Awesome Tanks

Ryan Butler of Spyker Workshop built this powerful electric vehicle with a design clearly inspired by Tesla’s Cybertruck. The 29″ long remote-controlled snowcat is remarkably quick, zooming across rugged and snowy terrain with ease. The kit is available for pre-order for $1299 to $1499, with the first orders shipping in Q1 2022.

GazR’s Extreme Brick Machines shows off another unique LEGO Technic vehicle. This tank-like machine features two wedge-shaped body segments connected by a retractable hinge mechanism. This design allows it to crawl easily over a variety of uneven terrain, climb stairs, and even negotiate soft objects like pillows.

Elemental_lego builds original microscale LEGO models. Among his creations is this mechanical tank that crawls along a terrain treadmill beneath its wheels. It reminds us of the lunar buggy in the game Moon Patrol. He also built a rolling vehicle inspired by The Mandalorian’s Juggernaut. Buy the build instructions on Rebrickable.

Jared Owen always does a great job explaining how things work by creating 3D animations of their inner workings. This time, he walks us through the caterpillar-tracked M1A2 Abrams tank, which weighs in at an incredible 68 tons, and can cross just about any terrain. We had no idea these things were powered by jet fuel.

Grind Hard Plumbing Co. continues to upgrade and retrofit their insane 100hp Power Wheels Jeep. For extra winter fun, they swapped out its tires and replaced them with Camso UTV tracks that can tear through snow like it’s nothing. Though they don’t seem to be the most durable things.

This rugged amphibious vehicle uses four hydraulic wheel motors to move its tracks just like a military tank. It can crawl over just about any terrain, through swamps and mud, and is is equipped with heavy duty componentry for longevity. It can also be equipped with a cockpit shell and even an air-conditioned interior.

The American Heritage Museum is giving away a 2-day adventure where one lucky entrant and a friend will drive three authentic tanks at their Hudson, MA facility. In addition to driving the M24 Chaffee, M4A3 Sherman, and M26 Pershing, they’ll tour the collection of over 95 tanks, military vehicles, and rare artifacts.

Inventor Colin Furze has been working on his homebrew screwtank for a while now. He already proved how agile it is on various terrain and in the water. Now he’s completed the build, adding an armored cage, along with a fruit-firing canon and a flamethrower at the pilot’s sides.

Make It Extreme likes to build all kinds of crazy machines and vehicles, and their latest is pretty awesome. Imagine a motorized wheelchair that drives like a tank, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what you’re about to see. For more detail, check out the tank tread and transmission build videos.

Now that Colin Furze has built himself an awesome amphibious screw tank, it’s time for him to outfit it with weaponry. First on his upgrade list: a potato cannon on steroids, capable of loading, priming, and firing spuds via a remote trigger.

Stuck home with some time on his hands, Jason Hibbs of Bourbon Moth Woodworking figured his lawnmower could use an upgrade. So he got to building a wooden frame and boxed in the ride-on machine with plywood, then painted it all to look like a tank. It can even fire potatoes from its gun while it cuts the grass.

Not too long ago, Colin Furze built himself an incredibly rad, incredibly capable homebrew screw tank. But one thing that it couldn’t do that some military-grade screw tanks can do is float on water. So he’s back to make some mods to improve the balance and buoyancy of his ride, in an attempt to make it seaworthy.

Builder Colin Furze shows off one of his craziest vehicles ever, a hydraulic tank that moves across the earth using giant screw threads. It’s the great destroyer of lawns, and makes a horribly muddy mess, but is surprisingly agile and powerful. Check out Colin’s build videos here.

Maker Ivan Miranda recently completed his largest build to date, a working R/C model of a tank made using lots of 3D printed parts. Its motors and tracks are powerful enough to negotiate rough terrain, and it’s even got room for a driver inside. Check out the full series of build videos here.

Time for Machine makes amazing metal and wood models of vehicles. Among them is a tiny tank called the “Marvel.” TOMs Modeling in Motion assembled one of these mini mechanical marvels and captured the build as a time-lapse, stop-motion video. We also enjoyed watching him put together a metal Hindenburg from AEROBASE.

Make It Extreme is always building crazy stuff, and this build certainly fits that spec. This crazy wheelie vehicle features a tank tread, driven by a 2-stroke, 100cc scooter engine. Its driver sits atop a seat that floats above its moving tread, which tears along just inches below the rider’s junk, upping the danger factor.

The Bentley Ultratank is one insane build, but it’s not something most mere mortals like us will ever get near. Perhaps sensing this futility, low-budget maker Liberman decided to make himself a miniature version out of cardboard, toothpicks, wood rulers, plastic bottle caps, and the motors from an RC car.

Want to build a cool little toy for your desktop? Watch this clip by Amr MCI in which he shows us how to construct a tiny battery-powered tank that is powerful enough to climb over obstacles. Making the drive wheels from rolled up tape is a neat hack.

On this episode of Planet Slow Mo, The Slow Mo Guys headed to a range in Texas to check out some WWII-era Sherman tanks, and a D-20 Howitzer artillery gun, and captured them firing projectiles in glorious detail in front of their high-speed camera.

For a DARPA tech demo, CMU National Robotics Engineering Center developed wheels which can transform back and forth between round and triangular shapes instantly, with tank-like grip on soft surfaces in track mode, and a more conventional ride in wheel mode.

RCSparks Studio shows off an epic build – a 1/6th scale, all-metal remote-controlled tank from Armortek. The Ferdinand Elefant weighs in at 240 pounds, has dual 24-volt motors, working tracks and realistic sound effects. In total, this monster cost about $6500.

LEGO master Shadow Elenter shows off another impressive Technic build. His latest creation is a Howitzer style tank that weighs in at 12 pounds. It has working treads, and some amazing weaponry, including a massive gun that plants itself to handle its recoil.

This silly video from Corridor features ample amounts of tank-based destruction as two guys scramble to salvage their meemaw’s valued possessions before they’re demolished. It doubles as a promo for World of Tanks, but we’ve all got to pay the bills somehow.