Italian Ariete MBT

[Fred Thomson]

With the Bulldog operational and winter fast approaching I decided to
build a second tank, the Italian Ariete MBT.

http://www.army-technology.com/projects/ariete/

At 1/6 scale its dimensions are:
Length: 1.265M (About 4' 2")
Width: 600 mm ( 24" approx)
Height: 417 mm (16 1/2" approx) to the top of the turret.
It ends up being longer, wider, but shorter than my Bulldog.

Yup, it's big. Did all the prelim drawings over the past weeks (with
my limited CAD abilities) got all the odd little bits figured out. Ok
most. And over the weekend we welded the frame together. One inch sq.
tube with 1/8th wall. Suspension is going to be a modified Christie
very similar to Ben Holko's T067 but much beefier. (Thanks for the
great idea Ben!)

I toyed with the idea of building a Tiger, a Tiger II, a Sherman,
another Bulldog, a Coyote, a Bren Gun Carrier, and a fixed artillery
piece but when I stumbled across this beast, I got interested. Trust
the Italians to build a tank that from the front, resembles a sports
car. (Hey, I think it's beautiful.) The interesting thing that finally
sold me on it is the fact that there is not a curve on the whole
machine. It is all straight, flat sides, angled (but flat) front on
both the turret and hull.
Will post some pics of the hull AFTER I take a grinder to it and
pretty it up.

Cheers,
Fred (Aw heck, I'm just gonna break down and build a real one next
time.) Thomson
T067

[Clark Ward Jr]

When I saw the title I got excited! The Ariete is a nice looking tank :)
--
Clark in Georgia

[whitney james]

I'm suprised that (being Italian) they didn't make it the fastest tank in the world...

> Date: Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:25:49 -0800
> Subject: [TANKS] Italian Ariete MBT
> From: fr...@thomson-online.org
> To: rctank...@googlegroups.com

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Windows 7: I wanted simpler, now it's simpler. I'm a rock star.

[Clark Ward Jr]

On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 11:24 AM, whitney james <me1...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I'm suprised that (being Italian) they didn't make it the fastest tank in
> the world...
>

...and paint it Red :)

--
Clark in Georgia

[Derek Engelhaupt]

Or canary yellow....;) Good looking tank.  Has some very Abrams like design cues and
seems to share the same type of smooth bore gun.

Derek
T065

[Fred Thomson]

Just for that, I'll paint it RED & Yellow, over volt the M01 motors so
it does the 1/4 mile in under 3 minutes. :-)


Cheers,
Fred

[Clark Ward Jr]

Signore Fred, you do that, and I, a hopeless Ferraristi, will be on
hand with my huge race flag atop 20' of pvc pipe :)

--
Clark in Georgia

[Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos]

The joke in 1940's was that they used to have 4 gears forward and 5 gears reverse, however that was a joke during hard times. And I thought it would be an Ariete of the 1930's......  Beautiful streamlines in all those Italian tanks..... Good designers since Leonardo and up to modern fashion.

Chrys

[Ben Holko]

Mmm, that is a nice looking machine

[Pete Arundel]

Looks a bit like a Challenger I turret with a smoothbore fitted to a
Leopard hull. . .

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/images/challenger-patrol3.jpg

[Frank Pittelli]

Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos wrote:
> Beautiful streamlines in all those Italian tanks..... Good designers
> since Leonardo and up to modern fashion.

Chrys,

Do you want me to remove this post from the group archive before your
fellow Greeks see it? I thought I'd never hear a Greek say that the
descendants of Rome did anything well in the design world, considering
that they stole most of your best designs 2,500 years ago :-)

Frank P.

[Fred Thomson]

Clark... yeah, I think the thing is a really nice looking machine,
too. When it is finished maybe it's call sign should be "Enzo"? :-)

Chrys... 5 gears in "R"etreat?

Pete... it sorta does, doesn't it? A bit more angular perhaps.

Cheers,
Fred

[Clark Ward Jr]

Oh my God, Fred, that is awesome :) I like it even more now.

Between you and the Tank Overhaul marathon, I'm inspired and I'm going
to go out and try to finish drilling my track sections after dinner!

