My first ever RC tank- HL Tiger I

[Greywoolfe64]

Well, as some of you heard in the intro section, I'm a complete newbie to RC tanking, having received a Heng Long Tiger 1 for my birthday last month. Following the guides on the forum, I replaced the smoke unit with a TARR mk 3 unit, and corrected the turret cupola placing, before setting to work painting the beast. I decided on a fictitious tank from the 2nd SS Panzergrenadier division 'Das Reich', as it would have appeared in Kharkov in 1943- this was also going to be my first foray into using an airbrush on a modelling project. So... here is Tiger 183!

The mud effects were done with Mig paints- dry steppe for the light spatter, and thick soil for the built up sludge around the track guards and glacis plates front and rear. I didn't go overboard on the wheels, as usage in the garden should put paid to that!

The unit markings on the rear track guard and front fascia panel were hand-painted.

And finally, the commander. I didn't realise at the time that the wires moulded on him were attached to microphones at his throat- I wired them up to the headset! I may correct this later on- the Das Reich armband was hand painted.

As I said, this is my first ever foray into 1/16th RC tanks, and I rally enjoyed tinkering with this and painting it- I already own a few 1/35th static models, as well as loads of 1/100th ones- this won;t be my last RC tank- I've already dropped hints about acquiring a T34 or Sherman for this beast to fight!

[c.rainford73]

The mud effects and paint are very very nice. The commander looks great! It seems as if you too have been bitten by the Rc tank bug

[Aussie]

Nice work the commander looks superb , great figure painting skills indeed.

[Marc780]

This is a great start for your first tank...my first was the King Tiger, I got on this and other forums and just chuckled when they told me "Don't worry, you'll have more soon!" I wound up eventually with a Panzer III, the King Tiger, the Tiger 1, T-34, Panther G and wound up fitting 2.4 Ghz radio in all of them. Finally I dialed way back on the hobby when I moved to a different town and house that had no room for all the tanks! Also the hobby was costing me a small fortune. I kept only the Panther G and gave the rest away despite what i had invested in them, they were too big to store, for me. And that's my only and most important tip, if you are using the out of the box electronics, you probably already know by now it is complete junk, and if you want to drive your tanks and not just look at them you definitely need to get the 2.4 Ghz heng long radio. It's easy to install and binding the receiver to the trans is simplicity itself once you know how. And the 2.4 gig is worth every penny for getting the most fun out of your tanks since it is bulletproof - unlike the stock electronics that go haywire. And when you remove the batteries from the transmitter pry them out, never slap the trans and at all costs avoid dropping them on the ground, either of those will break the transmitter! After ruining the third one i started tying on several feet of cord to hang the trans around my neck. Handle your trans like eggs, and they will give you long and faithful service.

These photos are of the tank I am most proud of and happy with. A Panzer III, I just went with the early war German grey and added shading by airbrush, just mixing up a few drops of black with the base paint to bring out the edges and highlights, then doing the same thing with white plus the base grey, spritzing lightly and randomly in a cloud pattern. It really creates perspective on the model when you do it right.




I wish I could have painted the late-war crewman figure this good. But I bought this one off Ebay from someone named Hukhuk, who paints figures better then I could in a million years of trying.

[Tiggr]

Nice work Marc. Good tip for the figures off eBay too.

[Greywoolfe64]

Thanks everyone for your kind words! Marc, you are definitely right when you say that this has a way of growing on you- I'm already eyeing up a Sherman for my next RC purchase, to give the Tiger something to shoot at! I've already secured an area of the garden which is secluded enough and offers terrain friendly enough for my tank, as some of the grass areas doesn't like plastic tracks or running gear. I'm now working on a way of making a removable obstacle course, with which I can use both the Tiger and Sherman in time-trials to make things a bit more interesting. My Tiger and my future purchase Sherman both fire BBs, so a BB target is already winging its' way here.

[Reaper332]

Great looking Tiger 1.....

[doc larsson]

nice tiger

if your figure is Das Reich then the eagle should be on his left arm not his breast!