I have one I upgraded with a 5000 lipo 2cell I removed the interior seats and mounted it inside the tank towards the front. I also sealed electronics. The larger battery helps with the weight made a special charging port to charge it without removing the battery. You think it would suck but the 5000 batt lasts over a hour before charging. I replaced the LEDs with cob LEDs on top. I put a fpv cam setup with 600mw transmitter I found real oil filled shocks from my local hobby store which is nice. Now I want to find a better controller setup and I really want to make it brushless to quiet it up it is a loud tank but so much fun.
Nice mods dude, sounds like a beast 😁 I might be doing a tank build series in the New year, so keep an eye out for that 😎 Welcome to the channel my friend 👍👍
Hello Steve, awesome mods mate, sometimes the cheapest and simple mods are the best. I’ve got some coming one the little FTX/hobby plus mini outback 2 lol that you talked me into buying. Oh I’m sure we can work something out on the lights mate I’ll give you a message during the week 👍
Hey buddy, thanks for commenting, I've silicone sealed the inside of the switch and that seems to have taken care of water getting into the body from there, but the main issue is the back wheel mounts, can't really seal them...
@@SouthpawBluesman I buy with metal tracks and remove one link and they will fall off and remove 2 links and it's so tight that is hart to mount drive wheel back :D After one ride gears on wheel striped in about 20% :D
After watching all the videos on these, I will be upgrading the shocks and other improvements. Invest in a can of Corrosion X. its the best waterproofing for electronics. Check it out on Flite Test videos. They have a video on it showing servo 's and motors running under water with no damage.
I would love to see a before and after video on how these changes help or hurt the tank. I want to get one but the front is too lite as I have noticed in many video's. I know you went over that log but I think more footage is needed.
Hello there, yes it definitely needs the weight on the front, without it these tanks always tip over backwards once they get to about vertical as there is sooo much weight in the back end. I'll be doing more videos with this tank, rest assured, but I can tell you that all of the mods I have done have had a positive effect to it's performance. Driving a tank Vs a car means approaching things a little differently, as it stears from the middle, not from the front, so climbing can be challenging 😁 Thanks very much for watching buddy 😎👍👍🎄 🎄
@@eddielane9569 Well this one is currently out of stock on Amazon, but keep an eye out on Amazon cos they're available to buy my friend 😁👍 Hugine 15 Channel 1/20 RC Tank USA M60 Patton Main Battle Tank Model With Shoot Bullet(Camouflage Green) www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01CHZFA8C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_iB6.Db05NB60E
I am about to order one and would like to make some modifikations too. For the additional front weight, wouldn't it be a good idea to put some extra batteries in there? Adds weigth and improves running time. What I also want to do is, to add FPV gear (cam and vtx). If the range of the remote control is too low, would be nice to replace the RX with a frsky rx to be able to control it with my Taranis. So that would allow to add some moving parts that can be radio controlled too. No idea, if that could work.
Replacing the electronics is not as simple as it sounds, the tank has a motor not a servo to stear the tank left and right, with its own separate gearbox, so you would need a specialist ESC designed for a tank... Good idea with the batteries in the front but how would you take them out to charge?😁
@@SouthpawBluesman I have to take a closer look to the situation, but I think, it would not be a huge problem to add a charging cable incl. balancer plug, that can be accessed from outside or just be rolled up anywhere inside, where you have access and unroll it for charging. For adding a different RX, it would probably be necessary to add seperate ESCs for brushed motors. or some tinkering on the controller. Not sure if that is an easy task, without having it here. There is also a version with metall tracks available. Do you think it is worth the extra €20,- or is the rubber track good enough?
Have you found any better or upgraded tracks that might fit? I’m about to get one and I was already thinking of doing the weight up front, I may just move the battery up there. Great stuff though and some good ideas! Thanks!
