Student made a half sized tank (hey Nick!)

> =A0 =A0http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DQH5eYCdheLw
>
> FLINT, Michigan -- Will Foster never has too much trouble getting a
> parking spot for his second vehicle.
>
> After all, who's going to argue with a guy driving a half-scale Panzer
> tank complete with a working air cannon?
>
> Tanks a lot
>
> For the basics on Kettering University student Will Foster's tank,
> check out the artillery rounds, er, bullet points below.
>
> =A0Size: half-scale Panzer replica powered by three-cylinder diesel
> engine
> =A0Cost: current parts total around $2,000 but Foster estimates more
> than $10,000 was spent on trial-and-error engineering.
> =A0Top speed: 20 mph
> =A0Additional features: camouflaged wooden shell, working tread system,
> air cannon on a 360-degree turret that shoots varied munitions
> including golf balls and empty Red Bull cans.
> "I took it home, driving it around in this white picket fence
> neighborhood and one of the neighbors called the cops on us," said
> Foster, a Kettering University student who began building the tank
> from scratch nearly two years ago.
>
> "(Police) came and they just told us to head back home, but they were
> also laughing at it because they had never seen anything like that
> before."
>
> That's an understatement.
>
> Roughly the size of a small car, Foster's tank can reach speeds of
> around 20 mph with its three-cylinder diesel engine. Just like the
> real thing, the tank runs on treads and has a 360-degree cannon
> powered by compressed air from a scuba tank.
>
> Its camouflaged plywood exterior has become a curious fixture at
> Foster's Theta Xi fraternity house, where it is often parked next to a
> shed with a sign that reads "Panzer parking. Violators will be
> totaled."
>
> A builder and tinkerer since he made his first tree house at age 9,
> the Annapolis, Md., native came up with his first designs for the tank
> when he was 14.
>
> But, he didn't have the money or manpower to pull it off.
>
> Seeing golf carts dressed up as tanks in paintball competitions
> rekindled the idea and it gained momentum when he arrived at Kettering
> in the summer of 2006.
>
> "I said to the guys at the house, 'Can I build a tank in the parking
> lot here?' because lots of guys have their projects that they're
> working on," he said.
>
> The whole house has had a hand in building the tank.
>
> "It's been a lot of trial and error. As it is now I've probably got
> $2,000 worth of parts on it, but about $10,000 total has gone into it
> because I'd buy a $200 part that didn't work, then go to a $300 part
> that didn't work before finding a $50 part that did," he said.
>
> An early version based off the drive system of a lawn mower failed
> quickly, sending Foster and his cohorts to studying the hydraulic
> systems of Bobcat-style construction equipment.
>
> It was a step in the right direction, but still there were
> problems. Two more drive systems failed, and it took four major
> alterations to the tread to keep the tracks from slipping off the
> drive wheel.
>
> Through it all Foster stayed intensely focused on solving problems as
> they crept up, impressing his fellow engineers to be.
>
> "He's a genius when to comes to visualization of a problem, seeing
> what needs to be done and figuring out every step along the way that
> needs to happen," said Steve Sankey, 27, a fraternity brother who
> pitched in on the tank's construction.
>
> "We'd all work on it and there were lots of those lightbulb moments
> when we were trying to figure out a problem with it. The tank has kind
> of become a part of Theta Xi."
>
> Aside from being a fun problem and curiosity -- "Kids run after us
> like we're the ice cream man when we take it out," Foster remarks --
> the tank has given Foster valuable job experience.
>
> After listing it on his resume Foster was recruited by armored vehicle
> maker Force Protection Inc. for a summer co-op job that he starts this
> month.
>
> "They asked me a lot about it and that's the kind of engineering job
> I've always wanted, so it's great," he said. "I've always been a
> builder but not someone with all the book smarts, so I love stuff like
> this rather than being one of the people at school with great grades
> who can't turn a wrench."
>
> Foster's predilection for tinkering -- his 1986 Chevy Silverado was
> rescued from a junkyard and now has a 10-inch lift and 37-inch wheels
> -- is endearing to girlfriend Heidi Clark, a recent Kettering graduate
> who has also helped problem solve and build the tank.
>
> "When there's a problem with it that's all he'll think about and he
> stays really, really focused on it until he can figure it out," she
> said. "It's funny because he gets all these stares from people because
> they don't know what this thing is or who would have something like
> that."
>
> He's getting used to the stares -- even the frequent interest of
> police, especially when towing the tank on a trailer between Michigan
> and Maryland.
>
> Usually, Foster said police just ask for his license and registration
> before sending him back on his way.
>
> "I tried to not mention that it had a working cannon on top."