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This is my latest model which I have managed get done over the Christmas period - The Renault AMR 33, a Light Cavalry Tank used by the French Army from 1933 to 1940.

1Ux5D1y.jpg

 

 

History

The Renault AMR 33 (Auto-Mitrailleuse de Reconnaisance) was an early French Light Cavalry Tank designed between 1931 and 1933, entering service with the French Army in the latter year, and would be used up until the fall of France in 1940. It was a two-man vehicle designed for reconnaissance and equipped only with a MAC 31 machine gun, in a similar manner to the early British Carden-Loyd Light Tanks that were entering service around the same time.

Model Features

-Weight: 4.9kg

-Scale: 1:8

-Full drive, each track driven by two PF-XL motors.

-Twin PF battery boxes for powerplant, the model is controlled using two SBricks.

-Working and historically accurate suspension - the central bogie is suspended with vertical coil-springs, whilst the front and rear roadwheels are suspended using the French crank-bell system, which in this model uses a rubber band (Though the vehicle is quite back-heavy, so the rear roadwheels are assissted also by coil-springs).

-Working rear light.

-Functional track tensioners.

-360-degree rotating turret.

-Vertical and horizontal traverse of the machine gun inside the turret.

-Accurate detailing, including spare wheel, grills, exhaust, hatches, vision slits.

Building the Model

This vehicle was another one which I was very constrained on time to build, which was the reason I chose such a small, basic, machine. I was back from University for just three weeks over Christmas, and whilst I already had a plan and even a very early chassis ready when I came back, vehicles of this size usually take me at least a month to build and have filmed, so another week or two of refinement wouldn't have hurt. The rubber band suspension for example is one thing I would have changed had I had more time, but it works well enough as it it. In the end I was pretty happy with how the model looks and functions, and the vehicle was an appropriate choice for my first model of a French Tank. Like some of my other models I intend to make instructions for this vehicle, which I have about 60% built in Studio 2.0, but since I haven't had the time, I will finish these later in 2022.

Images

More photos can be found over on this Imgur album: https://imgur.com/gallery/tYodhmr

There are also some in-development photos of this model on my Instagram account, (tarix819technic) going back to October 2021.

I will also post some others on my Flickr in due course!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

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14 hours ago, whitepen said:

It's awesome!:pir-love:

 

14 hours ago, Milan said:

Excellent work again! Frontpaged again!

 

11 hours ago, Scoar Sonander said:

Really nice build, looks big enough to push furniture around (and scare some pets :wink:)

 

11 hours ago, skaah said:

Wow that is a seriously massive scale! 

 

10 hours ago, Pato Sentado said:

Impressive!!!

 

24 minutes ago, SATSOK said:

Speechless

Wonderful MOC !!! :pir-love:

Thanks everyone! This was a just a Christmas project, I hope to build some bigger and more unique vehicles over the coming year! :laugh:

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Wow!
Quite apart from the functions, that's fast for a 5kg model using only Lego battery boxes.

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Weighing 4,9kg in a LEGO version - this is certainly NOT a "light" tank. :pir_laugh2:

Fanatastic job! The barrel movement mechanism is cool.

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I was looking at those tracks thinking how is this Lego ?

Then I looked closer and was like "oh my ! ... this thing is huge !"

Wonderfull build, really well done !

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I am really not into war machines and usually do not look at this kind of MOCs, but I ended up here (maybe because I am french? ahaha) and I was really impressed. It seems very faithful to the original model and with great driving performance: Bravo!

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23 hours ago, amorti said:

Quite apart from the functions, that's fast for a 5kg model using only Lego battery boxes.

Thank you, the battery boxes are each fitted with 3 AA dummy batteries and 3 Nitecore 14500 3.7v Li-Ion batteries, giving them average 11.1v per box. Its like a Buwizz but for a fraction of the price, and I still get to use my SBricks with them.

I've gone into more detail about this on some of my other topics I think, but its also worth saying the camera used to film my AMR 33 really doesn't do justice to how fast the thing is, check out the video of my Vickers M1936 (also 4.9kg), that model was filmed with a basic mobile phone, but it really shows the speed of the vehicle more. The AMR 33 is actually faster that, since it uses 12 stud diameter drive wheels compared with the Vickers' 10. 

Naturally,  the lower torque means offroad performance is a bit worse than some of my other tanks, but I wanted to capture the speed of these Light tanks.

 

23 hours ago, Aleh said:

Incredible tank! Bravo!

 

22 hours ago, TinkerBrick said:

Fanatastic job! The barrel movement mechanism is cool.

 

22 hours ago, Permo said:

Wonderfull build, really well done !

 

10 hours ago, Celeri said:

I am really not into war machines and usually do not look at this kind of MOCs, but I ended up here (maybe because I am french? ahaha) and I was really impressed. It seems very faithful to the original model and with great driving performance: Bravo!

Thanks you guys!

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Well built like all your other Tanks. The armor plates fit together well and the scale is very impressive too :thumbup:

But I am not really feeling this one. There are some tanks that I just don't find very interesting. These small "machinegun boxes" in WW2 that already have to go up against "real tanks" with tank guns. They seem pretty obsolete to me.

I get not every tank has to be a MBT, especially in WWII where a variety of different tanks were used. But for me these are just not as interesting as some of the other concepts like TD's or Superheavies.

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awesome build, you can see a lot of time and effort went into this build!!

can you go further into detail on how you used the battery box woth the lipo? I have designed a massive Karl-Gerat 041 (1.15m long & weight will be around 10 kg:ugh:) and will need all the power I can get?

