mato tiger 1 metal upper deck

[Carrion]

So simple question with alot of possible replied. but basically, is the mato upper deck compatible with a torro tiger 1 chasis with a little fettling? or by relativity simple work to modify it.


link for product
https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/184208746851?c ... _BEALw_wcB

[Tiger6]

I would question why? Do you want the extra weight or a more accurate turret? (assuming that the Mato has corrected the flaws of the Heng Long / Torro in terms of shape and turret ring position)

Adding extra mass means you will be chasing the weak points around the chassis - better gearboxes, better idlers and mountings, better electronics, etc - You really are going to be going down a rabbit hole with this one.

If you want more accurate model you could get the 1/16 hobbyboss kit for less, that not only has a better upper and turret than Heng Long / Torro, but also late pattern cleated tracks that are as robust as anything else on the market. Its basically a kit version of the WSN/Torro toy with the gearboxes removed - the chassis is a little a little floppy, but the upper and turret is fine.

Plus Mato owners have reported issues with zinc rot, so again, what are you trying to achieve? Not saying you are doing it all wrong, but I've seen far too many folks go down the route of "more metal is better" and yet got to the end of their journey and were still not happy with the results - the Tiger especially seem to attract more than its fair share of 'Turd Polishers' who will sink over a grand into the tank before taking to the forums to complain about their experiences

[Son of a gun-ner]

What he ^^^^ said.
Plus. Having a metal (and very poor quality metal at that) top, gives you far less room for detailing etc, as plastic is far easier to work with than this type of metal.
And if it's weight you're after, just attach a sheet of stainless to the underside of the chassis, far better to have the weight As low as possible to give it that heavy tank "look" when running.

[Carrion]

ultimatly "reality" looks is not what i am after. i am not a modeller i am more interested in the driving of the vehicle . i am after reality handling without things flopping around like an over eager beagle causing issues. it also adds mass in the correct areas and spread across the unit to lower the COG and increase to realistic levels the track pressures.

as it stands despite using laminated strips of plasticard to increase the rigidity of the torro plastic upper the turret still has a nodding dog aspect to it for several reasons.

i am also an engineer who does believe in the in doubt ask mentality. i prefer working with metal for structural reasons and i trust it to do what is supposed to.

i guess that i approach things from a differnt direction to many on this forum in that i am much more interested in taking the tank out and playing with it over creating some amazing artistic works.

[jarndice]

The problem with using the Mato Body is as has already been mentioned the very poor metal that is used
The unrealistic flex in the Tiger 1 Plastic/ABS Body may detract from the way a prototype Tiger 1 would have looked when traversing rough ground but at least the flex is absorbing the stress which a Mato pot metal body will not,
You could always settle for a Plastic/ABS Turret which should substantially lower the "Top Heavy Effect"
I very much doubt that you wish to see the Turret suddenly disappear into the bowels of the Tank body because the metal Tank body has failed as it inevitably will do,
You could build a simple square of steel strip to reinforce the underside of the area around the Turret and in concert with an aftermarket metal turret ring that combination would certainly lower the centre of gravity of your Tank.

[Tiger6]

Also an Engineer If you intend to pile the weight on, the I would recommend ensuring that you don't leave the tank standing on its tracks for any length of time, as the torsion bars will fatigue fail in short order (been there, done that, with a plastic upper on a Asiatam/Torro metal chassis with all metal running gear - took about 3 months for a complete collapse if memory serves... )

[Son of a gun-ner]

I too prefer working with metal with mechanical fixings over plastic and glues, but this pot metal is not what I would call "metal" within normal metal working practices.
As for weight, as these 16th scale tanks are actually a 4,096th actual size, yet are still even lighter than a 4,096th the weight of a real full sized tank, one would struggle to get them to drive like the real thing, unless the ground we drove them on could have its very atoms scaled down to a more representative mass. The only real chance of having a scale tank drive anywhere near as realistically would be to produce half sized models.

Having as much of the sprung weight as possible as low as possible, really is the best weight distribution to go for for the best "drive."
Fitting a metal top hull and metal turret will take away any chance of that by making the whole thing top heavy, and negate any low centre of gravity advantage.
You would have to really beef up the suspension to try to stop the old specialist British Leyland car wallowing we all grew to um love which would take away any real suspension advantage.