Heng Long Tiger II Production Turret in-depth review

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Lert
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Heng Long Tiger II Production Turret in-depth review

Post by Lert »

A few days ago I was the happy recipient of a HL Tiger II, as shown here. In that thread I promised a review, of the type I 'wish was available when I started with the hobby', six-ish years ago.

"What do you mean, 'wish was available'?"

When I started with the hobby there were very few, if any, resources describing entry-level tanks and all their pitfalls and details, for beginners, but from the viewpoint of someone with experience in them. What I mean with that, is that most 'reviews' were either newbies all googoo gaga over their mighty new RC tank, or experienced tankers being like 'Oh, yeah, as Heng Long does, you know', etc. Actual usable information was scarce and difficult to find. Even now, such resources are rare. So with this pictorial review I will attempt to address this shortcoming.

"Who is this for?"

Beginners in the hobby, overwhelmed by choice and possibly filled with false expectations. This review will hopefully serve as a useful reference for whenever a person interested in the hobby asks about where to start and what to watch out for. I will describe my HL Tiger II in-depth, but touch on HL in general and where HL sits in our wonderful, but expensive, hobby.

"What credentials do you have to write about this?"

I am but a poor hobbyist, but I've been in the hobby for six-ish years. I started originally with a 'smoke and sound', 27 MHz, RX-18 equipped PzKpfw IV F2, and have since acquired, in order, a JagdPanther, Leopard 2A6, StuG III Ausf. G, KV-1E, M4A3 Sherman and King Tiger. I've also had hands-on experience with a first-generation Tamiya King Tiger, stripping and renovating it on a shoe-string budget. I believe I have enough experience with various generations of Heng Long tanks and a small glimpse into a more expensive tank to have founded opinions.

"No really, why are you writing this?"

Eh, I got bored. Lettuce begin!

First some overview and detail pictures.

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I've left the axle caps off because I'm planning to do some work on the KT, and the axle caps would only be in the way and run the risk of getting damaged. As such I've elected to leave them unattached for now. Be assured that the screw holes in the drive sprocket, roadwheels and idler will be properly covered when the axle caps are attached.

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Size comparison with an old 1/35 KT I really should get to finishing, and a 1/72 JagdPanther. Yeah, she's a big girl.

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Close-up of the left side of the turret, showing the spare track links and camouflage detail.

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The front glacis, turretface and long 88.

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Enginedeck and right side of the turret. I like the way the factory-applied camo paints blended.

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Standard German Heng Long figure, copied from Tamiya's King Tiger commander figure. It fits ok inside the cupola of the HL KT, not so much in all the other German tanks HL ships this figure with. Also pictured: the 9th spare track segment and the decal sheet.

The KT comes with 9 spare track segments, each consisting of two track pieces and a connecting pin. This is enough spare track for all the spare track brackets on the turret and one additional spare track link. Unfortunately they only include enough track pins to assemble the 9 spare track segment, not enough to actually add a spare track segment to the KTs tracks, should you choose to.

The decals are based on Tamiya's old KT decals, and are HL's standard thick-ish rub-on ones. They look ok from a distance, but are simply too thick and stand out, up close. Fortunately there are a lot of third party waterslide decal options available.

But enough rambling, on to the discussion aspect of the review.

Scale and scale accuracy:

A quick measurement and some basic math revealed that the model is as close to bang-on 1/16th as you can expect. Comparing it to photos of the real thing, as well as the in-game King Tiger model in World of Tanks also reveals no surprises. The general shape of the vehicle and angles seem to be spot on. There are no gross inaccuracies like the mantlet off-set on Heng Long's Pz IV, turret ring location as on Heng Long's Tiger I or lower glacis angle and shape as on Heng Long's Panther variants. I'm quite impressed.

Detail:

After the initial positive impression of size and scale acuracy, here come the first disappointments. The detail on this model is functional, but coarse.

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Close-up of the axe on the forward hull roof.

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Cupola ring and MG mount.

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Rear deck with fire extinguisher and 27mhz antenna nub. One can see how the lovely camo paint on the engine deck doesn't extend to the upper edge of the rear armor plate, leading to an ugly separation of camo and plain tan at the very back.

