Gift for the new year, All metal Mato Panzer III

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SteelBird
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Gift for the new year, All metal Mato Panzer III

Post by SteelBird »

It arrives today as an RTR painted in desert yellow all metal Mato Panzer III. The tank comes with Mato's RTR default options including Clark TK22, IR version, 3300 mah NiMH battery and 2.4Ghz Mato 4-channels remote controller. Ah, and a trolley case too. Here a video of the first test.


... and also a few photos of the arrival package
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H/L Pantiger, H/L Leopard 2A6, Mato Panzer III, Hybrid Tiger 1 and some tank wreckage
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c.rainford73
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Re: Gift for the new year, All metal Mato Panzer III

Post by c.rainford73 »

That's a very impressive model it's definitely on my wishlist enjoy
Tanks alot.... :wave:
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c.rainford73
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Re: Gift for the new year, All metal Mato Panzer III

Post by c.rainford73 »

Question where did you order this from and was it reasonably priced the electronics look pretty decent as far as the wiring looks neat to me
Tanks alot.... :wave:
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43rdRecceReg
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Re: Gift for the new year, All metal Mato Panzer III

Post by 43rdRecceReg »

It looks pretty impressive, and nicely presented...especially with the paint job and alluring case. Thanks for the photos and video :thumbup: At first sight, everything looks just about perfect. Is that what you've found? I particularly like the beefy look of the 360 deg slip-ring, and the curly shielding around the wiring.We've seen mixed reviews of the all metal Mato format, though most seem positive about the newish Panzer 111 offering.
One contributor here felt a tad let down: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=17902 Perhaps he was unlucky. Heng Long products are improving rapidly, and maybe that's the case with Mato too.
Let's hope so. Is it all that you hoped for? I see it's a non-smoker (very health conscious :haha: ), but does it have two speakers squeezed in there at the back. That would be interesting. In any event, do share your experience of it with us, and do enjoy it :thumbup:
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.
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leopardgreece
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Re: Gift for the new year, All metal Mato Panzer III

Post by leopardgreece »

Verh nice. How much ? From which company u bought it ?

???????? ??? ?? SM-P605 ??? ??????????????? Tapatalk
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Tiggr
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Re: Gift for the new year, All metal Mato Panzer III

Post by Tiggr »

It certainly sounds better than the Mato Tiger 1 I sent back. What is the quality of the moulding ?
Do the tracks stay on in a straight line ?
Tiger 1 Early Taigen,
Tiger 1 Mid Torro,
Tiger 1 Late Taigen,
King Tiger Taigen (P)
Jagdtiger Torro
King Tiger (H)
King Tiger Torro (H)
Tiger 1 late Torro
Panther G Taigen
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SteelBird
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Re: Gift for the new year, All metal Mato Panzer III

Post by SteelBird »

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the comments and ideas. Here I try to answer all your questions together;

1. I ordered the tank from taobao.com in China as I have good relation with people there. Buying things from taobao.com is usually very tricky so I just ask the Chinese guys to help me, and they can also do the shipping for me. The RTR tank costs me around US$700 plus another $30 for sea freight. It took 4 days for the tank to arrive at shipping point and another 5 days to arrive at my home.

2. The electric of the tank is Clark TK22 (I believe you guys recognize it). The remote control is a Mato's 4-channels. When I confirm the order, the advertisement states a 6-channels one but after that it change to 4-channels very quickly. I complained to the dealer as well as Mato (on his youtube post), they gave me the same answer that the 6-channels has been discontinuous and the new 4-channels is better in quality. The Chinese guy asked me if I want to cancel the order. I said OK la, let it pass. I think this TK22 board is rather old and outdated. New board today requires at least 5-channels. The CS-TK16 I have support up to 8-channels.

3. Yes, this is the tank I am looking for; however, I think it would be better if I keep it unpaint. I knew from the beginning that it's a non-smoking version (smoking is not good to health). As you can see the internal space of this little tank is really limited. There's no space for the smoke unit.

