Dusty Steppes

If you guys are planning on rescheduling for next spring, I might be able to do that. I live in Kenosha, WI so it would be a bit of a drive for me but it is only half the distance to Danville. Right now I'm busy settling into retirement and trying to assist my son and his wife in relocating back to the states from Germany. Let me know if anything gets planned for next year.

jjackso5

Dusty, nice to hear from you. Well, as the week unfolds here it doesn't look good for this weekend. I wasn't planning on running my tanks with my foul weather gear on, and in the snow! But I'll wait until tomorrow to make a decision. I'm looking for input from other people in the area too.
Please keep in touch as we try to get this rolling again, it takes a group to get this running, so we'll see what happens. And yes, spring and summer events are easier to do with the weather, and a lot more enjoyable than trying to stay warm while running your tank outside in the late fall/early winter!
I too am retired, but not by choice, just life happens, I'm trying to make the best of it and do what I can.
What tank or tanks do you have? Please post some pictures if you can.
Thank you again for your interest,
Happy Tanking,
Jim

jjackso5

George, yes I'm leaning in the direction to again postpone this event, unfortunately, but you and I can't be out in the cold all day. But I'll wait until Thursday to make the decision.
I am looking to see if anyone I know has a building that we could use on a weekend to have a battle/tank run. I'm waiting to hear back from one guy now. But as you well know there is more to it than just showing up to run our tanks. So I'll continue to look and see what I might be able to find. If you hear of anything please let me know.
Have you been down to your shop? Charged and ready to run?
Talk to you later, thank you,
Happy Tanking,
Jim

mustclime

[left]

Dusty Steppes

Here's a quick picture of what I have. They all have Clark boards except for the IS-2. The PzIV, early Tiger, T34/85 and KV-1 are fully Tamiya compatible. The others are works in progress. The PzIV, Tiger and T34 made it to Danville last year. It was a good time with good people.

I'm adjusting to retirement. It's only been two weeks so far and I'm liking it. I have been on call 24/7 for the past 40 years (10 in the military, 30 with railroad) and it is nice to kick back a bit and work on the honey-do list in a leisurely manner.

jjackso5

Dusty, nice collection, but no Sherman's? Very nice though. I would like to get to Danville, someday, but I'm currently limited in mobility and my ability to travel very far. I'll post some pictures later of my tanks, they are stored in cases, but I've got some things to do here, so I might be able to get them out on display for a picture. I'm currently working on building a couple more Sherman's from parts I have available, I have 2 Sherman's. I also have a couple of Pershing's, A Tiger 1, "Nashorn", T-34/85, Leopard 1A2, and a "Stug". Most of them run, but as George would say, I make a great target! He likes shooting my Sherman and Pershing. I'm working on a new version of a Pershing, with the upgraded 90mm gun, that might let me hit George! All in good fun though.
Well keep in touch and post your projects. I'll let everyone know tomorrow about the November 2 battle here, but it is doubtful it will happen due to weather changes.
Anyhow, have a great day,
Happy Tanking,
Jim

jjackso5

Mustclime, sorry I missed your note originally. I thought that there was a group on that are, at least on the coast. But you might post on this forum to find guys that are interested in starting or restarting a group out there. Also, if you get to Danville for one of their meets, I would think you'll find guys from your area, or close if nothing else.
There are just a few of us here in southeastern Michigan, but we'll try to restart/rebuild what we had started. But it takes more than one person to keep a club/group going along with having a location to battle/meet, then it all comes together.
Anyhow, I hope you continue to enjoy your tanks, maybe we'll see you at Danville in the future!
Happy Tanking,
Jim

jjackso5

George and tankers, well the weather outlook for Saturday November 2, is "snow/freezing rain, wintery mix, with a high of 43 degrees F". So reluctantly I'm going to CANCELL the proposed battle/run day here in Brighton, Michigan. I'll watch the weather for future dates, but as George says, maybe we wait until spring.
I'll keep trying to find a place to meet and battle, indoors, during the winter though, and let you know. Let's all keep building new projects and getting the "bugs" worked out of our existing/old equipment.
Thank you all for your interest, we'll try to get something going as soon as possible, please continue to monitor this forum.
Happy Tanking, lets see your builds!
Jim

throwscoach

Jim,
All tank battery's were dead. I forgot how heavy the tanks are. They are now charged I hope, my volt meter is dead too. Have not been down again to see if anything will work now.
Current eating kid's candy, hope to get downstairs again soon.
I will check to see if things have changed at the school and let you know.
George

tomtank

i prepared my video recording tank and truck, now maybe next time.

jjackso5

George, well lets see if we can find a place to have some type of gathering during the "winter". As I mentioned I know a couple of guys that have buildings, but I'm waiting to see if they'd consider letting us use them to meet and battle. I'll let you know as soon as I have some thing confirmed.
Do eat too much candy, it'll send you through the roof! Or you won't be able to get down or back up the stairs to the basement! Though that could be a good thing, trapping you there to work on your tanks! I would suggest trying to run the tanks even in the basement and fully discharge the batteries in the radio's and tanks, then recharge again.

I'll keep you posted on what I'm working on. Stay warm!

Happy Tanking,

Jim

jjackso5

Tom, great, but sorry we had to cancel. Just a bit too cold out there, and now with a dusting of snow, leaves, etc. in the battlefield area it could be not so much fun to run.

