Oh No! I fell off the tank-wagon again...
Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2020 7:27 pm
Six months tank-sober, then, when idly surfing through Ebay I chanced upon a well-configured HL Panther G, sporting metal tracks. In a blur, it began to feature in 'The same old (familiar) story'. Before I could summon up the anti-tank genie, I'd clicked the 'buy' button.
Still, when the tank arrived today, I comforted myself with the knowledge that it will make a very attractive 'runner' in the garden, now that my Tamiya Panther has sacrificed (temporarily) its gearboxes and flash unit to the Jagdpanther project. It's new, but had been upgraded with metal tracks before being shipped. A pack of uprated springs was also included. Another feature to sweetened the deal is the presence of steel (not zinc or nylon) gearboxes inside, along with a V.6.1 unit. Then, there's a pleasing extra I've not seen before: a USB battery charger, designed specifically for the supplied Li-ion battery. I like the fact that it has a handy LED warning light, that flashes during charging, but turns steady green when the battery's ready to go. All chargers should have some visual warning device to indicate charge status, IMHO. At the same time, tanks delivered from Germany, as this was, routinely include a two-pin European mains charger that's useless in the UK, unless you happen to have an adaptor for it.
It has been said before, and often lately, that HL have really raised the RTR bar lately. The camo job is good enough to remain un-tinkered with, apart from a dab, or two, from some Tamiya weathering sticks, I think. Again, the accessory pack includes all the usual tools, spare tracks, battling mushroom (it's IR and BB), and more. Whilst not cutting edge, they're still made to a standard that takes them beyond the 'toy' category. Last year, I bought a set of late Tiger1 metal wheels, and now I'm thinking of how much better this model would look with them No.......not more expense
Here's pic of a Panther running on Tiger 1/2 style late metal wheels:
Several members have fitted Tiger-type wheels to the Panther, with impressive results- including our Hermann Bix's well-received Panther Z-Fuss project
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=14376&hilit=Panthe ... tal+wheels
I seem to remember that Tankmad also fitted Tiger wheels or, if not, contributed to a thread that described the mod.
Anyway, I'd say that the current iteration of Heng Long's Panther moves the model out of any toy category, and almost into a collector's category (no, ...not the refuse collector... )
The Tank addict's collection, that is.