Tongde Churchill MK VII

[Kaczor]

Does anyone else remember that Heng Long has been producing the Tiger with the turret in the wrong place for 20 years, or the Walker Bulldog, which resembles the M41 only when you squint hard?

[jarndice]

I and other members of the Forum have been pointing out that and other built in failings and how to fix them for years.The specific fix for the wrong location of the Heng Long Tiger 1 Turret is on the Heng Long Builds section.

[RobW]

It will look less toyish with the business end of a Petard spigot mortar pokin' out the turret!

All HL tanks look pretty toyish outta the box, so this Tongde has promise.

Yes, and given that'll also require some adjustment to the various problem areas (hatches, front plate, turret etc) it'll probably allow us to fix some of the issues at the same time. Removing the track guards may prove to be more difficult.

[lmcq11]

But, for the obsessive 'enhancer', this will promise years of shouty, painstaking, and hair-pulling masochism, to morph it from plain and simple, into mean, credible and business-like. To some extent, building a Ludwig kit was like that, as it was necessary to fashion detailed parts from scratch, with no guidance beyond pictures, film clips and the trusty old eyeball. If all the basic dimensions are to scale, though, and the existing plastic shell made from ABS, or decent styrene, then it might be worth getting out all the saws, drills and hacking tools, for some protracted 'plastic surgery'.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up my case. TONGDE knows how to threat my kind.

[tankme]

But, for the obsessive 'enhancer', this will promise years of shouty, painstaking, and hair-pulling masochism, to morph it from plain and simple, into mean, credible and business-like. To some extent, building a Ludwig kit was like that, as it was necessary to fashion detailed parts from scratch, with no guidance beyond pictures, film clips and the trusty old eyeball. If all the basic dimensions are to scale, though, and the existing plastic shell made from ABS, or decent styrene, then it might be worth getting out all the saws, drills and hacking tools, for some protracted 'plastic surgery'.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up my case. TONGDE knows how to threat my kind.

Yeah Louis, but you could transform a Kia sedan into a Maus tank in a couple of months...

[MonsieurTox]

MK VII turret scanned from a real one, anyone ?

[Mithras]

It's the first time I've clapped eyes on the model. My first impression: it's more toylike than any other 1/16 tank I've seen recently, as it's almost entirely devoid of any fine detail. But, for the obsessive 'enhancer', this will promise years of shouty, painstaking, and hair-pulling masochism, to morph it from plain and simple, into mean, credible and business-like. To some extent, building a Ludwig kit was like that, as it was necessary to fashion detailed parts from scratch, with no guidance beyond pictures, film clips and the trusty old eyeball. If all the basic dimensions are to scale, though, and the existing plastic shell made from ABS, or decent styrene, then it might be worth getting out all the saws, drills and hacking tools, for some protracted 'plastic surgery'.
By quality plastics, I mean- not anything like the infamous 'Tofu-dreg' materials used in China, for all their collapsing buildings, bridges, and even MBT tanks! Yes, a wheel actually fell of a Chinese MBT at a recent gunnery tournament).

If you're curious, look up 'tofu-dreg' on Youtube, and marvel at the horrors that will enfold.

Don’t forget that the Chinese have also used aluminum armor quite extensively….

[Rob1970]

I'll just keep on printing mine...

[Panzer Fenris]

Tongde just released a short video snippet of it in action on their FB page.
https://www.facebook.com/10003652725560 ... 1067542469

Some quick observations, which might turn out untrue if they end up making some changes to the productions versions.

The video shows the "upgraded" version, with metal tracks, road wheels, idler and drive wheel. Hopefully this one will be available at launch. Tongde prices itself quite reasonably, and I think the Churchill's suspension will benefit from the extra heft and weight.
Idler looks to be adjustable, which is always nice to see. The shiny crossheads should be simple enough to replace if they are indeed final.
Runs pretty well and smoothly, albeit toylike as is to be expected.

It's got barrel recoil, and the expected violent hull recoil. Maybe someone with earlier Tongde models can confirm whether this can be easily dialed down or turned off like on new Heng Longs?
Hull MG also seems to be moving around in a wide circle. That feature doesn't do anything for me, but should be easy to disconnect.

I like it so far. It's not finished product for the rivet-counters, but a decent enough base to work on from for hobbyists.
I've so far held off on printing out Inkors Churchill Crocodile, and will probably end up picking up one of these when they hit the market.
Might wait a bit first though. From what I've heard about the M60 Tongde have been rather good about going back and updating their tanks where customer feedback tells them there's easy gains to be made.

[Ad Lav]

Probably around the £300 mark for all metal?