Thanks man, well the metal tracks that are available just eat your drive wheels, so I would stear clear of those, tbh the regular tracks are great once you add the weight to the front. You will have so much fun with one of these buddy 😎👍👍
For those who want to put a big battery up toward the front but are concerned about charging the battery, there is a guy on here going by RC Spektrum who holds the top of the body on with magnets. He then puts a 6000 mah lipo in it. Unfortunately, the videos are a combination of no audio, Japanese subtitles and English subtitles, depending on which video you watch. I wish they had clear English subtitles that spelled things out a little better. I saw a video done by Merch where he loses the forward proportional speed control - it's either on full guns or off. Has anyone else had this problem?
Hi there, the problem of losing your proportional throttle is an issue with using conformal coating, if you spray it in the wrong place you can lose vital connections. As for putting the battery up front, you could always run a cable into the cockpit and connect the charger thru the window 😎👍👍
Southpaw RC Fir safety’s sake, the battery shouldn’t stay connected when not it use. I guess the leads to the ESC can be lengthened to reach the battery, but if the body can come on and off easily by using magnets, that would help.
@@SouthpawBluesman scentless wax and latex around the receivers, it was ok at first but the brushless motors got worse until they didn't work a week later, everything else still worked like the steering though
@@calvinhuddleston576 I'm guessing the wax melted, (it melts at 40C) and ran into something it shouldn't. I would use a can of conformal coating (£15 from Amazon) next time, it's designed to waterproof electronics and is easy to use. Also if the wax got into the connectors it would cut the power to the unit. A really cheap fix is to cable tie a rubber balloon around the receiver and one around the electronics if possible, but this will increase heat up and you can't cover any fans you have obviously 😁
Are ye gonna get the metal track set for it? Banggood has 'em as SG 1203 tracks (ID: 1564294) yea, same ones as for the Abrams tank, $27.99 USD at time of posting.
Hi there, no I'm actually going to pass, I was talking to a guy who uses then and he says that they eat your drive wheels in about 20 minutes! So although I would love to have them, I don't want to have to buy a new tank cos you can't buy spare wheels 😁
Hi mate great mods so far, im wondering, i have a problem in that there seems to be overheating issues wiv mine, LED bar flashes 3 times which i think is overheating and not voltage cut off. any experience with that issue? especially since you covered the heck outta your electronics
Hey buddy 😀 I had no issues with overheating, even with the added weights, I also removed the light bar completely cos I wanted to fit a new one but never got round to it. The wiring harness is quite weak and prone to rust damage, so you may just have a lose connection or a rusting wire 👍 my esc eventually gave up the ghost so that is definitely the weak link in the chain 👍👍
Hi there, thanks for watching buddy 😀 No, it has no cut off as such, once the battery reaches minimum voltage it just stops dead. Battery charges up fine afterwards (I use a 1500mAh 2 cell li-on) Generally if you are crawling it, you get 25 mins+ and if you are thrashing it, about 15 mins👍
New friend here!! OMG, so happy I found your channel, what I saw it's mind blowing, fantastic content, great energy and I can tell how much love and passion you put into it. I will be honoured to continue watching you clips from now on! Well done, huge like from me! xx
Very nice, have you considered uprating the electronics including motor. You can install a 540 brushed or brushless motor in there also upgrading the battery wouldn't hurt. I just recently modded my airhogs hypertrax mini rc tank, I upgraded the battery and made it FPV, check out my channel. Lol I was in the middle of cleaning that day. I might pick up an SG 1203 and see what mods can be done.
