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Okay yesterday i picked up a couple of testors M3A2 easy build kit for ork truks, well after doing some reasurch on them they are from old kit that had a little eletric switch motor in the chassis. well im deidced to find some motors to make them workable if possible.
this is the kit i got
http://www.testors.com/product/145038/650021/_/Classic_M3A2_Tank_132_Scale
i know people have used them before for conversions

here are some shots of the where the motor went

I think taking them to your local model shop that carries slot cars would be a good place to start. They should be able to find you a cheap motor easily with an appropriate gear and then you'd just have to hook up the right batteries for it, maybe with an on-off switch that you could get from radio shack, guitar center, or Frys.

Good luck!

So...you want a motor to just make it run into walls...or do you want to make an RC version?

Decades ago - I used to get stuff from Edmunds for this type of thing:

http://www.scientificsonline.com/project-components/motors.html

However, I am guessing you are more inclined to make an RC version as opposed to just let it run wild. You will want the various components like the transmitter and reciever modules, a servo for steering control, a speed controller and reverse card...

Find the cheapest RC gack you can find, and tear it apart. There are several coke can RC dealers on eBay which will allow you to pick up tiny RC kit which should be able to be crammed into the allowed space.

We used this place to get the ones we have in the office:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Coke-Can-RC-Radio-Remote-Control-Micro-Racing-Car-Toy-Vehicles-Gift-Green-/280919738392?pt=Radio_Control_Vehicles&hash=item41681f0818

Im probly not going to make it rc as there little room to install steering controls.

On the R/C topic, if you want it to be self powered, but no steering, how will it stop? For something straight forward, you could use a wired control with an on/off switch that would disrupt/engage the power to the motor, and have this switch on a wire long enough to leave at your end of the table. So it might be like this:

1. Point trukk
2. Declare Waaagh (you know, just because it would be fun with a self powered truck, even if it doesn't apply to that turn)
3. Turn on trukk
4. Drive however many inches
5. Turn off trukk


If you want to get really high speed, I'm sure you could rig it to run a set amount of inches and have a setting for each.

On a related note, gearing can come into play a lot with these things, because if you don't have a throttle control (ESC or electronic speed control in RC terms), it will only have two speeds, on and off. Depending on battery life, motor torque, RPM, gearing and drag, the motor might not have enough to move it, or it might go flying off the table. Just something to think about.

Actually, model railroads have a base station electronic throttle control that might work for this, although I think they largely run off A/C power, so you might need to plug it in, but, maybe one controller could be wired with a selector switch to run different trukks...

Hmm... I like your idea....


Edit: if you use the tank tracks and have a motor on each side, you would just need a two channel remote, as they would operate (exactly) like tanks, using motors to power the tracks and pivot, turn, etc.

talljosh85 wrote:
On the R/C topic, if you want it to be self powered, but no steering, how will it stop? For something straight forward, you could use a wired control with an on/off switch that would disrupt/engage the power to the motor, and have this switch on a wire long enough to leave at your end of the table..

im still trying to figure that out, at first i was just going to rely on a simple switch on the bottom. contiuous movement might be trouble since i think the treads might be prone to jaming and thats were the motor is going.

and i dont think i can include too much or i wont be able to screw the chassis back together.... might need to take a trip up to my local rc shop

Hmmm.... for simplicity, would running a wire from the trukk to your starting edge be acceptable? Because if so, you should be able to use an old model train speed controller to start/stop the trukk. If you want it wireless, I'd definitely recommend scavenging some cheap R/C parts from eBay or craigslist.

Also, most of the stuff sold at R/C stores will be pricier than the really cheap stuff you can find online. IE, the motors, servos, gearing that are used for high end R/C cars are not particularly cheap, as they are meant to last and perform to a high standard.

talljosh85 wrote:
Hmmm.... for simplicity, would running a wire from the trukk to your starting edge be acceptable? Because if so, you should be able to use an old model train speed controller to start/stop the trukk. If you want it wireless, I'd definitely recommend scavenging some cheap R/C parts from eBay or craigslist.

Also, most of the stuff sold at R/C stores will be pricier than the really cheap stuff you can find online. IE, the motors, servos, gearing that are used for high end R/C cars are not particularly cheap, as they are meant to last and perform to a high standard.

I know, but i have little know how to put everything together...

Well, in that case, you might want to consider used R/C tanks. I've never shopped them, but, if playing around with gearing, doing a little soldering, and jerry rigging a motor, batteries and controls into the chassis doesn't sound appealing, then its an alternative.

However, DC wiring is pretty simple in this case, and you should be able to look up some basic stuff online regarding how this system would work. So a great learning opportunity to be had and a project that would be a pretty sweet homebuild.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Thinking about it more, you might consider buying cheap, small R/C cars, and basically hollowing out the tank chassis and mating it to the car chassis, so it would be like a parade float of orky death. This way you just acquire a cheap, ready to go R/C car, with steering, motor, etc; while the tank is used as the shell.

talljosh85 wrote:

Thinking about it more, you might consider buying cheap, small R/C cars, and basically hollowing out the tank chassis and mating it to the car chassis, so it would be like a parade float of orky death. This way you just acquire a cheap, ready to go R/C car, with steering, motor, etc; while the tank is used as the shell.

You mean like the $7.50 RC car which would fit inside a can of coke that I linked to above? They also have tanks if you prefer:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-5-Mini-Micro-Raido-Remote-Control-RC-Battle-Tank-Soviet-T-34-Grn-camel-9231-4-/330768634244?pt=Radio_Control_Vehicles&hash=item4d0358d184

Different eBay store - same company though.

They are significantly smaller than GW vehicles - so you shouldn't have a problem fitting them in the available space. You will likely have to make some modifications (extending axles for example) in order to get all the parts where they need to be to fit the profile of the Testors vehicle.

Thanks for all the advice.. i think i might have figured out a couple routes i can take. im thinking a old zoid motor might work. otherwise ill fall back onto the scrapining some cheap rc kits

Sean OBrien, yes... I read your original post but I didn't understand it the first time, might have been the beers.