A closer look at some smaller details like the tools show how coarse the details are. Mounting brackets are just molded into the tools themselves and have no detail. On the whole, the KT gives the impression of being an older 1/35 or a recent 1/72 scale kit upscaled to 1/16. Anyone looking for a very detailed model will have to look into at the very least replacing all the tools and brackets.

Then there is the issue of the 27mhz antenna nub. It serves no function on my 2.4ghz model and isn't connected to anything. It just sits there, being shiny, distracting and inaccurate. Anyone looking for a detail accurate model will have to remove this nub and use putty to fill in the hole, then touch it up with paint. It's just a hassle.

Finally, the engine vents are just the rough plates, without the fine mesh grills fitted on them from the factory. You'll have to buy a third-party set of brass-etch mesh grills to put over them for fine detail. This is a mark against HL; yes they're affordable but for the price you pay for one of these I might at least expect them to apply some mesh over the engine vents and include that in the camouflage paint.

On the other hand, there are things like this:

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Lovely weld lines and a rough cut finish on the interlocking armor plate sections and along most of the upper hull.

It's too bad this nice touch is immediately undone by the standard Heng Long led headlight and the ugly green ball for the ball-mounted bow MG, reminding you that you are, in fact, looking at a toy.

But let's end this section on a positive note:

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One nice touch on the KT in particular that the old Tamiya KT I played with could learn a lessen from, is that all the spare track links are actual functional track links and the holders are actual separate pieces that slot into the turret. Of course, they're plastic and prone to breaking if roughly handled, but the very fact that they're separate parts is a nice bonus. This shot also shows the camouflage paint quite nicely - that's another area that Heng Long has made enormous strides in.

Internals:

The KT is held tight with 8 Philips-head screws:

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Two on the lower glacis plate, four along the bottom and two hidden just above the idler wheels. It's a bit of a hassle getting those out, so I'd just recommend leaving them out. Same as the two screws on the lower glacis, the holes are very noticable and personally I would fill those in with putty to make them flush with the lower glacis plate and include them in the camo paint to make the lower glacis smooth like it is on the actual vehicle.

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The electronics and mechanicals of the lower hull. Not pictured: the wires connecting the upper hull to the lower, like so:

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Mine came with two zinc gear gearboxes:

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Which are sturdy but noisy. I recommend putting some lubricant on them. I've got a rattlecan with PTFE oil that I use for this purpose. Also pictured: A golden enstickered 2.4ghz dual-sound RX-18. It sounds like thus:

phpBB [video]


I've set it to the second sound bank in that example video of course, this being a gasoline powered tank.

Be advised that old stock might still be around with older electronics which sound much worse. Make sure to contact the seller and ask which electronics are in the tank before purchasing.

The speaker is also cheap and simple, leading to a soundscape that is acceptable at best. A replacement, more powerful speaker is an easy and noticable upgrade, and the KT has sufficient space in the hull.

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Speaker and smoker. The smoker is another thing that Tamiya doesn't include, but to be fair, I almost wish Heng Long didn't either - at least not this particular model. It's noisy, it's either on or off so doesn't react to throttle response, and its smoke output is ... mediocre. Let's keep it at that. It's nice of them to include it, but it's always the first thing that goes out of any HL I buy.

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The underside of the upper hull, turret still attached. HL uses two turret ring sizes, a larger one and a smaller one. They also use the same rotation drive for all their tanks, which means that tanks with smaller turret rings have a faster turning turret than ones with the larger ring. The KT uses the large turret ring which means a slower turning turret and finer control.

Inside the turret:

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The turret uses the older elevation unit which should by rights deliver cycling up and down elevation, but mine goes up with the left stick up and down with the left stick down, until it reaches its limit and starts making the mechanical clutch slipping noise. I suspect they've added a limit to the cycling elevation unit.

Drivability:

As with all HL tanks, the tracks come pre-tensioned rather tightly.

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Compare this with the track slack on the real thing:

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Fortunately this is for the most part hidden behind the mudguards, and isn't really noticable.