Hi there, yes I have thought about upgrading the motor, but the gears are actually plastic, even though they look like they're metal on the box, so I'm not sure how long they would last under extra strain 😁 I've seen videos of the SG 1203 running on a lipo and it definitely had more punch even with the stock motor so I may go down that route 😎 Thanks for watching buddy and welcome to the channel 😀✌️✌️
@@SouthpawBluesman I saw you added weight that may put stress also on the gears. They look kind plastic which would be a concern for a more powerful motor but at least the battery would work. When I get my SG 1203, I will install a bigger battery and put it up from to distribute the weight also install a fpv camera on it, some mini led lights for night time excursion. The suspension would definitely get upgraded with hobby grade liquid filled aluminium shocks. This tank has a lot of potential. Looking forward to seeing where you go with your project😁✌
Sounds cool! I looked into getting shocks, but the mounts are bespoke and the short size means a suitable shock is hard to find🙄 also you need to buy 6 of them, and when it comes to cleaning it after a run.... It has 24 wheels to scrub!!! Let me know how you get on buddy 😎👍
@@SouthpawBluesman I saw a video on here by a guy who changed 4 of the shocks and he said he got them on Amazon. Naturally, as most people doing videos on here, he didn't put anything in the "Show More" drop down, so, who knows what he bought? All you can see is that they have yellow external springs. Is there a way to mount a guard that would keep "stuff" out of the tracks and wheels? I can see the possibility of a spacer and a rear mount, but don't see that up front.
Yep it's an option, you could easily lengthen the wires and mount the battery up front😀 but the battery mounted underneath keeps the centre of gravity low, otherwise it would be prone to rolling over on inclines👍
Using the stock transmitter, has anyone figured out a way to turn down the sensitivity of the steering? I know tanks turn easily, but it would be nice to be able to make it less sensitive.
Southpaw RC That’s an option, but I don’t want to spend a lot of money on this as it has limited capabilities with the plastic gears in the gearbox. Maybe there’s a way to do it in the transmitter. Add resistance, etc. I’m not a good sparky. Maybe somebody else has a solution.
Forgot to say thanks for sharing your knowledge- it’s really appreciated 👍🤜🏻🤛
No problem 👍
That's alot of custom work. Well done.
Cheers matey, I still have a few things to do yet😀👍
I have one I upgraded with a 5000 lipo 2cell I removed the interior seats and mounted it inside the tank towards the front. I also sealed electronics. The larger battery helps with the weight made a special charging port to charge it without removing the battery. You think it would suck but the 5000 batt lasts over a hour before charging. I replaced the LEDs with cob LEDs on top. I put a fpv cam setup with 600mw transmitter I found real oil filled shocks from my local hobby store which is nice. Now I want to find a better controller setup and I really want to make it brushless to quiet it up it is a loud tank but so much fun.
Nice mods dude, sounds like a beast 😁 I might be doing a tank build series in the New year, so keep an eye out for that 😎 Welcome to the channel my friend 👍👍
Awe you beat me to the weight in the front. Lol
It had to have that weight distribution towards the front. Great job brother, cheers
Lol oh it needs the weight doesn't it, but I'm loving it, it'll go places some crawlers cant😁👍👍
Neatly done m8, budget modding at its best.....
Thanks buddy, I've got to buy another battery, cos the 1st one died!
The modding is brilliant mate 👍😎
Ah thanks man 😁 I do love this tank it's so much fun 😁
That thing is looking BOSS now! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks buddy, it's a keeper 😁
Great mods on a budget. Looked good going over the log. Well done bud
Thanks buddy, this is so much of a laugh to drive 😀👍
Good job Steve, great mods, I been looking to buy one of these Ripsaw tanks myself, thumbs up mate
Thanks buddy, they do a version with metal tracks now!
@@SouthpawBluesman yeah i seen that, costs a bit more than the standard version
@@PERTHWESTOZRC yeah I was hoping they would do the metal tracks separately
I've heard that the metal tracks damage the plastic drive wheel
pespex LOL... Cool Tank Mate Very good improvising with click pen suspension. Have a great weekend!!!
