The DIY Tank

Will Foster, a Kettering University student, has built his own half sized Panzer tank. It took Will 2 years and around $10,000 to build his mini-tank and he says the process has been "a lot of trial and error...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." The tank is about as big as a small car, and can reach speeds of around 20 mph with its three-cylinder diesel engine. It runs on treads, has a cannon powered by compressed air from a scuba tank and parks wherever the hell it wants.

One question...

[PlatyPaul]

... will you be my research advisor?

THE PINK PANZER

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Watch him gayly romp through Poland, Czechoslovakia and France! [bkpforums.com]

whatcouldpossiblygowrong?

[deander2]

if there was ever a time this tag really fit.... =P

$ Dollars

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that $10,000 dollars as opposed to $10,000 donuts or !10,000 dollars, or what?

Interesting

[Z00L00K]

To see what the parking place attendants will say when you park it.

Also interesting to see what they will write on the parking ticket...

Slashdot is getting slow

[SageMusings]

G4's "Attack of the Show" already had this story last week.

I prefer it when Slashdot gets these things before any other organization...keeps us l33t :)

panzer tank ???

[C0vardeAn0nim0]

"panzer tank" ??? where did this come from ? the redundant department of redundancy ? panzer already is german for "tank".

you either say "german tank" or "german panzer", but "panzer tank"??? sheesh.

The real WTF is the URL

[Incoherent07]

http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/newsnow/2008/04/post_moto_kid_death_story_here.html [mlive.com]

Note the last part. The Flint Journal must be extremely confident in how road-safe this tank is.

Can't wait to see...

[gdog05]

Someone driving one of these and talking on a cell phone.

MPG? Straight line!

[apachetoolbox]

At first I thought about the MPG it gets. Then I though it doesn't matter when you can just go in a straight line. Buildings-shmildings.

420 what?

[starglider29a]

i see the "420" on the turret. i wonder if that's Hitler's Birthday, or something else?

I've heard of "shotgunning", but that's ridiculous!!!

Tailgaters?

[grassy_knoll]

With a top speed of 20MPH, he must get a lot of tailgaters...

well, not the same tailgater twice with that cannon...

Lunch Money...

[pwnies]

And now all the bullies that took this geek's lunch money as a kid will run in fear - as the geek now has a tank.

I Come In Peace!

[wsanders]

According to TFA, it shoots Red Bull cans.

Liberation through overpriced syrupy caffeinated beverages! Bet Rommel never thought of that.

Re:panzer tank ???

[MightyYar]

I find it interesting that someone who uses zeros as a substitute for the letter "O" in their nickname would be such a stickler when it comes to proper language usage. :)

Re:Interesting

[name*censored*]

Just make up some fake diplomatic immunity plates for it. No-one's going to believe a parking inspector who tells people "I couldn't ticket the panzer because of Iraqi Diplomatic Immunity".

Re:Can't wait to see...

[daeley]

Someone driving one of these and talking on a cell phone.

Myself, I can't wait to be driving one of these and see someone else talking on a cell phone. ;)

Re:Sane police

[Anonymous Coward]

Would YOU try to taser a guy driving a tank?

Awww

[Translation Error]

It's adorable. Does he call it Bonaparte?

My bet

[Anonymous Coward]

Dick cheney will buy it and use it for duck hunting with a bunch of dems.

Re:Sane police

[meringuoid]

It's refreshing to read about police who aren't trying to taser everything that fails to conform.

It's a tank. You've got a taser. Good humour is the best way to handle this situation, don't you think? Unless you've got the facility to radio in an airstrike.

Time to take up golf...

[AioKits]

You thought you looked awesome in that golf shirt and pimped out golf cart on the back nine? Wait till your friends see how you roll with a mini panzer!

Mind if I play through? *adjusts turret* Of course you don't.

Re:Tiger I

[bellers]

No one cares, tank-nerd.

Re:panzer tank ???

[fred fleenblat]

Oh how I miss panzergirl, on the beach in her panzerkini.
But I have to get back to work cleaning out septic panzers.

Not complete until...

[MiniMike]

I would not consider this project complete until he finds a German midget to drive it...

Oh sure, he's hot shit NOW

[elrous0]

Just wait until someone builds a half-scale anti-tank missile.

Re:Slashdot is getting slow

[sumdumass]

Do people still watch attack of the show? Might as well say it is before any other organization. Your still l33t.

Re:Slashdot is getting slow

[MiniMike]

Just wait until tomorrow, when they have the story about his neighbor who built five T-34 replicas for the same amount.

Re:Tailgaters?

[Yvan256]

Well, this thing shoots Red Bull cans, so it's more than probable that it's ALWAYS the same tailgaters.

They're happy about the free Red Bull but they're pissed at the slow speed at the same time!

Re:Slashdot is getting slow

[morgan_greywolf]

I prefer it when Slashdot gets these things before any other organization...keeps us l33t :)

Huh? What's Slashdot got to do with being l33t?! I'm afraid I can't parse that sentence.