The suspension worketh thusly:

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Sturdy plastic swing-arms mounted on a pivot, using a coil spring for tension. This is a system HL uses on all if not most of their torsion-bar tanks; I know it's the same system they use on the StuG, Panther lower and Leopard 2A6. The benefit of this system is that it takes minimal space in the inside of the hull.

Drive is proportional. Move the right stick further, tank goes faster. Up to its amazing top speed of slightly below a leisurely walking pace for my 190cm tall self.

However, plastic tracks, plastic swing arms, a plastic hull, plastic sprockets and Heng Long's standard weak motors make this King Tiger an indoor kitty only. Well, not quite, but I wanted to make that pun. You can drive the KT outside fine as well, as long as you stick to pavement and dried mud without deep ruts. Stay away from snow, grass, sand and shag carpets. Unfortunately drivability is the one thing Heng Long still lags behind its more expensive competitors.

Another drawback I found while driving my KT is that using stock electronics, gears, motors and tracks, it really doesn't want to turn while going full speed forward or reverse. You have to slow down and then it'll steer. I guess that's a more realistic driving behaviour, but for what is basically an expensive toy, I expected better. My other HL tanks - including the similarly equipped and sized Leopard 2A6 have no issue steering while at speed. I suspect this is because the KT has fairly large drive sprockets compared to the smaller ones on the Leopard 2A6, so the Leopard delivers more torque to the driving surface.

Other than that, when you finally do get the KT to steer, it's very easy to oversteer. There is no reduction in track speed for stick input between running straight and steering, so it steers very - ... enthusiastically, rather than realistically. This is an issue with all Heng Long tanks, to the point where they advertise it as a 'feature'; Super Spin.

A hard-driving mudmuncher this is not. If that is what you want you can replace the lower hull, suspension arms, tracks and sprocket with metal ones, replace the gearboxes with better, downgeared ones and give it stronger motors. Probably need to replace the electronics to handle the increased current draw as well, at that point. And then you'll have spent more on upgrading the tank's drivability than it ever cost to purchase new. Or, buy a brand that offers better drivability out of the box. But, here too, you pay for what you get. That old Tamiya I worked on has a stronger suspension system, and though I don't know what their updated gearboxes are like, I can only imagine they deliver more torque and control than the Heng Long offering.

Final thing I would add here is that there is a small measure of flex in the chassis when driving. This is because it's a plastic tank with a large internal volume. You might want to consider adding bracing to strengthen the hull, if you intend to drive it a lot.

Other functionality:

I've already discussed the smoker, it's weak and loud and I just throw them away.

I've already discussed the sound, mine came with the up-to-date dual sound electronics, but old stock with worse sound might still be around, buyer beware.

I've already discussed barrel elevation and depression, it comes with the cyclic gearbox but is somehow mechanically limited in elevation and depression. I will have to figure out how, later.

I've already touched on turret rotation. It comes with the large turret ring, meaning slower rotation and better fine control. Turret rotation is also proportional, so moving the left stick further to either side causes the turret to spin faster, up to its limit.

What I haven't touched on yet is the airsoft BB functionality. This to me is an annoyance, rather than a feature. Upon activating the gun, a red led lights in the gunner's sight and an electronic motor whine sound is heard for a second until it finishes pressurizing a tiny bit of air and shoots a bright yellow 6mm plastic BB out. The moment this happens a 'boom' is heard from the speaker, and the tank lurches semi-violently. This 'Heng Long track recoil' serves to encourage a new BB to roll down the loading ramp into the breech.

One can also get this tank in an 'Infra Red' version, which replaces the airsoft system with a barrel recoil system and infra red battle ability. The recoil is the wrong way around - the barrel goes back into the turret a few cm at a steady pace, then the gun 'goes off', the 'boom' is heard and the barrel shoots out forward again. If one finds the idea of battling other HL tanks with liocer instead of recoil interesting, go for this version. However, be advised it might be less available and / or more expensive. This is why I got the airsoft version instead.

There's a red led behind the painted transparent plastic bow MG which flashes when the MG sound is activated from the remote and the tank makes a rattattattatta sound.