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1 hour ago, Gray Gear said:

Well built like all your other Tanks. The armor plates fit together well and the scale is very impressive too :thumbup:

But I am not really feeling this one. There are some tanks that I just don't find very interesting. These small "machinegun boxes" in WW2 that already have to go up against "real tanks" with tank guns. They seem pretty obsolete to me.

I get not every tank has to be a MBT, especially in WWII where a variety of different tanks were used. But for me these are just not as interesting as some of the other concepts like TD's or Superheavies.

Thank you for the feedback!

I'm well aware that whilst interwar vehicles are my area of interest which is why I have focused so much on them, they are generally considered the least interesting aspect of the history of tanks and armoured vehicles due to their simplistic nature and design, and as a result I have received so many requests for WWII and Cold War vehicles. You are right that by 1940 standards these types of vehicles were obsolete but I still find them interesting nonetheless. The AMR 33 entered service in 1933 and was by the standards of that time quite a good weapon. The fact that it was used in WWII at all was purely down to the French Army needing every tank, no matter how obsolete, it could get a hold of.

There are plenty of more interesting and unique inter-war tanks such as the French FCM 2C, the British Vickers Independent or the Soviet T-28, but I usually save these sort of big projects for the summer when I have more time. A vehicle like the AMR 33 is one of the simplest types of tanks produced between the wars, so I can just about manage to build it over the Christmas or Easter break and get a video out. If I were to start a vehicle like the T-28 at Christmas, I likely wouldn't have it finished until July/August/September the following year due to commitments at work, university and home, but I can have it built by the same time if I start in May/June.

 

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2 hours ago, Stimy said:

awesome build, you can see a lot of time and effort went into this build!!

can you go further into detail on how you used the battery box woth the lipo? I have designed a massive Karl-Gerat 041 (1.15m long & weight will be around 10 kg:ugh:) and will need all the power I can get?

That sounds amazing!

Not sure what else to say. It's exactly the same as putting regular batteries inside a Lego PF AA battery box, but instead of putting six standard alkaline or rechargeable batteries (6 x 1.5v = 9v and 6x 1.2v = 7.2v), you put in three Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) 3.7v rechargeable batteries of size 14500 (equivalent of AA battery size) and then three dummy batteries to complete the circuit, and you've now got a 11.1v battery box (3 x 3.7v = 11.1v).

In September I built a Bridgelayer that ran on two 11.1v battery boxes which weighed 9.4kg, and still had decent mobility.

Dummy batteries can be found second hand at various places, the six I use I got on eBay.

As for Li-Ions, I used to get mine from a UK website called Ecolux.com, but I purchased some Nitecore Li-Ions last year and they are far better quality. Li-Ions are mostly used in vapes and torches, etc. 

Hope that helps!

 

Edited by Tarix819

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Nice job! I especially like the double-articulated gun!

50 minutes ago, Tarix819 said:

That sounds amazing!

Not sure what else to say. It's exactly the same as putting regular batteries inside a Lego PF AA battery box, but instead of putting six standard alkaline or rechargeable batteries (6 x 1.5v = 9v and 6x 1.2v = 7.2v), you put in three Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) 3.7v rechargeable batteries of size 14500 (equivalent of AA battery size) and then three dummy batteries to complete the circuit, and you've now got a 11.1v battery box (3 x 3.7v = 11.1v).

In September I built a Bridgelayer that ran on two 11.1v battery boxes which weighed 9.4kg, and still had decent mobility.

Dummy batteries can be found second hand at various places, the six I use I got on eBay.

As for Li-Ions, I used to get mine from a UK website called Ecolux.com, but I purchased some Nitecore Li-Ions last year and they are far better quality. Li-Ions are mostly used in vapes and torches, etc. 

Hope that helps!

 

I was considering selling my 8878 battery now that it's doubled in value, and using the proceeds to build a similar 3xLi-ion/3x dummy battery box, but in a AAA box. Do you think using the small form factor would hurt performance much? You're sure getting nice speed from that tank!

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1 hour ago, 2GodBDGlory said:

Nice job! I especially like the double-articulated gun!

I was considering selling my 8878 battery now that it's doubled in value, and using the proceeds to build a similar 3xLi-ion/3x dummy battery box, but in a AAA box. Do you think using the small form factor would hurt performance much? You're sure getting nice speed from that tank!

My A34 Comet model that I built in April 2020 weighed 5.9kg was powered by a single AAA battery box with three Trustfire 3.7v 10440 Li-Ions and performed decently well. At full battery you shouldn't see a difference in performace compared with 14500 (AA size), but 10440 (AAA size) have much lower capacity and you will need to be constantly recharging them, especially since there are only three real batteries in the battery box instead of six.

I suppose it all comes down to how intensively you intend to use it, three tiny batteries with less than 1000mah between them isn't really sufficient to keep a 5.9kg tracked vehicle going.

Edited by Tarix819

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This is perfect! So many details... :pir-love: And that color looks epic! I've just discovered your other mechanized vehicles at your youtube channel. Just wow!! Keep up the great work!

Edited by blackdeathgr

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17 hours ago, Celebrian Telrunya said:

I'm loving those tracks. Good job.

 

 

3 hours ago, blackdeathgr said:

This is perfect! So many details... :pir-love: And that color looks epic! I've just discovered your other mechanized vehicles at your youtube channel. Just wow!! Keep up the great work!

Thanks very much! I think dark tan is the perfect all-round colour offered by Lego for military vehicles, considering price, environment, etc.

Edited by Tarix819

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