Posted by: "Head Hunter" St. Charles, Mo. suburb of St. Louis on January 28, 2004 at 11:20:37

My walking tank is pretty well designed. Enough to start adding up the weight of the components and projecting a FINAL weight. It is NOW DECISION TIME. Build or NOT to Build... My goal was / is 40 pounds per occupant with the orginal thinking being a two man tank with the occupants side by side so the proportions of the 'Box' could resemble a tank. Looked at the Abrams and Sheridan proportions for design guidelines. Well, the Abrams is a really LOW PROFILE tank. The occupants would have to be sitting or 10 years old. I settled on the "Tall" WW II Sheridan Tank for scale modeling purposes. In scale proportions for a 6 foot player to walk upright and still have their head inside the turret would wind up being 12 FOOT long and 5 foot wide. If a 6 foot player had his head sticking out the TOP of the turrent, the scaled proportions would be 10 foot long and 4.5 foot wide. So I started sketching ideas... And worrying about how to build a 'light weight' tank 12'long, 5' wide, and 6' tall that would be 'lightweight' and come in at 80 pounds fully loaded. Found the 'armor plate'. Polycarbonate extruded sheeting used for green house roofs. The 8mm (5/16') will take point blank 300 fps ball hits AND Point Blank 230 fps Nerf Rocket hits. A 4x8 foot sheet weighs 11.2 pounds and cost about $50. Armor Plate 6mm = 31 lbs 8mm = 40 lbs Combined Mix 6&8 mm = 37.4 lbs For the Frame Looking HARD at 2", 3" & 4" PVC Foam Core Drain Pipe which weighs about 1/2 to 2/3 of regular schedule 40. Also less rigid. Also looking at a NO frame design and just attaching the polycarbonate to L brackets glued and screwed to form the body. The turret will be a PVC frame with all netting surfaces. Weight of PVC Pipe 2" 3" 4" Foam Core Wt./Ft. 0.38 0.78 1.11 Pipe Total Weight: 26.6 54.6 77.7 Total Fittings Weights: 14.76 40.78 58.17 TANK Frame Total: 41.36 95.38 135.87 Armor Plate Weight: 40. 40. 40. Add another 60 pounds for a wheels, cannon, machine gun, paintball supplies, air, paint, screws. Tank Weight Total: 141lbs 195lbs 235lbs Not likely to kill anyone if you run over them. Not much worse than my 215 lbs stepping on you. Two Guys pushing around a 12 foot LONG tank weighing 70-117 pounds EACH would be a good workout on some of the hills around here. Not such a problem on a level field. Good luck off roading with it in the brush. Another one of my design goals... Well, the Obvious Solution is to scale it down. Well, the 10 foot long one only saves 15 pounds. An 8 footer save 30 pounds and it starts looking like a tall box rather than a tank. Geez! 12 foot long? You could fit 4 plus people comfortably inside that with some little design changes by extending the turret all the way to the back of the body. All four would be standing upright inside it and pushing along and/or shooting as you go. Figured a quick exit and entry that would come in handy as a small APV to drop a couple players off to lay a satchel charge to blow an objective. Now you have 4 people pushing 30 - 58 pounds EACH instead. Hmmm.... 30 pounds per occupant puts you back into the off road and hill climber category. 58 pounds per occupant opens a lot of possibilities than 107 pounds each does. When you think 4 persons in the 8 footer, the back compartment starts getting tight for Adults but probably OK for a couple of 12 year olds. Any shorter and you have a strictly 2 man. HERE IS THE BASIC QUESTION I NEED YOUR THOUGHTS ON. Relative to FUNCTIONAL USE on the field of play and weight considerations: Go with the 12 foot 4 man? Go with the 9 foot 2 man - 2 kids? Go with the 6 foot 2 man Box? or Keep designing lighter. See a psychiatrist. Get a new hobby... I'll email a picture to anyone interested in seeing it. Not dimentioned yet.