Durability

As long as you don't take it out into wet mud, deep grass or sand, a Heng Long tank should last you very long. The parts are plastic and crude, but in their crudeness lies a measure of sturdiness. Plus, the plastic used by HL is of decent quality in and of itself.

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Stripped KT.

Closing words

A pessimist might say that this is literally the worst 1/16th scale KT out there. And he'd be right.

An optimist might say that, for the money, you're not gonna find a better one. And he'd also be right.

For what it's worth, the Heng Long line of tanks are toys. Big, loud, awesome toys to be sure, but still, toys. You get what you pay for, and for sub $200, you can't beat this offering. Sure, it'll require a serious investment in time and money to make it a hard driving mudmuncher and you might as well buy Tamiya if that's what you want, or any of the Taigen options also offered. Sure, it'll require a slightly less serious investment in time and money to make it a detail-accurate model instead of a toy, but the basis is there. The scale and shapes are, to my eyes, accurate, and offer a nice canvas to work on.

Is this tank, or Heng Long in general, worth it? Well, depend what you expect. If you want a hard driving all-conquering monster, look elsewhere. If you want a hyper-detailed model, starting with a HL base might be worth considering. If you want a decent effort without spending too much money, HL is a worthwhile consideration.

Note once again that this review is about their KT, which is a fairly recent effort. Older models might have more coarse details, like tools embedded in the hull instead of as separate pieces, shape or proportion issues, etc. It's worth asking for opinions on specific tanks before spending the money on one.

Lert's plans with this particular KT


I'm planning to make this into a very late war, defense of Berlin, style vehicle. Pushed out of the factory before it was completely painted, pressed into action and having seen hard fighting in cold city streets.

Thanks for reading. I hope some people will find this useful.
Last edited by Lert on Sat Feb 23, 2019 4:08 pm, edited 4 times in total.
JagdPanther / Leopard 2A6 / StuG Ausf. G / KV-2 / M4A3A4 / MTLB / 2.5 ton truck 6x6
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c.rainford73
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Re: Heng Long Tiger II Production Turret in-depth review

Post by c.rainford73 »

Lert what a brilliant review man. You did an excellent and detailed job

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Tanks alot.... :wave:
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Re: Heng Long Tiger II Production Turret in-depth review

Post by Ludwig von wigbearer »

Hi, I enjoyed that, thank you. look forward to your mods. :thumbup:

regards john :wave:
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Re: Heng Long Tiger II Production Turret in-depth review

Post by Ludwig von wigbearer »

Hi, I enjoyed that, thank you. look forward to your mods. :thumbup:

regards john :wave:
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Re: Heng Long Tiger II Production Turret in-depth review

Post by 43rdRecceReg »

Detailed reviews are always welcome, Lert. :thumbup:
Do you ever see yourself exploring Tamiya land?
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Lert
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Re: Heng Long Tiger II Production Turret in-depth review

Post by Lert »

43rdRecceReg wrote:Do you ever see yourself exploring Tamiya land?
Sure! buy me one and I'll write a great review on it. :D

Nah man, only way I can ever afford a Tamiya is if it's second hand and a steal at that. I can barely afford one of these once a year.

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Re: Heng Long Tiger II Production Turret in-depth review

Post by Soeren »

That is a very good and complete review. I now know what I get if I should ever choose to buy one.
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Re: Heng Long Tiger II Production Turret in-depth review

Post by 43rdRecceReg »

Lert wrote:
43rdRecceReg wrote:Do you ever see yourself exploring Tamiya land?
Sure! buy me one and I'll write a great review on it. :D

Nah man, only way I can ever afford a Tamiya is if it's second hand and a steal at that. I can barely afford one of these once a year.

Picture of me:
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Pass the begging bowl, and we will go raise some Tamiya-cash :)
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Re: Heng Long Tiger II Production Turret in-depth review

Post by Lert »

43rdRecceReg wrote:
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BWAHAHAHAHA. Catweasel. Such a classic.
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Re: Heng Long Tiger II Production Turret in-depth review

Post by Son of a gun-ner »

Well done and thank you Mr Lert :clap:

A very good review, with all the points other reviews miss out :thumbup:
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