Carter's Lasercut Tank - B1 Bis

by Lucas Fierfort

12K10727

Intro: Carter's Lasercut Tank - B1 Bis

Hello everyone ! This is my fourth tank, the Renault B1 bis.

The scale is approximatively the same than my other tanks (~1:18). The model is about 36cm long, 15cm wide, and 16cm tall. It requires 3mm material.

The plans are available on its Thingiverse page .

This model requires :

  • 2x Ø3mm 20mm long screws,
  • 6x Ø3mm 10mm long screws,
  • a huge amount of toothpicks (Ø2mm),
  • 2x little zipties,
  • 2x rubber bands.
  • and some wood glue.

The tracks system is different from my other tanks, it will be much longer to make them. Be patient when you will make this tank.

Enough talking, let's begin !

STEP 1: The Body

We begin to make the main part of the tank. Just stack and glue the frame and the sheets around it. We will add the details later.

STEP 2: The Turret

The turret is not difficult. It is just some sheets glued around a frame.

STEP 3: The Wheels

For the bottom and top wheels : There are many wheels, so be patient. Stack all the 9 layers (You can recognize them with the number of dots to know the order) around a toothpick, and be sure that it pokes out from the two sides. You can use the hollow rectangles to make sure all the layers are perpendicular to the toothpick.

For the drive wheel : trap the 20mm screw inside it before hiding the head. It will be easier to fix the wheel on its support now rather than later.
Do not mistake the parts that are identical with the front wheel (the hole is 2mm for the front wheel and 3mm for the drive wheel).

For the front wheel : Same than the bottom wheels.

STEP 4: The Sides

It's important you already made the wheels before this step.

These are the sides of the frame that hold the wheels and the tracks. Caution, because of some details, the two sides are not symmetrical (especially the part that will be in contact with the body).

Add the wheel, the rubber bands, and seal it (there is no slot for fixing the external sheet, so be accurate).

STEP 5: The Tracks

This part is very long. If school starts in 3 minutes, do this step when you will get home. You just have to glue two hinges on the slats. Add a cut toothpick and glue it on its ends to make the pivot.

STEP 6: The Mudguards

Arg ! i did a mistake on the photo ! the slat with a slot must be in the middle, not in the rear hole.

STEP 7: The Exhaust Pipes

Just stack every discs.

STEP 8: The Details

Note : I added the details before making the tracks, so you don't see them on the photos, but it's not that important.

Haaaa...The best part. This includes the hatches and the rails, and the hook supports.

And the B1 is done ! congrats ! You can now show it proudly on a shelf. Notice this model can not be motorized, but you can still modify the plans to make your own moving tank if you want.

19 Comments

Woodgnome62 3 years ago

Hi Jack,
Your models are amazing, do you play World of tanks? This B1 is crying out for 105 leFH18B2 upgrade to SPG.
What do you think.

Paul

Lucas Fierfort 3 years ago

Hi, thanks ! We French loved heavy things that get the job done. I never saw there was an SPG version of it. I'll keep an eye on this one. For now, i will soon release my new one, i'm currently finishing the instructable.

I play War Thunder instead, which gave me passion for tanks. I'm not disappointed at all.

Have a nice summer !

Noodlepie1002 6 years ago

This is crazy! Your next project should be the STUG

Marco Norway 6 years ago

I use Laserworks to talk with my laser what are you using ?
you use Illustrator to make you'r drawings richt?

Lucas Fierfort 6 years ago

The cutter i use acts as printer (Epilog), i just have to print my work on Illustrator to talk. The parameters for cutting/engraving are thr thickness and color of the pathes.

Marco Norway 6 years ago

thanks for your feedback I hade to make a .plt file of it nou it looks like it wil go

Noodlepie1002 6 years ago

Holy cow! I'm gonna go fire up the laser cutter.

CBTman99 6 years ago

Hi, there!

I have not been able to find what material (and thickness) you used to make your beautiful tank.

Could you please point me to that information?

Thank you!

HuyV7 6 years ago

This is amazing :o
Please make a Hetzer or Cromwell :)

inconceivable1 6 years ago

Wow! that looks awesome! is it remote control?

Lucas Fierfort 6 years ago

Hi, thanks ! but this model is not controlled neither, unfortunately. The tensioner on the drive made me wonder how could i connect a motor, so i decided to make a static model

joshpit2003 6 years ago

It's impressive what you are able to do with a laser.
I love all of your tank designs, and I think the exposed tracks of this tank make it my favorite. If it's remote-controlled, you should definitely link to some video-footage of it. Or perhaps the inclusion of the controller in the photo is to show that it can be made to be remote controlled?