TOPIC:

I’m putting this up as a placeholder for now.
Long story short I stupidly bought a complete basket case of Tamiya’s first ever RC model. The M4 Sherman tank.

I really have no idea on the chances of completing this.

But first off pictures.

 
I think this flatters the whole project, giving the illusion of a complete tank ???
 
Here’s everything that was in the listing, the motors shown are all wrong and as I sifted through things I found a few other bits that are not part of this model. 
This should be the relevant parts that are hopefully part of this model ???
 
A view of the chassis. This is a complete mess. The back end has been chopped up and a bodge involving balsa wood was carried out !!!
 

When I’ve managed to snatch time to look at this I’ve started trying to work out what I might need to get this project headed in the right direction- this could just be wishful thinking.

Bits that are missing-
the clutch housing - I have 3 bits of it left.
the micro switches for operating the motors.

the gear box I have no clue about.  
this is what I have. The instructions are pretty vague, but mainly because this came as a pre-assembled unit. So at this point I’m trying to find as much information as possible on how it goes together.
If anyone has one, I’d really appreciate any photos of how this should look. Thanks.
 

Here are some more pictures of the gear box, mostly of when I disassembled it for cleaning.
If I can’t get this back together and functioning in some way then this build is doomed in my view. At the end of the day it has to function as an rc vehicle.

I do have various other gears and brass bushes which I believe are part of this, but it’s all detective work at the minute.

 

One side note.
I have start purchasing a few bits. One C tree, I believe you need 3 of these for a complete model, but I’m just buying one to replace a couple of warm out parts.

I got a bag of new tyres, I think there’s something like 24 of these, so far all of the ones on the original have perished when I’ve tried to remove them. So I’ll probably be using all of these.

Finally I’ve ordered a new lower hull. It’s not exactly the same, but will be useable. That hopefully arrives in January 2024 !! So no rush on this one.

Here’s the hacked up rear end of the lower hull and the creative addition of balsa wood. 
Considering the weight of this thing maybe the PO was trying to keep the weight down ??!!

 

So far from my limited research, I get the impression people would modify these tanks.
So in amongst everything that came with this was 2 early MSC’s, that have been wired together. I found a photo on the internet of one of these tanks with the same double speed controller set up.
From my understanding these early tanks didn’t have skid steering due to the clutch type device .But I’m guessing that by using two MSC’s you possibly could ??? I’m just having a guess as my knowledge is very limited at this point.
So I’m going to guess that possibly the gear box was also adapted to work with this improvised speed control set up. So the PO did away with the micro switch’s and the clutch setup ??
 

I've had a couple of similar projects over the years that once arrived, made me sick to my stomach and begging the question....What the heck was I thinking when I bought this??

Not sure if yours falls into this category or not but I ended up compartmentalizing the build into a long term, low priority job. Once I got it off to the side so to speak, it was easier to deal with. 

I'm sure over time you will get this thing shaking again!!👍

Cheers Jim. If I’ve learned anything from this hobby it’s that eventually every part will come up for sale eventually or you make the right contacts.
Right now I’d just like some decent photos of the gear box.
But this is definitely going on the slow build pile. It will be in good company.

Your sherman did overlord.... honnestly, I'm not sure that rebuild it as out of box is The good idea. For me, you have 2 solutions.  First one, you keep it as this for spares and you search a better restoration base.
and the second one, make a scratch building and play in the garden. 
for the spares, I don't know if you'll find for gearbox except find a complet one.
I don't know but maybe the king tiger  has the same gearbox.

Now this is a project, I love it  I belong to a Tamiya tank page on FB this would be a great place to ask questions  www.facebook.co...5795300995

Thanks Flo and thank you Andy.
Andy I am in the process of joining a couple of FB tank groups. I thought if anyone can help they’d be a wealth of knowledge.
Cheers.