This section is to 'show and tell' about any customizing or re-modeling you have done (or are doing) to a Heng Long tank.
Forum rules
This section is for posting a build log of your Heng Long tank.
Questions relating to issues you are having with your tank(s) should be posted in the General Questions forum here: viewforum.php?f=14
Sweet as mate, glad to help ..............I did forget the obvious...
Wipe the film of oil off the tracks first with methlylated spirits or thinners if you have enough.
My heavy duty black tracks are well protected against storage corrosion with a liberal coating of what seems/smells like sewing machine oil from Bernina !!
I use an old tooth brush, or, the wifes or kids one if I cant find the one I use for track cleaning
Mixing bowl of Meths to cover each track, toothbrush, newspaper to soak it all up................shake it all off & warm the tracks under the sun/baking oven
Yes it was a pink one, but IF I actually get a "Ronson" it will not be pink !
Got on to the tools. Used the serated edge on a swiss army knife to score the wood grain into the handles. Use oil paint raw sienna as the base coat. Put on pretty thick so as to use the brush to create texture. Then a dry brushed coat of burnt sienna to bring out the surface. Seemed to work.
Match painted the mounting brackets to the hull & used gun metal base with a flat black dry brush cover on the tool heads.
Very light dry brush with buff to match the dusting & thats all.
Did the fire extinguisher in an acrylic yellow base with a desert yellow cover & a dry brush buff over top.
Looked at my Aber MG with remorse as I got out the saw
Had to shorten it to fit into the ball mount.
Opened the hole in the ball slightly by spinning the drill in my fingers, then heated the end of the Aber MG with my burner.
Melted it into place. Jobs on.
Gun metal base, but I just cant bear to cover such a nice accessory with the green like it would have been.
The fire ash that got into my clear coat was picked out by blade & the red primer shows up nicely.........another accidental bonus.
Every primer 'chip' you see is a bright-white ash spot removed.
billpe wrote:Looks really good Herman, the welds on the top of the hull and cut marks look really nicely done.
My only constructive comment would be the jack, jack block and jack holders were deleted from King Tigers around December 1944.
Cheers Mr Billpe, so was the MG ring, and conventional number of spare track link holders on the turret by the time the actual machine took the field................but they're on there in the period picture !
Thats what makes this machine as enigmatic as it is...............lots of facts, but at the same time, many oddities and annomalies.
I put the aftermarket jack holders on because I had them really !!
Its almost like an early turret went on a late hull
The welds & cut marks took time, but really add to it once the paint brings them up.
I just wish it was easy to get the 18 tooth sprockets & metal narrow tracks to match the build date
billpe wrote:Looks really good Herman, the welds on the top of the hull and cut marks look really nicely done.
My only constructive comment would be the jack, jack block and jack holders were deleted from King Tigers around December 1944.
Cheers Mr Billpe, so was the MG ring, and conventional number of spare track link holders on the turret by the time the actual machine took the field................but they're on there in the period picture !
What I suspect was is this particular tank and the others in the same batch were put together with what they had in the factory, throwing all conformity out of the window as to what was fitted. If they had it around, they'd stick it on. It's also worth noting that the turret was built in a different location, as was the gun. So the turret could be several months old before it even got put onto a tank, there was indeed a surplus of completed turrets ready to be used. That probably would explain the MG ring and the wrong number of track holders for a tank using the 18 tooth sprocket and new single link tracks.
To right it would. I assume the fact that the turret manufacturers would not have had directives to alter supply to narrow-single link mounts on the turret sides in time to prevent this apparent miss-match.
I know the German supply was latest in- in first out so old stock would be last out the gate.
One has to wonder how much the idealist view of "final victory" was clouding the arms industry ?
The E-Series tanks, which included the immediate replacement for the King Tiger , were already well advanced on the design & prototype stage, so perhaps they were simply using what was ready to go while getting ready to tool up for the newer model machine ?
All this is supposition of course, but adds to the intrique.
Long term I am looking forward to much more metal jewellery for the Henschel Turret King Tiger from all sources, and that time will be a golden time for choice to the likes of us.
..............I did forget the obvious...
...could have octuplets 
