🪖 RC Tank: step-by-step build

Two motors, two tracks, one remote. Spin on the spot and climb over anything!

Tanks do not have a steering wheel. Instead, each track has its own motor. Both forward: drive straight. One forward and one backward: spin on the spot! You will control the two motors with the speed remote, which talks to the receiver with invisible infrared light. The tracks are built as two long chains of 30 links each — take your time, it is worth it. And on top there is a turret that can turn all the way round on a turntable.

• Level 4 of 5 (tricky)
• About 60 minutes
• 27 steps, 102 parts
• Powered by: Multi-motor
• Series: Starter Builds

What you will learn

• Tracks vs Wheels: Tracks spread the weight and grip rough ground.
• Bushes & Spacers: Bushes stop things sliding off an axle.
• Mounting a Motor: A motor must be pinned tight, or it spins itself instead of your wheels.
• Remote Control: Invisible light carries your commands to the model.
• Plugging In: Power Functions: Battery box → (switch or receiver) → motor. Plugs stack like bricks.
• Drive Train: The chain of parts that carries power from the motor to the wheels.
• Turntables: A turntable lets a whole model spin round.

Build these first

• 🔋 Motor Buggy: Your first car that drives by itself — with a forwards/backwards switch and headlights! (level 3 of 5, about 30 minutes, 20 steps)

Parts you need

• 2 × Beam 11
• 10 × Black pin (grippy)
• 1 × M motor
• 1 × Axle 9
• 9 × Half bush
• 1 × L motor
• 3 × Axle 4
• 1 × Tan axle-pin
• 4 × Track wheel
• 2 × Beam 9
• 1 × L-beam 3×5
• 1 × AAA battery box
• 1 × IR receiver
• 2 × Blue long pin
• 30 × Track link
• 30 × Grey track link
• 1 × Turntable
• 1 × Red axle-pin
• 1 × Speed remote

Steps

1. Stand an 11-hole beam on its edge — the left side of the hull.
2. Push two black pins into the 9th and 11th holes, so they stick out on the inside.
3. Press the M motor's front onto the two pins, so its round output lines up with the 10th hole.
4. Push a long axle through the middle hole and slide a half bush onto it on the inside, and another near the far end.
5. Push two black pins into the 1st and 3rd holes of the left beam, sticking out on the inside, and press the back end of the L motor onto them — its front faces the right side. It drives the right track.
6. Push two black pins into the holes left and right of the L motor's output, then slide the right hull beam onto them and onto the long axle.
7. Push axles into both motors. In the free front-left corner hole push a tan axle-pin (pin end in the beam — it spins freely there, and the L motor right behind it stops it sliding in).
8. Push a 4-long axle into the free back-right corner hole and slide a half bush onto its inside end, so the axle can't fall out.
9. Slide a half bush onto each of the three axles, right against the hull beam. The track wheels will rest on them.
10. Push a track wheel onto each corner: the three axles and the axle-pin.
11. Lock the track wheels on the three long axles with half bushes on the outside, so they can't slide off.
12. Push two black pins into the side holes of the L motor that face the middle, near the left beam, and press a 9-hole beam onto them, standing up.
13. Push black pins into the 6th and 7th holes of the post, pointing forwards, and press an L-beam onto them: its short leg hangs down the post, its long leg reaches across.
14. Lay the AAA battery box across the hull beams, between the motors. Press the IR receiver onto its studs, back towards the L-beam. Push two blue long pins through the L-beam into the receiver's two back holes. Plug the M motor into the red side and the L motor into the blue side.
15. Left track: snap 8 links together in a row.
16. Snap on the next links, curving round.
17. Snap on the next links, curving round.
18. Snap on the next links, curving round.
19. Wrap the left track around the left track wheels.
20. Right track: snap 8 links together in a row.
21. Snap on the next links, curving round.
22. Snap on the next links, curving round.
23. Snap on the next links, curving round.
24. Wrap the right track around the right track wheels.
25. Put the turntable on the free half of the battery box.
26. Push a red axle-pin into the turntable and put the long gun barrel on it, pointing forwards.
27. Grab the speed remote. Set it to the same channel as the receiver.

Play time

Both dials forward: drive! One forward and one back: spin on the spot! Build a ramp from books and climb it.

Build next

• 🏆 RC Racer: A real remote-control car: motor drive, differential, servo steering and headlights. (level 5 of 5, about 75 minutes, 38 steps)
• 🚜 Skid-Steer Loader: No steering at all: left motor, right motor — spin it round on the spot! (level 4 of 5, about 65 minutes, 25 steps)
• 🚧 Twin-Motor Dozer: Wide caterpillar tracks, one motor per track, and a blade that cranks up with a worm gear. (level 5 of 5, about 100 minutes, 33 steps)
• 📦 Conveyor Belt: A factory belt that carries your parts from one end to the other — and drops them in a box. (level 3 of 5, about 50 minutes, 22 steps)