Lol well ya know, adapt and improvise 😁 have a great weekend Mr Bum 😎👍👍
Hello Steve, awesome mods mate, sometimes the cheapest and simple mods are the best. I’ve got some coming one the little FTX/hobby plus mini outback 2 lol that you talked me into buying. Oh I’m sure we can work something out on the lights mate I’ll give you a message during the week 👍
Lol yeah sorry for costing you money 🙄😁 you will love the Truck tho👍 Cheers mate👊😎
@@SouthpawBluesman lol thats ok steve, i love it so i will let you off mate, your crack up when you see one of my videos next week😂
Thanks for the update! Some good ideas.
Cheers man, I'm hoping to do some other mods too, I have new batteries on the way from Amazon 😉😀👍
I think about moving power switch inside because You can turn it on and close doors and than seal hole after switch
Hey buddy, thanks for commenting, I've silicone sealed the inside of the switch and that seems to have taken care of water getting into the body from there, but the main issue is the back wheel mounts, can't really seal them...
Moving the switch into the cockpit is a good Idea tho, I might just do that 😎👍
@@SouthpawBluesman Just don't switch yo metal tracks, they eat wheel like crazy !!
@@Adrian202 thanks for the tip!!! I was going to get them🤪😬😎👍
@@SouthpawBluesman I buy with metal tracks and remove one link and they will fall off and remove 2 links and it's so tight that is hart to mount drive wheel back :D
After one ride gears on wheel striped in about 20% :D
After watching all the videos on these, I will be upgrading the shocks and other improvements. Invest in a can of Corrosion X. its the best waterproofing for electronics. Check it out on Flite Test videos. They have a video on it showing servo 's and motors running under water with no damage.
Nice one mate don 🤠🇬🇧👌👌👌
Thanks Don 😎👍👍
I would love to see a before and after video on how these changes help or hurt the tank. I want to get one but the front is too lite as I have noticed in many video's. I know you went over that log but I think more footage is needed.
Hello there, yes it definitely needs the weight on the front, without it these tanks always tip over backwards once they get to about vertical as there is sooo much weight in the back end. I'll be doing more videos with this tank, rest assured, but I can tell you that all of the mods I have done have had a positive effect to it's performance. Driving a tank Vs a car means approaching things a little differently, as it stears from the middle, not from the front, so climbing can be challenging 😁 Thanks very much for watching buddy 😎👍👍🎄 🎄
@@SouthpawBluesman I am a former Marine and was an M60 Tank Crewman in the eighties. I wish that I could get a M60 Tank in RC. It would be great !
@@eddielane9569 Well this one is currently out of stock on Amazon, but keep an eye out on Amazon cos they're available to buy my friend 😁👍 Hugine 15 Channel 1/20 RC Tank USA M60 Patton Main Battle Tank Model With Shoot Bullet(Camouflage Green) www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01CHZFA8C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_iB6.Db05NB60E
Great video 👍👍
Thanks buddy 😎👍👍
I am about to order one and would like to make some modifikations too. For the additional front weight, wouldn't it be a good idea to put some extra batteries in there? Adds weigth and improves running time.
What I also want to do is, to add FPV gear (cam and vtx). If the range of the remote control is too low, would be nice to replace the RX with a frsky rx to be able to control it with my Taranis. So that would allow to add some moving parts that can be radio controlled too. No idea, if that could work.
Replacing the electronics is not as simple as it sounds, the tank has a motor not a servo to stear the tank left and right, with its own separate gearbox, so you would need a specialist ESC designed for a tank... Good idea with the batteries in the front but how would you take them out to charge?😁
@@SouthpawBluesman I have to take a closer look to the situation, but I think, it would not be a huge problem to add a charging cable incl. balancer plug, that can be accessed from outside or just be rolled up anywhere inside, where you have access and unroll it for charging. For adding a different RX, it would probably be necessary to add seperate ESCs for brushed motors. or some tinkering on the controller. Not sure if that is an easy task, without having it here.
There is also a version with metall tracks available. Do you think it is worth the extra €20,- or is the rubber track good enough?
@@ThereIsProbablyNoGod no mate, apparently the metal tracks eat the drive wheels really quickly, so I would stear clear buddy😎
@@SouthpawBluesman thanks for the answer.
