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Lew's Model Boats - M5A1 Stuart

Updated:
April 21, 2026

About

Purchase in February 2026, Lew's 1/16 scale model of the M5A1 Stuart light tank came from Coolbank.  As with every vehicle I have, Lew did significant investigating to see what could be done to the model to make it more functional and improve the visual look to the tank.

This is one of Lew's current projects (going into mid 2026) so this page will be updated as he goes on.  The M5A1 Stuart seems to be one of the current popular 1/16 scale tanks, most probably due to its extreme high speed (way out of scale) making it a fun vehicle to drive. Another reason for its popularity is quality and low cost. A good "Bang for the Buck".

Lew has divided this page up into several sections. Topics to the right are in that order below. >>>>

1. What Lew's "Stuart" looks like and what I did to it.

2. Photos at tank meets.

3. Information on the Coolbank Stuart.  (As it is somewhat new, there is limited documentation on the
     internet.)

4. What are those additional (unused) channels?

1. Lew's Stuart and Modifications

Photos of Lew's model Stuart with many details added.

The added detail parts were mostly scratch built including 3D design and printing (including the figures).  If you look closely you can see the speaker has been relocated to inside the additional storage box on the back of the tank.

2. This M5A1 Stuart at RC Tanks Meets

Lew already have several videos on YouTube. Checkout his channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/eymccauley/videos

Photos below were taken at the Bay Area Blitzkrieg RC Tank club in Largo, Florida, USA.

3. Information on the Coolbank M5A1 Stuart

Here are some items Lew thinks users of the M5A1 Stuart Coolbank tank might find helpful:

Did you misplace your manuals? Want to print a new one? Coolbank Instructions/Manual PDF downloads available here:

M5A1 Coolbank Manual

M5A1 Coolbank Transmitter Manual

What the electronics looks like. Left is the inside of the transmitter. Center right is a photo and diagram of the receiver located in the bottom center of the tank. Right is the Coolbank diagram of the transmitter controls.

Below left is the inside of the "lower hull".  Below right is the inside of the upper hull. (If you took apart the upper and lower hulls and disconnected the wiring between the this might be helpful in re-connecting them. )

4. What are those Additional Channels?

Here is a puzzle to solve: On the center of the Coolbank transmitter there are two knobs..... what do they do? How do they function?

These knobs are identified as " A1: reset Adjustment Knob" (also AUX_1) and A2: Preset Adjustment Knob (also AUX_2).

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