LOL! Look at the URL

[JonTurner]

"http: // blog.mlive.com/ flintjournal /newsnow/2008/04/ post_moto_kid_death_story_here.html"

"post moto kid death story here" ?!?
I'm thinking that there must be a "part two" to this tale!

Re:panzer tank ???

[sumdumass]

That why those german's lost the war. They didn't know if they were sending the armor division or a tank division into battle.

At least the English decided to name things a cover story dealing with potable water that was hiding the development of what became the first Tank. They only get confused if they forget their mission, it's either following the mess hall around or shooting up the enemy.

Re:$ Dollars

[tehniobium]

The $ indicates that the 10,000 dollars is a php variable.

Re:panzer tank ???

[Anonymous Coward]

We are Americans here! We are not supposed to know another language! We can say whatever heck we want! Remember that for us Yankees, Canada is the 51st state, UK is the 52nd, Paris is right beside Beijing and southbound from Baghdad, the Vietnam is close to Hawaii, there is nothing south of El Paso besides Illegal Aliens, Jungle and 3X beer, and Japan, Korea and Australia belong to the same continent.
So, now get of my lawn with your German classes!

Re:panzer tank ???

[Anonymous Coward]

Panzer does not mean "tank" in German, it means Panther.

The German army also had Tiger and Leopard versions of their tanks.

Kinda like OSX, but crunchier.

Re:Oh sure, he's hot shit NOW

[wvmarle]

Sounds like the beginning of a half-scale arms race.

Re:Sane police

[g1zmo]

It's a tank. You've got a taser. Good humour is the best way to handle this situation, don't you think? Unless you've got the facility to radio in an airstrike.

I think LAPD has implemented a preliminary test program.

Re:I went to high school with this kid

[Redbaran]

Will liked to bounce some of his crazy ideas off of us, potato guns and the like.

Tell me, did it hurt when he bounced that crazy potato gun idea off you?

Re:Sane police

[Charlton Heston]

It's not bullshit, it's the truth. I'm Charlton Heston, I'm dead, and I would not lie to you.

Alarm system

[honestmonkey]

The first thing I thought of when seeing him climb out of it, is that he needs to put in a car alarm. I was half-expecting it at one point. Drive up in a tank, climb out, point the remote at it and "Bee-boop".

Re:panzer tank ???

[Anonymous Coward]

Mod parent Informative!
It's coming straight from the mouth of a real Grammar Nazi.

(and laugh, it's meant to be funny)

Re:panzer tank ???

[Anonymous Coward]

Panzer is German for panther.

This is like complaining that "sherman tank" is redundant, cause, like, you know, everyone knows that a sherman is a tank.

Excuse me while I finish my decaf coffee and turn off my cell phone before I get into my BMW automobile and drive on the interstate highway.

Re:420 what?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, dude... cough cough... we knew about the reefer thing... thanks... cough cough...

I notice you didn't include the URL to the Craiglist ads. It'd suck to slashdot a prostitute.

Re:Not complete until...

[dreemernj]

I know a little German o.O

Re:420 what?

[MorpheousMarty]

Suck and prostitute need to be used carefully in a sentence... Also, I hope GTA IV allows me to slashdot hookers.

Re:youre from the department of redundancy departm

[Applekid]

You must be new here. The sport of pointing out redundancies, errors, and speling mistakes is a wonderful sport, like NASCAR.

Re:panzer tank ???

[C0vardeAn0nim0]

austria's official language is also german. so a panzer made in austria would be an "austrian panzer"...

i know, i know. this reply was too pedantic, even for me. but hey!! i'm a geek... "pedantic geek" is as reduntat as "panzer tank", right ?

Re:panzer tank ???

[mobby_6kl]

I'm not your buddy, guy!

How Long.....

[Budgreen]

Until small furry rodents eat through his armor plating? I personally think this guy did a better job. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer [wikipedia.org]

Re:MPG? Straight line!

[MMC Monster]

Buildings-shmildings.

Roads-shmoads.

Bridges... Oh Shit!

Re:hail all ye rounders

[thetartanavenger]

Am I the first brother to RTFA?

First maybe. Last definitely, it's been slashdotted..

Re:Sane police

[AHumbleOpinion]

I remember quite a few people who thought the gunfire in Saving Private Ryan sounded fakey -- precisely because it didn't.

Sounded fake to me, I was not wearing ear protection and I was not partially deaf with ringing ears. :-)

Re:Slashdot is getting slow

[Draek]

That's because proper editing and source-checking takes time, and that's something that needs to be done for *all* stories, so stop pressuring the editors unless you want Slashdot's normally excellent quality standards to drop.

Re:Sane police

[rabiddeity]

So, umm, can I have your rifle now? I mean a promise is a promise, right?

Re:panzer tank ???

[C0vardeAn0nim0]

they also speak french in Switzerland. but i understand why they used the german word instead of the term the french usually use when they see a tank: "J'abandonne!!!" (I surrender!!!)