4. I read the complaints of the unlucky guy with two Mato tanks. Someone asked Mato if they will produce the Tiger 1 late production, and the answer was yes, it's due to come out next year with torsion bar suspension. Actually my first choice was Tiger 1 but with many criticism about its build quality and inaccuracy, I turned to this Pz 3. I tested drive it on floor, it run smooth and plenty of torque. Have not had a chance to run it off road yet. My two previous Heng Long tanks (Pantiger and Leo2A6) have the same problem --- once running off road, one of the track will certainly fall off. I tried all I can do but problems never solved.

5. This Pz 3 doesn't come flaw free. First, the barrel is not straight (as the unlucky guy also complained). I bend it with hands trying to make as straight as possible. Secondly, the rear most road wheel on the right side seems to tilt inward. it almost touch the screw nearby but it runs well. Third, the road wheel next to the rear most one doesn't fall down when I lift the tank up. I think the correspondent torsion bar doesn't work. Do I need to disassemble the tank to deal with all the problems I found? Maybe, but not now.

That's all the problem I've found with this new tank. After I take the tank off road, I'll post video for you. Here's some photos of the problem I've found.

(rear most wheel tilt inward)
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(the wheel next to the rear most wheel doesn't drop down, suspension not work?)
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(finally, the tank sits where it supposes to be)
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H/L Pantiger, H/L Leopard 2A6, Mato Panzer III, Hybrid Tiger 1 and some tank wreckage
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SteelBird
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Re: Gift for the new year, All metal Mato Panzer III

Post by SteelBird »

After first impression of box opening, here are what I've found after first run;

Left track thrown off after after 5 minutes running off road. I check and compare the tracks, and found that the left track were extremely loose compared to the right one. I remove the tracks and compare, both are the same length, why? I exchange the tracks from right to left and vice versa. Problem temporary solved. don't know why!
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Here is the biggest problem. As you can see from the photo below, the rear road wheel tilt inward. I check carefully and found that it's the suspension arm's fault. I contact the customer service and he suggested that this might a design flaw of Mato. He promise to send me a new suspension arm and asked to check if there are other problem so he would solve them all at once. Good customer service, huh?
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There is another problem and maybe not easy to solve; the torsion bar. I found that there are at least two version of torsion bar, and mine look like this;
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I can tell you that these torsion bars perform badly due to production quality. They are tiny and not flexible at all. Some are sticky, not smooth (due to paint?). I think I need to remove and rebuild them.
H/L Pantiger, H/L Leopard 2A6, Mato Panzer III, Hybrid Tiger 1 and some tank wreckage
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43rdRecceReg
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Re: Gift for the new year, All metal Mato Panzer III

Post by 43rdRecceReg »

Thanks for the detailed heads up. The left track issue could be connected with weak suspension on the 'undescended' roadwheel and/or track adjustment. Let's hope these 'teething' problems can be resolved quickly (no pun intended).
I imagine the barrel was bent in transit..even though it was in that handsome case. Maybe that's how the other rogue roadwheel became wonky. :problem: I'm sure whatever you learn- good and bad (let's hope good :thumbup: ) will be of use to prospective buyers here. Also, thanks for the inside info on the upcoming Tiger 1...
Have a Merry and flaw-free Christmas :wave:
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.
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c.rainford73
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Re: Gift for the new year, All metal Mato Panzer III

Post by c.rainford73 »

I wonder if there's a way to utilize the Taigen torsion bar suspension setup for this hull. It almost looks like a Mato "copy" of the Taigen setup. Such a beautiful tank it's a shame you have encountered such issues. I have a Mato Tiger I lower hull for two of my tigers and one is excellent the other is quite a pain. Neither have the torsion bar suspension of my Tiger tank but the fit and finish is the biggest issue with the dodgy hull. So much work put into it for a lot of money. Hopefully you can get it fixed and post your progress!
Tanks alot.... :wave:
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