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What do you do with an $800 radio control model tank? Battle with it of course.
Desert Armor Korps, or DAK for short, is a club centered in Phoenix that hosts small-scale battles reanacting World War II tank combat.
Enthusiasts from three states converged at the club field near 19th Avenue and Greenway Road on a Saturday afternoon with their computer controlled, 1/16 scale tank models equipped with infrared combat equipment.
These vehicles have all the sounds, actions, and movement of real tanks. Members spend countless hours, and dollars, to assemble these vehicles from kits, from RC toys, and sometimes from scratch.
"We are here to re-enact World War II tank battles, it's the Americans against the Germans," said Aimee Ousley, a participant from Huntington Beach, California.
"Years ago in the Army I worked on [tanks] and other vehicles as a mechanic," said Duane Pickett who drove from Tucson to compete, and even buy a new Tiger tank. "I had to join the club."
DAK has been hosting these events since 2006 and hopes to keep at it well into the future.
Ethan Dunsford, the DAK co-founder said, "Every event we pick up a new member, and sometimes old friends come back. We barbeque, we swap parts and info, and we do our part to grow this hobby."
The club has many young members as well. The children of the 'Tank Commanders' get a turn and the adults try to keep up. Old or young, someone always ends up in a ditch.
"These tanks do what the real ones do," says DAK co-founder Craig Pierce. "When they take hits they start to run rough, bigger tanks take more hits to kill, lighter ones can fire faster, the manufacturers work hard to really add realism to this game."
Craig used to work in the movie industry painting studio models and props. "This hobby means you can take a model and do something with it, it doesn't just sit on a shelf."
By day's end everyone is low on energy and batteries, but that doesn't stop them from adjourning to a local restaurant for a nightcap.
"Most of the club have become really good friends," says Aimee Ousley who drove with her husband Jeff over 800 miles to be at the event. "Not a bad way to spend a Satuday."