Have you found any better or upgraded tracks that might fit? I’m about to get one and I was already thinking of doing the weight up front, I may just move the battery up there. Great stuff though and some good ideas! Thanks!
Thanks man, well the metal tracks that are available just eat your drive wheels, so I would stear clear of those, tbh the regular tracks are great once you add the weight to the front. You will have so much fun with one of these buddy 😎👍👍
Southpaw RC I am sure I will! Supposed to be here today. I ordered it 6 weeks ago!
For those who want to put a big battery up toward the front but are concerned about charging the battery, there is a guy on here going by RC Spektrum who holds the top of the body on with magnets. He then puts a 6000 mah lipo in it. Unfortunately, the videos are a combination of no audio, Japanese subtitles and English subtitles, depending on which video you watch. I wish they had clear English subtitles that spelled things out a little better. I saw a video done by Merch where he loses the forward proportional speed control - it's either on full guns or off. Has anyone else had this problem?
Hi there, the problem of losing your proportional throttle is an issue with using conformal coating, if you spray it in the wrong place you can lose vital connections. As for putting the battery up front, you could always run a cable into the cockpit and connect the charger thru the window 😎👍👍
Southpaw RC Fir safety’s sake, the battery shouldn’t stay connected when not it use. I guess the leads to the ESC can be lengthened to reach the battery, but if the body can come on and off easily by using magnets, that would help.
You can silder in a connector into the leads so you can disconnect the battery when not in use 😎👍👍
Southpaw RC Sounds good. Thanks.
Wish I knew how to do this, I tried to waterproof my rc car and now it's dead
How did you waterproof it buddy? It maybe you just short circuited something and it's fixable. I'll help if I can 😎
@@SouthpawBluesman scentless wax and latex around the receivers, it was ok at first but the brushless motors got worse until they didn't work a week later, everything else still worked like the steering though
It was a wpl c14
@@calvinhuddleston576 I'm guessing the wax melted, (it melts at 40C) and ran into something it shouldn't. I would use a can of conformal coating (£15 from Amazon) next time, it's designed to waterproof electronics and is easy to use. Also if the wax got into the connectors it would cut the power to the unit. A really cheap fix is to cable tie a rubber balloon around the receiver and one around the electronics if possible, but this will increase heat up and you can't cover any fans you have obviously 😁
Are ye gonna get the metal track set for it? Banggood has 'em as SG 1203 tracks (ID: 1564294) yea, same ones as for the Abrams tank, $27.99 USD at time of posting.
Hi there, no I'm actually going to pass, I was talking to a guy who uses then and he says that they eat your drive wheels in about 20 minutes! So although I would love to have them, I don't want to have to buy a new tank cos you can't buy spare wheels 😁
Hello friend, is the figure you used 6 inches? regards
Roughly, yes, it's a Disney star wars Han Solo figure I got cheap from a cheapie toy store 😎
Hi mate great mods so far, im wondering, i have a problem in that there seems to be overheating issues wiv mine, LED bar flashes 3 times which i think is overheating and not voltage cut off. any experience with that issue? especially since you covered the heck outta your electronics
Hey buddy 😀 I had no issues with overheating, even with the added weights, I also removed the light bar completely cos I wanted to fit a new one but never got round to it. The wiring harness is quite weak and prone to rust damage, so you may just have a lose connection or a rusting wire 👍 my esc eventually gave up the ghost so that is definitely the weak link in the chain 👍👍
@@SouthpawBluesman i see i see, and so did you replace the esc wiv original or 2x upgrades like 1060's?
Nope, it is cheaper to buy a new ripsaw than to buy the replacement 😎
Thanks for the video. Does this tank have a low voltage cut off and if so at what voltage does it cut off?
