Cactus Tracks Model R/C Armor is a small (mostly one man) California manufacturer of radio-controlled model armored vehicles. We are located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains about 200 miles north of Los Angeles, hundreds of miles between Death Valley and the Pacific Ocean.  What started as a hobby years ago has become a small business acquiring machinery, welding, and sheet metal equipment as we went along.

I have always liked armored vehicles and,  while in the U. S. Army in Alaska during the Korean War, I was able to wangle a few short turns at the sticks of an old Sherman (our recovery vehicle), some M7 self-propelled guns, and numerous Chaffees.  I drove a truck (the famous WW2 deuce and a half) officially and also had my own M37 Weasel as transportation during many maneuvers.  I retired from a career as a mechanical engineer where I worked on missiles, tracked vehicles, computer peripherals, diesel fuel systems, turbochargers, bicycle shifters, and on and on.

I started modeling tanks in 1/8 scale, and with some outside shop help built an M3 Stuart, an EZ-8 Sherman, and an M10 tank destroyer.  The M3 and the M10 are seen on the Home Page in the picture of the two tanks backed into the edge of Lake Isabella.  The foray into 1/8 scale changed when a friend asked if I would get into the G. I. Joe scale (1/6) and build him an EZ-8 Sherman.  He promised to send money if I would.  He did and I went into production.  Some of the chassis welding and machined parts were farmed out to various shops and in the end I produced and sold 10 EZ-8’s.  Very slow going.  EZ8’s are hard to make although we may do some more later.

Some of the new Stuart parts are made by a sheet metal shop in Bakersfield.  The wheels are cast in a San Diego foundry and some machining is done by a local CNC shop.  The rest of the machining is done in our shop, as is the welding, injection molding, resin casting, wiring, and assembly.  With all this help, I can call us “we.”

As of  late January 08 six of the new Stuarts have been shipped to their new owners, and two more are in the works.