Student made a half sized tank (hey Nick!)

Way cool. There is a video too. The video is priceless.

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FLINT, Michigan -- Will Foster never has too much trouble getting a parking spot for his second vehicle.

After all, who's going to argue with a guy driving a half-scale Panzer tank complete with a working air cannon?

Tanks a lot

For the basics on Kettering University student Will Foster's tank, check out the artillery rounds, er, bullet points below.

Size: half-scale Panzer replica powered by three-cylinder diesel engine Cost: current parts total around $2,000 but Foster estimates more than $10,000 was spent on trial-and-error engineering. Top speed: 20 mph Additional features: camouflaged wooden shell, working tread system, air cannon on a 360-degree turret that shoots varied munitions including golf balls and empty Red Bull cans. "I took it home, driving it around in this white picket fence neighborhood and one of the neighbors called the cops on us," said Foster, a Kettering University student who began building the tank from scratch nearly two years ago.

"(Police) came and they just told us to head back home, but they were also laughing at it because they had never seen anything like that before."

That's an understatement.

Roughly the size of a small car, Foster's tank can reach speeds of around 20 mph with its three-cylinder diesel engine. Just like the real thing, the tank runs on treads and has a 360-degree cannon powered by compressed air from a scuba tank.

Its camouflaged plywood exterior has become a curious fixture at Foster's Theta Xi fraternity house, where it is often parked next to a shed with a sign that reads "Panzer parking. Violators will be totaled."

A builder and tinkerer since he made his first tree house at age 9, the Annapolis, Md., native came up with his first designs for the tank when he was 14.

But, he didn't have the money or manpower to pull it off.

Seeing golf carts dressed up as tanks in paintball competitions rekindled the idea and it gained momentum when he arrived at Kettering in the summer of 2006.

"I said to the guys at the house, 'Can I build a tank in the parking lot here?' because lots of guys have their projects that they're working on," he said.

The whole house has had a hand in building the tank.

"It's been a lot of trial and error. As it is now I've probably got $2,000 worth of parts on it, but about $10,000 total has gone into it because I'd buy a $200 part that didn't work, then go to a $300 part that didn't work before finding a $50 part that did," he said.

An early version based off the drive system of a lawn mower failed quickly, sending Foster and his cohorts to studying the hydraulic systems of Bobcat-style construction equipment.

It was a step in the right direction, but still there were problems. Two more drive systems failed, and it took four major alterations to the tread to keep the tracks from slipping off the drive wheel.

Through it all Foster stayed intensely focused on solving problems as they crept up, impressing his fellow engineers to be.

"He's a genius when to comes to visualization of a problem, seeing what needs to be done and figuring out every step along the way that needs to happen," said Steve Sankey, 27, a fraternity brother who pitched in on the tank's construction.

"We'd all work on it and there were lots of those lightbulb moments when we were trying to figure out a problem with it. The tank has kind of become a part of Theta Xi."

Aside from being a fun problem and curiosity -- "Kids run after us like we're the ice cream man when we take it out," Foster remarks -- the tank has given Foster valuable job experience.

After listing it on his resume Foster was recruited by armored vehicle maker Force Protection Inc. for a summer co-op job that he starts this month.

"They asked me a lot about it and that's the kind of engineering job I've always wanted, so it's great," he said. "I've always been a builder but not someone with all the book smarts, so I love stuff like this rather than being one of the people at school with great grades who can't turn a wrench."

Foster's predilection for tinkering -- his 1986 Chevy Silverado was rescued from a junkyard and now has a 10-inch lift and 37-inch wheels

-- is endearing to girlfriend Heidi Clark, a recent Kettering graduate who has also helped problem solve and build the tank.

"When there's a problem with it that's all he'll think about and he stays really, really focused on it until he can figure it out," she said. "It's funny because he gets all these stares from people because they don't know what this thing is or who would have something like that."

