Heng Long M41 question

[atcttge]

One of my favourite tanks is the M41 Walker Bulldog. HL has one, but ISTR that the dimensions are off.

So, what are the wrong things about the HL M41?

[wibblywobbly]

It's a nice tank, a great runner out of the box, but its got quite a few scale discrepancies.

Turret roof - Air vent, mg position, periscope height.
Hull - Driver periscopes, track clearance.
Barrel - Too thick, muzzle break too big.
Tool rack - Wrong height.

There are a few Bulldog builds on the forums, the fixes are quite easy to do. If you lower the upper hull, which means slicing off a strip around the lower, then the standard gearboxes won't fit. The Jagdpanther low profile ones are needed as they are the only ones that are low profile and have the long drive shafts.

If it's any help this was my attempt (I've done three - )

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=13827&hilit=bulldog

[atcttge]

That's an awesome build wibbly. Question: there are metal hulls for the M41 out there. Is it the right height?

[wibblywobbly]

No metal hulls as far as I am aware, but you can get the roadwheels, sprockets and tracks. All I did was glue in a false 3mm styrene floor, and mounted a bulkhead behind the gearboxes, it's as solid as a rock. The upper hull is held onto the lower by aralditing small neodyne magnets into the front and rear lower hull screw mounts, and flat head screws into the upper hull ones (shortened them first). Then screw the screws in and out so that they just touch the magnets. Makes it easy to get to the battery for charging.

It's one of those tanks that runs so well it needs little, if anything doing to the running gear, they seem to go over any terrain without any bother at all.

[atcttge]

Thanks! I read somewhere that the turret is small for the hull. Is that so?

[wibblywobbly]

Well definitely the hull is too wide, and so are the tracks, I've only known of one person who narrowed the track covers and then slimmed down every track link by cutting each one into three and taking a slice out. Rather him than me!

This War Thunder video shows pretty much what the real scale should look like.