--
Clark in Georgia

[Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos]

Well Frank, Italians remodelled successfully Greek forms, however they were
excellent designers after the Rennaissance.
Chrys
,

----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank Pittelli" <frank.p...@gmail.com>
To: <rctank...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 26, 2009 5:07 PM
Subject: Re: [TANKS] Italian Ariete MBT

[?]

Awesome... I always thought the Ariete was the sweetest looking modern
MBT... I cant even find a plastic kit of one. Cool subject for a rc
model.

Nov 27, 12:36 am, "Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos" <xchr...@otenet.gr>
wrote:

> > Visit the group athttp://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[callum.kin...@googlemail.com]

I wonder how easy it would be to make this:
http://www.army-technology.com/projects/warthog-all-terrain/
Guessing not easy at all.

> > > Visit the group athttp://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat-Hide quoted text -

[whitney james]

Looks like an armored Hagglund...

> Date: Fri, 27 Nov 2009 02:55:22 -0800
> Subject: [TANKS] Re: Italian Ariete MBT
> From: callum.kin...@googlemail.com
> To: rctank...@googlegroups.com

[Derek Engelhaupt]

I really don't think it would be that hard to build, but it would be more expensive *if*
both sections were powered.  They could be built as two tanks hooked together in
the middle.  Steering that on the other hand might take some getting used to and
could be a little unpredictable.  You definitely wouldn't be able to do a neutral turn
with that joint in the middle....;)

Derek
T065

[Bill Hamilton]

On Fri, Nov 27, 2009 at 12:28 PM, Derek Engelhaupt <tan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I really don't think it would be that hard to build, but it would be more
> expensive *if*
> both sections were powered.  They could be built as two tanks hooked
> together in
> the middle.  Steering that on the other hand might take some getting used to
> and
> could be a little unpredictable.  You definitely wouldn't be able to do a
> neutral turn
> with that joint in the middle....;)
>

From the description, I think the steering is done by that center
joint, like SV005. So you just need to drive the two sets of tracks
and connect the two units with a steering linkage.


--
-Bill Hamilton

[Clark Ward Jr]

>
> From the description, I think the steering is done by that center
> joint, like SV005.  So you just need to drive the two sets of tracks
> and connect the two units with a steering linkage.
>

The amount of torque required to steer two powered tracked sections
will be a pretty sizeable amount, I should think.

--
Clark in Georgia

[Fred Thomson]

Just to wander back on topic...


Here's a link to the frame. Welds ground but not painted.

http://www.thomson-online.org/cpg132/displayimage.php?album=21&pos=2

Cheers,
Fred

[Clark Ward Jr]

Fred, you are made of AWESOME. Very nice work!
--
Clark in Georgia

[whitney james]

Wow, I'm impressed!
You're definitely taking a different approach than my light (and flimsy?) :D
May I ask how much that frame weighs?

> Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 11:09:19 -0800

> Subject: [TANKS] Re: Italian Ariete MBT

> From: fr...@thomson-online.org
> To: rctank...@googlegroups.com

> --
> You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group.
> To post a message, send email to rctank...@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe, send email to rctankcombat...@googlegroups.com
> Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat

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Windows 7: Unclutter your desktop. Learn more.

[Ben Holko]

awesome Fred!

 

---

From: whitney james [me1...@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 6:24 AM
To: rctank...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [TANKS] Re: Italian Ariete MBT

[Odyssey...@aol.com]

......... a prototype 2 man bob-sled?

 

 

Oh! Oh! I know! I know! It's the foot of some giant lawn decoration! ......

 

 

or is it something to keep the lid of the cooler down and sealed.....

 

 

 

it's metal and it's tank and that's all that matters (thought i still think it's some sort of bob-sled thingie)

 

Chris,
Odyssey Slipways

[Fred Thomson]

Ben... Thanks. This is going to be a fun project.

James...It weights about 15lbs. The lessons learned from building the
Bulldog. I hate having to rebuild something because I did not make it
strong enough in the first place. Wait till you see the suspension.

Chris... My wife said the same thing, that it would make a great
sleigh for our granddaughter. :-)

Cheers,
Fred

[Clark Ward Jr]

> ...My wife said the same thing, that it would make a great

> sleigh for our granddaughter. :-)
>

With a paintball gun in the turret of the sleigh, she'd keep the
Grinches in their foxholes, too!

--
Clark in Georgia