King Tiger "Henschel" turret version in 1/6th scale from FOA

[anthianl]

These are the latest information about the FOA 1/6th Scale Kingtiger http://www.fieldofarmortanks.com/foa014 ... mbled-kit/. The RC kit can be found here http://www.fieldofarmortanks.com/foa014 ... ed-rc-kit/

Re: FOA014 Kingtiger Henschel June 1944 Version
Now we are very close from releasing this kit:

Some parts on this build up are 6SI (grills on exhaust rear deck, or exhaust steel covers, two ropes, shovel, U Shackles). Otherwise, everything else is standard

[[ICE]monkey]

very nice indeed , i see you've gone for the early two piece track links and the eight tooth sprockets ,how are the inter links holding up ?, as the early Mark1 ones were prone to breaking ,this was fixed by going for the eighteen tooth late sprocket with the single piece tracks
regards, Cliff

[doc larsson]

that is gorgeous !

[jackalope]

MUST......RESIST......URGE......TO......ROB......BANK!

[anthianl]

Cliff,

I believe the tracks are not the early KT tracks, which had three separate small links in addition to the large and inter links. http://s17.photobucket.com/user/djnick6 ... r.jpg.html

Our tracks are the production tracks, with the large link and the inter-link http://www.fieldofarmortanks.com/foa014 ... ack-links/. The RC experimention will happen after May 28th, when we get the tracks from China. The RC tank will be ready for testing by then.

The "late" KT tracks with the different sprockets appeared in the Ardennes, late 1944

FOA tries to bring to the hobbyist an "affordable" KT (for this scale!). Those tracks should "sag" on the road wheels, but FOA will tension the tracks, which you might not see since the fenders will hide the top portion. Please remember that those tracks are Polycarbonate/ABS Plastic, which are designed for maximum resilience. The plastic tracks used in our RC Tiger and RC Panther (both are only ABS) are very sturdy. We experienced some breaks on the Panther tracks climbing curbs before we implemented a track tension system on the idler wheel. See YouTube video of the break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdvxghCqefc and that's the video of the Panther with track tension system https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrl2B3t7I9g

The only way to have a reliable track system with plastic tracks is to implement a track tension system that will not allow to de-track in turns, especially in rough terrain or grass

That's my experience in the last couple of years. I took some of those tank to do "RC Combat Battle" with Paintballs

Cheers,
Loic

[jackalope]

Will metal tracks ever be available do you think? Around me I run my 1/16 tanks on concrete and rough blacktop and gravel and grass, at the park its dirt, gravel, mud and sand would the plastic hold up to this under such a heavy tank? I know my 1/16 King Tiger weighs in at 18lbs and running the Taigen metal tracks the ice cleats show signs of ware I just would be worried about the how well plastic could hold up under a 200+lb monster like this one.

Please do not take my questions the wrong way, I am in no way trying to give you grief its just I am genuinely interested in this new KT from you and since $3000 doesn't grow on any trees in my back yard I may have some questions, or rather quite a few before I'd order this beast.

[anthianl]

I do not take your question the wrong way "jackalope". It is actually a very good question. FOA has spin casting equipment - we are planning in making the tracks in metal (white metal). That means that the KT tracks weighs 50 lbs (not aluminum). These tracks will be very expensive to make. The pricing will be in the $1,500 range. Also, how does white metal wears on concrete and asphalt? I'm sure better than PC/ABS, but it will still wear. I've noticed in the running of our Tiger Is that the ice cleats do wear, but slowly and it looks fairly accurate to real life wear - see photo of Vimoutiers' Tiger tracks http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... rack_3.JPG

For RC purposes, the PC/ABS tracks will hold just fine. The details of the "ice cleats" will wear with time, and especially if the customer makes donuts-turns on asphalt!

Also, I'm sure the Germans had a reason to discontinue the June 1944 production tracks, doubling the sprocket teeth, and simplifying the design. Was the reason the weakness of the tracks like Mark1 experienced or the production simplification? Now you raised my interest!

To add to my response to Cliff above: where can I find the discussion on the KT mid to late track design for Mark1 tanks? Maybe FOA can learn a thing or two from this discussion! BTW, the sprocket is a 9-tooth sprocket.

[[ICE]monkey]

hi loic
The Early Mark 1 tanks had the 2 piece tracks like the Tamiya kit, this caused some problems with breaking the intermediate link just like the Tamiya kit and the real tank, it was updated with the 18 tooth sprockets and single link tracks ,so yes the real tank had the same problem with the intermediate links breaking, but with yours being lighter this might not be a issue
regards, Cliff

[anthianl]

Cliff,

Here's the video of the FOA 1/6th scale King Tiger first trial with our well tested suspension (MPSS) and Motorization (TTMS). We have customers in the UK who use the TTMS in their Vantek Shermans and Mark 1 Tiger I.

https://youtu.be/bmAzVPPJdUU

The tracks seem to be doing their job. Not one break, and we climbed curbs, turned in grass, and donut turns on asphalt!

[[ICE]monkey]

Hi loic, the suspension and tracks look very capable