaltics.net
Political discussion for a new world
No wonder Bush is looking for every last reason to attack Iraq...
Hey that big war budget HAS to be spent doing something "constructive" right?
is that the kid will outgrow it in a year and dad will have to think up a new project, maybe a bigger tank or an airplane. "But honey, it's for the kid!"
its elian gonzalez. see what the little punk has gotten into in cuba? it is only a matter of time until he invades again.
Cool.
Now I want to sell the instructions to Build your own mine field to this guy's neigbors.
Where was cool stuff like this when I was a kid, or at least when I was small enough to fit inside one of these. I was impressed that the treads were make out of wood, I would've guessed that you would've need an expensive trip too the hardware store to do treads.
Use your head, can't you, use your head,
You're on earth, there's no cure for that - S. Beckett
Studies have proven that it's NATURAL for kids to play with toy guns and the like. Children who do are not any more prone to shooting someone later in life than kids who merely play with dolls. I'm tired of pop psychologists/Oprah Winfrey telling us how to raise children/live our lives. I'm so pissed I'm going outside to shoot something!!!
A tank is not a weapon of mass destruction.
...would a 1/3rd scale model be large enought for a grown man? Or should I try for a 1/2 scale?
I mean, this would be one hell of a toy to scare the neightbours with... *smiles*
Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
7 year old child with 1/5th scale tank conquers Iraqi military through sheer cuteness.
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!
Is that it was made for 300 million dollars as a part of some Homeland Security/NSF grant. Tom Ridge: "We need to arm and armor our children. Otherwise the terrorists have won!"
What is music when you despise all sound?
Just imagine the looks on your neighbors faces when you rumble into the midst of their barbecue in a Panzer, and paste the beer cooler with your 37mm potato cannon. That'll teach 'em to drink imported beer on the 4th of July.
The response from my Guinness keg launcher promises to teach your 5-year-old a valuable lesson on the perils of unilateralism.
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...
Pictures from the childhood of Davros.
"Father" of the Daleks.
Cheers,
Jonathan
Well, he's got my vote for coolest dad of the year!
Envy my 5 digit Slashdot User ID!
Which countries was this not popular in?
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
.
Landfill Mining Co.
Managing the (Un)natural Resources of Tomorrow
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.
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?
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 $$$
c) tinker with it and make it remote-controlled
d) c, then b
If it were me, I'd add remote control along with a motor for turret-rotation, put a wireless cam or two on it and enjoy it for a long time to come.
If his dad does that, I'd hate to live on that kid's block on Mischief Night in 11 or 12 years, if the tank lasts that long.
~Philly
From the article:
The power source in this model is two 12v 75Ah deep-cycle Autocraft batteries driving two 24v 1/5 hp electric gear motors (see the bottom of this page for more on these motors). emphasis mine
Anyone else read this "antiaircraft batteries?"
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
North Coast makes their Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout which makes me laugh and chuckle at the thought of ever drinking Guiness again unless I had to. Don't even get me started about the Old Stock Ale which is devine. Every day beers like Red Seal and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale are also usually in the fridge.
No, I'm afraid imports just can't cut it. So until I take a trip to Europe to see what they have for themselves I am sticking with good ole American beer.
He's into detailed restoration, like an auto collector; he doesn't operate the tanks much.
like two panzershrecks, three max.
The kid's got his own Sherman Tank. Kindergarten's going to rough for the other kids.
Miko O'Sullivan
a) have another kid
b) sell it on eBay for $$$
Sweet! That's one way to deal with unwanted pregnancies!
Had a pair of 1/4 scale 88mm AA guns pointed right down the street. His son didn't make it past the cul de sac.
If I ever build my child a tank, it will be something other than the M4 Sherman. That tank should have never been put in service. Prior to the Normandy invasion in 1944, GEN George S. Patton made the decision to concentrate production on the M4 Sherman instead of the M26 Pershing. The Pershing, according to Patton, was much too heavy. Patton, being a cavalry man, saw tanks as tools of the infantry. Tanks were to be used in conjunction with assaults by foot soldiers and were not intended to fight other tanks. Patton's choice of the lighter, faster Sherman turned out to be a huge mistake. The high-velocity guns of the German Tiger and Panther tanks penetrated the Shermans like a fork through a slice of bread. According to Belton Y. Cooper (whose book you should read...more on that in a bit), the Army began the Normandy campaign with 232 M4 tanks. In eleven months of service, 648 were completely destroyed and 700 were knocked out but later prepared. This comes out to roughly 580% losses in less than a year. These incredible losses resulted in the deaths of thousands of highly (and expensively) trained tank crew members.
As if the M4's crappy armor wasn't bad enough, the Army equipped it with rotary aircraft engines, which it apparently had in surplus. These engines constantly fouled spark plugs (of which they had around 18, if I am remembering Cooper's book correctly). The engines did not like to idle at low RPMs and this created constant problems when travelling in convoys. On top of that, the tanks would let out an extremely un-tactical backfire when they were started, which often drew German artillery fire upon their positions. The M4s also had very narrow tracks. Your son's model tank looks to be fairly accurate as far as the dimensions of the tracks. When these narrow tracks encountered freshly-plowed farmland, they got stuck and it took incredible effort to free them.
But wait, it gets even worse... The M4's main gun (75mm or 76mm, depending) was almost useless when up against German armor. When that gun hit the hardened armor (rolled, if my memory serves me) of the Tiger tanks, it merely bounced off, leaving a scratch or pockmark on the surface.
So, all you Slashdotters...if you're going to build your kid a tank, do them a favor and build them an M26!
-Chris
PS - I got most of this information from reading Belton Y. Cooper's incredible book, "Death Traps", which follows the 3rd Armored Divison ("Spearhead") from Normandy to the heart of Germany. I'm not sure if it is still available--it was out-of-print for a while...