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Turn, Turn, Turn
This is a simple little blocky tank project. The key element is the tank treads that I
got in a Hot Wheels multi configurable set (more on those in weeks to come). So, with
this as a base, all I need is a tank body. Thin card (cereal box) will provide most of
that. An nothing too complex, either. This is just a basic box with an end truncated.
You can follow the pattern that I have laid out, scaling it as necessary to fit the
treads or wheels (think Striker) you have.
Still pretty simple, we just fold it up, the give a few extra touches to make it look nicer. The additional plates are just strips of thin card again. The "rivets" are my old stand-by, liquid latex. Liquid latex is available in craft stores in little squeeze tubes near the t-shirts. It's mostly used to decorate them, but it makes pretty nice and easy rivets, fairly quickly.
OK, first, there is a hatch on the back, again thin card detailed with liquid latex. And
we have another truncated rectangular piece that will serve as a turret. The cool little
piece of the project is over there on the left: a pill bottle top and a regular soda
bottlecap.
We've finished the turret up in a similar style to the body, and added some old bits to
make guns, a hatch (the gasket from inside the bottlecap), and an antenna (toothpick).
We've also glued the bottlecap to the top of the pill bottle twist cap. The height of
the turret is just a little smaller than the combined height of the two caps together.
The next step is to glue the caps to the body and then the turret to the caps.
With the twist cap supporting the turret, it will actually turn. No engineering, marking,
or measuring. No bearings and lining things up. The twist cap from the pill bottle
has it all ready for you. Here you can see her painted up, with some little friends, too.
Here's another example. This time, I am mounting some RoboGear turrets from the planes on top of a pill bottle twist cap to go on top of a sci-fi tower. The mechanism isn't hidden in this one, so it gives a better view.