He's getting used to the stares -- even the frequent interest of police, especially when towing the tank on a trailer between Michigan and Maryland.

Usually, Foster said police just ask for his license and registration before sending him back on his way.

"I tried to not mention that it had a working cannon on top."

Reply to
Ignoramus10392
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That looks like a cool toy.

Wonder if it pulls a disk set or useful work. Snow blade, mud flow or the like.

Martin

Mart> Way cool. There is a video too. The video is priceless.

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Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

Naw, he just needs to sit in it at the local speed trap with a sign that says: "Speed limit enforced with extreme prejudice"

It would make some of the locals around here think twice.

Nice project. Kid should put in a resume with General Dynamics.

Jim Vrzal Holiday,Fl.

Mart> That looks like a cool toy.

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Reply to
Mawdeeb

The article says that he got a summer job with some military contractor.

i

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Reply to
Ignoramus15795

The first real Panzers weren't much better. Guderian complained about street urchins drilling holes in them and the infantry sticking bayonets through the sides during exercises.

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

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I think that Panzer simply means tank in German (Panzerkampfwagen).

Tiger 1 was officially called Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausführung.

The guy's tank looks more like Panzer IV with some changes (related to the student's use of plywood).

i

Reply to
Ignoramus15795

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In the video he states that it's a Tiger 1. not a Panzer.

Thank You, Randy

Remove 333 from email address to reply.

Reply to
Randy

Panzer is simply Armor, including chain mail. To confuse matters the Panzer V was a "Panther".

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

"Tank and Panzer" were not names to be direct references to waht they are

I heard the english origin of the term TANK is in britain to confuse spies trying to find info since no one would think of the weapon but rather the pressure vessels. So someon wanting to find out info about tanks would be sent to the place where they were making pressure tanks or hot water heaters rather than munitions.

the french call tanks by what they do "Char d'assault" literally attack vehicle

Reply to
Brent

Brent wrote in news:8a6bed45-2c08-406c-96c1- snipped-for-privacy@x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com:

Almost:

The "tank" name came from the cover story used during initial development: the vehicles were told off as being motorized carriers of fluids designed to traverse muddy ground in order to supply the troops in the trenches and the tubular projections were the nozzles.

Reply to
RAM³

Youse guys need a bit of practice, me thinks.

Armor translates to "Rüstung". Panzerkampfwagon translates to "Tank combat car" or "armored car" or even "armored fighting car. Panzer, in the usual sense, translates to "tank" and Char d'assault translates to "Tank of assault".

There are at least three possible explanations of the origin of the name "tank". One is it first arose in British factories making the hulls of the first battle tanks: workmen and possible spies were to be given the impression they were constructing mobile water containers or tanks for the British Army, hence keeping the production of a fighting vehicle secret. [1] Another is the term was first used in a secret report on the new motorized weapon presented to Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, by British Army Lt.-Col. Ernest Swinton. From this report, three possible terms emerged: "cistern", "motor-war car", and "tank". Apparently "tank" was chosen due to its linguistic simplicity. [7] Perhaps the most compelling story comes from Churchill's authoritative biography. [8] To disguise the device, drawings were marked "water carriers for Russia." When it was pointed out this might be shortened to "WCs for Russia," the drawings were changed to "water tanks for Russia." Eventually the weapon was just called a tank. Bruce-in-Bangkok (correct email address for reply)

Reply to
Bruce in Bangkok

time was this would have been what MIT students were doing. now they're all blogging.

Reply to
z

OT somewhat: for those of you not using google groups (hey, we who do have compelling reasons to do so) you're missing the ads that run up the sidebar. For instance:

Panzer Tank Prices We Have Millions of Products Panzer Tank for Sale. Reviews

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which gets you to

"Searching thousands of stores to find great deals for panzer tank"

promises promises. all they come up with is models, books, software, and tshirts.

Reply to
z

The way they friek about toy guns in school, this student was probably met with a SWAT team and a psychiatrist.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

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