Hi there, thanks for watching buddy 😀 No, it has no cut off as such, once the battery reaches minimum voltage it just stops dead. Battery charges up fine afterwards (I use a 1500mAh 2 cell li-on) Generally if you are crawling it, you get 25 mins+ and if you are thrashing it, about 15 mins👍
@@SouthpawBluesman Thanks for that.
I want to switch to ELRS & FPV. Explore my neighborhood
You'll need a spotter if you plan to fly fpv as all drones are now line-of-sight flights only buddy, could cost a lot if you get caught 😁
@@SouthpawBluesman I don't think I tank flying over a bump counts as flying 😆
New friend here!! OMG, so happy I found your channel, what I saw it's mind blowing, fantastic content, great energy and I can tell how much love and passion you put into it. I will be honoured to continue watching you clips from now on! Well done, huge like from me! xx
Well that's very kind of you to say, thank you! Welcome to the channel my friend, enjoy your viewing and have a great day 😎👍👍
Hi, Where did you get the figure?
Lol I grabbed a kids toy from the local budget shop, cost me a fiver, and I had to cut his feet off to fit him in😂😁
Very nice, have you considered uprating the electronics including motor. You can install a 540 brushed or brushless motor in there also upgrading the battery wouldn't hurt. I just recently modded my airhogs hypertrax mini rc tank, I upgraded the battery and made it FPV, check out my channel. Lol I was in the middle of cleaning that day. I might pick up an SG 1203 and see what mods can be done.
Hi there, yes I have thought about upgrading the motor, but the gears are actually plastic, even though they look like they're metal on the box, so I'm not sure how long they would last under extra strain 😁 I've seen videos of the SG 1203 running on a lipo and it definitely had more punch even with the stock motor so I may go down that route 😎
Thanks for watching buddy and welcome to the channel 😀✌️✌️
@@SouthpawBluesman I saw you added weight that may put stress also on the gears. They look kind plastic which would be a concern for a more powerful motor but at least the battery would work. When I get my SG 1203, I will install a bigger battery and put it up from to distribute the weight also install a fpv camera on it, some mini led lights for night time excursion. The suspension would definitely get upgraded with hobby grade liquid filled aluminium shocks. This tank has a lot of potential. Looking forward to seeing where you go with your project😁✌
Sounds cool! I looked into getting shocks, but the mounts are bespoke and the short size means a suitable shock is hard to find🙄 also you need to buy 6 of them, and when it comes to cleaning it after a run.... It has 24 wheels to scrub!!! Let me know how you get on buddy 😎👍
@@SouthpawBluesman I saw a video on here by a guy who changed 4 of the shocks and he said he got them on Amazon. Naturally, as most people doing videos on here, he didn't put anything in the "Show More" drop down, so, who knows what he bought? All you can see is that they have yellow external springs. Is there a way to mount a guard that would keep "stuff" out of the tracks and wheels? I can see the possibility of a spacer and a rear mount, but don't see that up front.
What if you put another battery in front? Or move the original battery? That way it's not just dead weight in the front.
Yep it's an option, you could easily lengthen the wires and mount the battery up front😀 but the battery mounted underneath keeps the centre of gravity low, otherwise it would be prone to rolling over on inclines👍
@@SouthpawBluesman Ya that's not fun having to roll an RC back over a bunch. I'll have to check on your progress later if I get my own!
Using the stock transmitter, has anyone figured out a way to turn down the sensitivity of the steering? I know tanks turn easily, but it would be nice to be able to make it less sensitive.
I've not seen any videos on it yet, but maybe replacing the radio system might help?
Southpaw RC That’s an option, but I don’t want to spend a lot of money on this as it has limited capabilities with the plastic gears in the gearbox. Maybe there’s a way to do it in the transmitter. Add resistance, etc. I’m not a good sparky. Maybe somebody else has a solution.
@@kodak_jack you could try fitting a stronger spring to the steering wheel, that would make it more sensitive? Just an idea...😁👍👍
@@SouthpawBluesman I guess that's one option. I'd rather do it electronically is possible.