Geek Gifts 2008: The RC Battle Tank Type 90

The packaging makes us anxious to get at our new toy.

Vivid simulation of an actual tank -- this is going to be cool.

Looks like we have all of the pieces -- lets load the batteries and get to tanking.

It looks sort of like the M1 Abrams, but the box and documentation got to great lengths to be non-committal on exactly what tank is being simulated.

Here are all the pieces laid out on the table.

Poor translation is not confined to bad Japanese video games.

Brings back memories of my model making years. The little plastic pieces that never fit just right, the smell of the glue -- ah, childhood. I think the USS Missouri battleship I made when I was a child would hold up better than this tank.

I say the Battle Tank Type 90 is cheap and here is why: This is the drive mechanism for the left track. Notice the plastic spines of the gear. That is what transfers power from the drive shaft (metal) to the tread. The left assembly is still intact.

The right assembly is gone at this point. The arrows mark where the spines of the gear should be.

From this angle you can see the holes were the missing gear spines were supposed to lock and drive the right tread.