I hope we can get something going again, but we'll have to get more guys involved. As you know, I have limited mobility, so we need someone that could run things. Mike needs help as his work schedule is a bit unpredictable sometimes so it makes it hard for him to be at every event. We'll keep working at this and see what can be done.
Thank you again for your interest and support,
Happy Tanking,
Jim

jjackso5

Good morning tankers, well we got a reprieve on the weather, it's 38 degree F here this morning and only a light dusting of snow. We're still forecasted to get a rain/snow mixture today through the evening too. The grass is "crunchy" so you can tell the weather is definitely changing. I'm still going to try to clean up the battlefield yet this year to minimize or help with the spring clean up. Had a few large branches come down too, but I'll have to wait for my son to assist with those at Thanksgiving time.
Let's see if we can get some feedback from local tankers on what they'd like to do over the winter if we can find a location in our area.
Don't forget about the tank battle coming up at the Danville AAF next weekend, November 9. Double check their site for times and dates.
Thank you again for your interest,
Happy Tanking,
Jim

jjackso5

Good afternoon, Tankers and all Veterans, as we pause to reflect on those that gave the ultimate for our freedoms and way of life, we need to be thankful for those that serve and our Veterans and their families, keeping them in our thoughts and prayer throughout the year. Semper Paratus!

Well we got our snow today, about 6 inches in my backyard and still snowing! Forecast is for something on the order of 5-7 inches, but that will vary depending on where you're at. I don't think I'll venture out to the battlefield today, I'd probably get stuck or fall on the snow, its the wet mixture, very heavy and wet.

I'm hoping those that went to Danville last weekend made it back to their homes safely, and had a great time at the battlefield. I'm hoping to see some pictures and battle reports.
Well keep warm and dry, enjoy the extra building time for those projects.

Happy Tanking,

Jim

jim2955

I live about two hours from that area near Kalamazoo and I would be willing to come out if you can find something inside. I don't have a battle ready tank but I have a Torro KV-2 I would be willing to convert if you guys would be willing to help me do the conversion. I am in the process of building a Tamiya Abrams static kit that I am going to convert it to RC I have a Clark board and a good set of gears for it already. Even if I don't have a tank to run I would like to come and see a meet , I haven't been to one yet.

jjackso5

Jim, great to hear from you. Yes, we're working to see if we can find an indoor venue to use this winter to "exercise" the tanks! I'll post here on this forum when we know for sure what we are going to be able to do.
As for your tanks, there is a guy in our group that is familiar with the conversion of tanks using the Clark system, I'll let him know and maybe he can contact you via this forum. He has done some conversion and also has contact that he can share that maybe able to assist as well. Post some pictures of your project if you can. I built a Tiger 1 from a static to an R/C but it wasn't as easy and inexpensive as you might have thought. I probably spent the same amount that I would have if I'd bought the R/C kit to start with, but I did enjoy the build, though its not complete yet.
Please feel free to PM me if you want too for question or whatever. I don't get to K-zoo too much but I used to run boats out there years ago.
Thanks you for your contact, please keep in touch,
Happy Tanking,
Jim

Edmar61

Hello,
Is thread still active?
I just joined rcuniverse today.

jjackso5

Edmar61, sorry for the delay in responding. Yes, this is still an active thread. We are trying to locate those that maybe interested in doing some battling/running of tanks in the southeastern Michigan area. We were going to try to do an outdoor battle, but the weather did not cooperate, so we are now trying to find an indoor facility that would allow us to run and battle our tanks. Please keep checking this thread for updates.
Where are you located and what type of tank or tanks do you have? The guys that we've battled with are mainly from the southeastern Michigan area, though we've had guys come from Chicago and Indiana before too. There is also a guy from Canada, Windsor that is a very good modeler and has video equipment on one of the tanks and a truck.
Anyhow, please keep in touch, feel free to contact me via PM or this thread.
Thank you for your interest,
Happy Tanking,
Jim

Edmar61

jjackso5,
I am restarting my RC tank hobbying.
I used to live in Howell, MI but due to an insurence claim that went totally bizerk, I now reside in New Hudson.
(I lost 4 various rc tanks 1/48 to 1/16 in home incident claim)
I have little income as I lost everything and restarting my "Super Handy Man" Home business.
LOL I got so desperate for tanking that I newly ordered one of those $55 metal RC tanks from an ad in facebook....
btw are they really scams?

Nice to meet ya'

jim2955

We will see if they are scams together because I ordered one also. I am thinking that it may be part scam part truth. I think you will end up getting a stock Heng Long Bulldog by looking at the reviews but that is not that bad for $55 bucks delivered and that is a pretty good tank I had one and had no problems with it. But I don't think you will see it any time soon I ordered mine on November 4th and haven't seen anything yet. Good luck , hope you get a good one and get back into tanking sorry to hear about the fire, Jim.

Shorty54

Did you guys read this thread first?
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-t...venturous.html

Enjoy,
Shad

jim2955

I had not seen this post , thanks for the heads up.

Crius

Jerry and I already guinea pigged those tanks for you guys and it is a total scam. I posted a video of what you will actually receive in Jerry's thread and it's nowhere close to the photos that they show.

jim2955

Yea I have seen your post now but alas is was too late. I guess really at he end of the day its going to be Paypal that gets scammed . I hope they get some restitution from the scammers .

dgsselkirk

Been watching this thread, Our club has a couple of members in the Windsor area. It would be a 4 hour drive from the KW area and 5 from Toronto plus border crossing so if you get this up and running next spring probably a few of our guys would make the trek for a weekend get together....