Tamiya WWI British Tank Mark IV Male - # 48214 (Radio Controlled Model Review)

  Released by Tamiya on June 30, 2018, the 1/35 R/C WWI British Tank Mark IV Male (#48214) comes with a TTU-10 transmitter and MC-07 receiver/motor control unit.

  The model is powered by two pre-assembled gearboxes and 130 motors, to control forward and rear motion, and a range of turns via the transmitter control sticks. Four speeds can be selected.

  Requires 8 x AAA batteries, and comes with 3 marking options: Glamorgan, G Battalion, Location unknown, 1918: H45 Hyacinth, H Battalion, near Ribécourt, France, November 1917: Black Arrow II, B Battalion, Fontaine-Notre-Dame, France, November 1917.

  The Mark IV was the first mass-produced Tank launched by British army during "The Great War", now known as World War I. It first appeared as a development Tank, Mark I, with around 1,000 Tanks produced from March 1917. The Mark IV Male soon followed in May 1917, initially carrying three Lewis machine guns, but later was equipped with two QF 6-pdr 6-CWT guns. The Female version had five Lewis machine guns, but no 6-pdrs. In the Battle of Cambray in November 1917, a large-scale surprise attack was carried out with the aid of approximately 400 Mark IV Tanks, to relatively good effect, then in April 1918, was in action in the first ever tank battle against German A7V Tanks.

Rating: 4 RCScrapyard

Electric Motors for RC Models

Q/  What does 15x2 or 17x3 mean?
A/  The first number relates to the number of times the wires are wound round each of the 3 armature segments, the second number relates to the number of wires side by side. So a 15x2 would have 2 wires laid side by side and wrapped around each segment 15 times.

Q/  What is the difference in performance between a Low Turn motor (eg 11x1) and a High Turn motor (eg 27x1)?
A/  A Motor with Less Turns like an 11x1 means high current draw from the batteries which corresponds to less runtime, but More Power (Torque or Punch) Best for tracks with lots of corners and short straights where fast acceleration is needed. (use a small pinion)
Motors with More Turns like a 27x1 give you More runtime, but Less Power. So you get a smoother response and are therefore easier to drive. Better for less experienced drivers and Long straight, sweeping corner tracks. (with a large pinion). This is correct for Brushed, Modified and Stock Motors as well as Brushless Motors.

Q/  How do the number of winds effect a motor?

Rechargeable Batteries
for RC Models

   At the time this article was written, there are four types of Rechargeable Batteries that are commonly in use for Radio Controlled Models.
Ni-Cad (Nickel Cadmium) Batteries have been around the longest. My first stick battery, purchased way back in 1987 was rated at 1200Mah (Mili Amp Hours) and with a silver can 27 Turn motor my Tamiya Boomerang would run around in the back yard for a good seven minutes before slowly coming to a stop. Ni-Cad development continued until around 1998 to a maximum rating of around 2000Mah and matchers pack builders and battery technicians were able to put together six cell packs with voltages approaching 7.4 Volts, to give those that could afford them, an edge over the rest.

   Ni-Mh (Nickel Metal Hydride) Batteries came along in the late 1990s, and by the year 2000 were available at ratings up to 3000Mah. Again, matchers and pack builders worked hard to provide the ardent racer with packs to provide that little bit of extra power, and ESC manufacturers also chipped in with improved controllers to take full advantage of this new technology.

   Now the problem wasn't gearing the car to get to the end of the race using the available battery power, but to find the brushed motor that could handle gear setting that provided the speed and acceleration without the motor overheating and wearing the commutator too much so it needed a skim after every 2 runs. My favourite at that time was the 9 Double.

   More recently, Li-Po (Lithium-Polymer) Batteries have appeared on the scene, providing are a huge step forward in performance when compared with Ni-Cad and Ni-Mh batteries.