Follow Ups: Post a Followup Show your name as: DefaultRealnameBothNickname E-Mail address (eg: joeschmoe@aol.com): Show your e-mail address? DefaultYesNo Your Password: Don't have a password? CLICK HERE - Forgot your password? CLICK HERE Subject: Subject:Message: : My walking tank is pretty well designed. : Enough to start adding up the weight of the components and projecting a FINAL weight. : It is NOW DECISION TIME. Build or NOT to Build... : My goal was / is 40 pounds per occupant with the orginal thinking being a two man tank with the occupants side by side so the proportions of the 'Box' could resemble a tank. Looked at the Abrams and Sheridan proportions for design guidelines. : Well, the Abrams is a really LOW PROFILE tank. The occupants would have to be sitting or 10 years old. I settled on the "Tall" WW II Sheridan Tank for scale modeling purposes. : In scale proportions for a 6 foot player to walk upright and still have their head inside the turret would wind up being 12 FOOT long and 5 foot wide. If a 6 foot player had his head sticking out the TOP of the turrent, the scaled proportions would be 10 foot long and 4.5 foot wide. : So I started sketching ideas... And worrying about how to build a 'light weight' tank 12'long, 5' wide, and 6' tall that would be 'lightweight' and come in at 80 pounds fully loaded. : Found the 'armor plate'. Polycarbonate extruded sheeting used for green house roofs. The 8mm (5/16') will take point blank 300 fps ball hits AND Point Blank 230 fps Nerf Rocket hits. : A 4x8 foot sheet weighs 11.2 pounds and cost about $50. : Armor Plate 6mm = 31 lbs : 8mm = 40 lbs : Combined Mix 6&8 mm = 37.4 lbs : For the Frame Looking HARD at 2", 3" & 4" PVC Foam Core Drain Pipe which weighs about 1/2 to 2/3 of regular schedule 40. Also less rigid. : Also looking at a NO frame design and just attaching the polycarbonate to L brackets glued and screwed to form the body. The turret will be a PVC frame with all netting surfaces. : Weight of PVC Pipe 2" 3" 4" : Foam Core Wt./Ft. 0.38 0.78 1.11 : : Pipe Total Weight: 26.6 54.6 77.7 : Total Fittings Weights: 14.76 40.78 58.17 : TANK Frame Total: 41.36 95.38 135.87 : Armor Plate Weight: 40. 40. 40. : Add another 60 pounds for a wheels, cannon, machine gun, paintball supplies, air, paint, screws. : Tank Weight Total: 141lbs 195lbs 235lbs : Not likely to kill anyone if you run over them. Not much worse than my 215 lbs stepping on you. : Two Guys pushing around a 12 foot LONG tank weighing 70-117 pounds EACH would be a good workout on some of the hills around here. : Not such a problem on a level field. : Good luck off roading with it in the brush. : Another one of my design goals... : Well, the Obvious Solution is to scale it down. Well, the 10 foot long one only saves 15 pounds. : An 8 footer save 30 pounds and it starts looking like a tall box rather than a tank. : Geez! 12 foot long? You could fit 4 plus people comfortably inside that with some little design changes by extending the turret all the way to the back of the body. : All four would be standing upright inside it and pushing along and/or shooting as you go. Figured a quick exit and entry that would come in handy as a small APV to drop a couple players off to lay a satchel charge to blow an objective. : Now you have 4 people pushing 30 - 58 pounds EACH instead. Hmmm.... 30 pounds per occupant puts you back into the off road and hill climber category. 58 pounds per occupant opens a lot of possibilities than 107 pounds each does. : When you think 4 persons in the 8 footer, the back compartment starts getting tight for Adults but probably OK for a couple of 12 year olds. Any shorter and you have a strictly 2 man. : HERE IS THE BASIC QUESTION I NEED YOUR THOUGHTS ON. : Relative to FUNCTIONAL USE on the field of play and weight considerations: : Go with the 12 foot 4 man? : Go with the 9 foot 2 man - 2 kids? : Go with the 6 foot 2 man Box? : or : Keep designing lighter. : See a psychiatrist. : Get a new hobby... : I'll email a picture to anyone interested in seeing it. Not dimentioned yet. [ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ WARPIG Tank Talk ]