Animating these dollies with any degree of realism has been challenging considering the technical limitations as well as the relatively low quality miniature servos that are commercially available. Be that as it may, the objective has been to achieve as far as is possible fluidity of movement and to minimise the robotic feel inherent in the dollies. To this effect, a sequence of movements was programmed in a loop repeating itself after a suitable pause.
Adhering to the principal that less is invariably more, I have only used head and some torso movements. The movement of arms was avoided, as it tends to look unconvincing and robotic. To enhance the illusion further, I have used good quality heads, which were re-worked and re-painted. Of course there are other aspects that help create a sense of realism by mimicking as much as possible, the natural movements of the human body, posture, head inclination, co-ordinated head/torso movement, as well as properly fitted uniforms and headgear. I hope these objectives were partially achieved with lots of room left for development and improvement.
I hasten to add at this point, that the animatronics project was a collaborative effort between myself, and my friend and electronics wizard, Howard Kalisch.
During the Armortek Open Day at the Tank Museum at Bovington, I was asked by several people, if it would be possible to post some close-up pictures on the various aspects of my Tiger, so it is with pleasure that I have selected a number of photographs that hopefully illustrate and characterise my approach to tank modelling.
Unfortunately it was not possible to demonstrate the number of features incorporated into 112, including the animated crew. Setting off at 5am for my trek to Bovington is an activity outside my normal comfort zone. As a result I forgot to bring along my controller……. so I exhibited a static model unloaded from my vehicle, all of its 165kgs, by muscle power (thanks again Chris).
Real Maybach 230
Modelled Mayback 230
