So as part of my "quarantine"; I'm rebuilding a Bulldog for use on the field... This was one of my used tank acquisitions.


Motors, magnets & bulkhead were existing.... (as were the weights on the front hull lip...)


3D printed Speaker mount installed and TK-40 mounting board mocked up.
The speaker box was purposely placed there to give a side for a battery to lean against.


A prototype next gen JCC recoil unit being installed.
(This one will use the direct recoil linkage. Optional spring/impact linkage will still be included in kits)


Since I am replacing the airsoft guts, I need to hog out some turret internals. In the upper half, I increase the opening for the mantlet as well.
Added in a stiffener to accommodate the torque generated by the HL elevation mechanism.


Lower turret half gets the mantlet and stiffener treatments as well.


Chopped the barrel off. Installed a brass recoil sleeve in the mantlet, decided to make it permanently attached to the recoil unit.
Actual plastic barrel is effectively a sleeve held on my a small M2 screw just on the underside of the barrel behind the fume extractor.
Also added the IR port tube in the mantlet.


Layout inside the turret. HID Flash wiring routed through the recoil unit and to the muzzle brake.
It is to be installed on a side wall of the turret. IR wiring not yet installed.


Showing off the tubing through the mantlet from the outside.
16mm OD tube w/ 1mm wall for the recoiling barrel. 7mm OD tube w/ 1mm wall for the IR emitter


Other angle for the turret (wires through the upper hatch to keep them out of the way...)


Added in a JCC Tamiya TBU base (trimmed to fit) and a 3D printed spacer in the cupola pocket.
That gives a correct height to have the hatch closed and not interfere with the TBU socket.

Very nice! Looking forward to seeing it out there!

As I await access to work again so that I can design up the battery/MFU Board mounting blocks, I added an additional aluminum lower hull brace.


IR Emitter installation and routing completed. Added in a small loop for ensuring strain relief onto the IR Bulb.


View of the routing near the recoil unit. A small spacer on the elevation axis to ensure minimal side to side movement/skewing.


HID Flash Unit hot glued into turret and all loose wires are clamped to one of the turret screw posts.


Internals of the turret complete. Getting rid of the old clunky BB unit does make for a hell of a lot more room in the turret ring.


Lower plate of the turret installed. All wires from turret are roughly equal length.


Good angle showing the factory elevation unit and the amount or room in the turret. No turret plate alterations required for the servo.


The turret Ring thrown on for good measure. This one will keep the limited rotation turret ring...


The turret IR Emitter through the mantlet.


Barrel is nice and straight to the rest of the turret! Turret rebuild for IR, Flash & Recoil is now complete!


There is a lot of room through the turret ring now.... Just how much? Ruler sitting on the recoil unit at near horizonal elevation...


Just a side showing the amount of space to the recoil unit from the edge of the turret ring.

Looking Good

3D printed tray for battery and a raised MFU board area installed.


Openings under the battery tray area to allow for the receiver's twin antenna to route.


Receiver is to be velcro'd to the inner edge of the rear bulkhead wall as shown.


A Clark TK-22 and it's mounting board positioned (I'll likely go to a TK-60 instead...)


Mocked up with the Speaker, Board, RX & a battery in place.

Are you going to keep the added weights in the nose?

I dunno. They were in it before... Depends how it sits and rides once complete...

Installation of the power switch and simple wiring connection hookups to said switch
(Toggle switches do not last forever)


Overall lower hull wiring completed. I like to have a clean compartment which is organized as much as possible.


Receiver installed via Velcro strip. 4 channels at bottom are for the future Clark board (Tray fits TK-20 up to TK-40)
The upper connection on the receiver is for a power lead to my FPV system that will mount on the turret.


Close up of the vented Clark board tray I made up and the simple speaker/battery tray setup installed.
I have added a small 7mm wide x 2mm thick adhesive backed foam strip along the right edge of the battery tray.
Better to have the battery not shift too easily.


Son's Clark JT TK-22 board installed for installation and routing finalizing.
Max volume jumper and a el-cheapo NiMH battery


Final installments and fit-ups before adding the running gear back on.
You can see the two connectors sitting just above the hull edge.
Rear Brake Lights (white JST) and FPV Power (black Futaba)


Re-installation of the tracks and running gear. Cleaned up the rotating surfaces a bit.
Drive sprocket and tracks are metal, road wheels and idler are plastic. May have to look at metal arms at a later date.


Side shot of the running gear. The cross brace screw head has a ton of clearance from the track.


Butt shot of the lower tank hull showing the location of the main power switch. The missing pieces have always been missing.
Doubt I'll replace them as this is to be a pure battler... Little bits get broken all the time...


Gratuitous under the skirt/bottom hull shot showing the sealed up battery compartment.
Magnetic hull system and internal battery for ease of replacement. Always done to ALL my tanks...


The assembled M41 Bulldog. Ready to accept a Clark TK22/24/40 board and go IR Battle.
Wheel hub covers and a couple loose parts to add on are in a ziplock inside the tank.


3/4 front view showing the M41 ready for action. Paint and finicky detail work are not my forte.
I have friends who are excellent painters I may have to trade them some internal tank work for external tank work...



Now the question is which of these two lovely acquisitions will be next for an upgrade treatment...
PZ III, or Stug III? Both came from Dan Crowley (aka YHR) awhile back. Still look awesome to me...


The internals of the PZ III... (Hidden IR receivers and hit LED's in the cupola...)


The internals of the Stug…

Which one to do first....

Mike is that DBS system on the Pz III ?

That was done by BattleArmourRC (Dan himself) So my guess would be yes. DBC anyways...

Very nice work as always!