Hello from Essex

[Ava_Banana]

Good afternoon one and all.

My name's Mark, have always loved the idea of RC tanks, but never could justify the expense.

Finally managed to pursuade my wife a few years ago that our son needed a HL Bulldog for Xmas, but he didn't stay interested for long........so i commandeered it.

It's sat on a shelf ever since my wife threw away the controller when she was throwing out an old £15 remote truck 2 years ago.....she thought the HL controller was the one that went with it.

As the kids have grown older, i fancy doing something away from the computers and tablets in the evenings, so picked myself up a HL Tiger that was being advertised on a local Facebook sale page.

I enjoyed making models (airfix etc) as a child and want to try my hand at painting (maybe even airbrushing) and customising the two HLs that I have.

Looking forward to reading lots and lots of information, and taking inspiration from all the other builds.

[Ava_Banana]

Haha, yes, it's Mr.....when i first got "online" many years ago, i was looking for a "handle" and since i was working in/around London i thought of a line from an old east end song.....hence Ava_Banana - and i've always been this on whatever forum i've been on since (or when playing games).

1 Daughter at Plymouth university, 1 Daughter just got offered a place at Leicester university and a 16 yr old son going to college in September mean this isn't an economic time for me.....but i'll take it easy and see what I can learn and do DIY.

[Ava_Banana]

Sorry, couldn't resist, knew where you got it from, hold on, I'm not really sorry at all

No, not great timing, been there, done that twice, or rather thrice, even the wife ended up in uni lol.

A gradual build up into a hobby can still be enjoyable.

Mick.

Thanks...i'm only just 50 so i have a bit of time left

By the way, just noticed you are from Sutton. My mother-in-law lives in Sutton so I pass through there every six weeks or so when picking her up or dropping her off! (She lives on Sutton Common Road).

[HammerWihoutASickle]

Welcome to the forum!

I can relate to people throwing away something else because they thought it was part of the thing they wanted to throw out in the first place; all of them with my Mum. She once decided to throw away all the pieces of plastic on the table I was using to build an Abrams, and ended up putting not only the bits of plastic, but also the sprues that had the cupola and an entire sprue of roadwheels (I had those two out at the time).

Airbrushing isn't too difficult, as long as you have a nice grav feed airbrush and you clean it after every coat of paint you run it through. I'd actually like to recommend Revell's enamel paint lineup to use if you're thinking of repainting the two existing tanks you have.
I look forward to seeing what you have in store!

[[ICE]monkey]

hi and welcome to the forum

[Ava_Banana]

Just a couple of pics of my 2 Heng Long tanks - very early days - going to have a think what to do to them both.

I think i'm going to be spending a lot of time researching first.

p.s. Bulldog has metal tracks and gearbox

[Ava_Banana]

Yes, best way to research first, make a list of what you need, including prices, and where to get it all, best price from best vendors.

As for metal tracks etc, so much mixed feelings on those, sadly the 'metal' boxes, if they are the silvery kind, they're not much better if at all than the nylon ones.
I/we have a couple of bulldogs with the same metal bits you have, not had any problems.

While on the subject of the bulldog, does it have a sticker on the bottom saying 2.4 gig, or a crystal in the battery compartment with probably an 01 on?

Lastly, please remind me what film your avatar is from, I'm sure I recognise the scene lol.

Mick.

I'll check the crystal tonight - but I don't remember seeing a sticker on the bottom.

I do wonder about the amount of friction resistance and weight in the metal tracks - is it worth lubricating them at all?

The film is from the Matrix trilogy, i think it is the second film, where they escape with the "keymaster" on a lovely green Ducati 996

[jarndice]

Hallo Mr Banana Welcome to the Forum,
As Mick noted the Heng Long metal tracks are not of the finest quality and the Heng Long gearboxes leave a lot to be desired,
The good thing is that there is an almost infinite array of upgrades available and not only tracks and gearboxes,
Try the usual suspects,
www.welshdragonmodels.co.uk
or
www.forgebeartanks.com
also
www.heng-long-panzer.de
and
www.rctank.de
as to a Beautiful GREEN Ducati I don't think so, If it isn't red it isn't a Ducati to me anyway.
Please ask all the questions you want and say goodbye to your pocketbook.
Shaun.

[Ava_Banana]

Thanks all, just having a think at the moment about what I might want to do. First things first are the things that annoy me a little, and i'm not sure if they can be corrected or not. I like the sounds....but i'd like the sounds to be a little more specific than just "idle" or "running", and the same with the smoke, i'd like it to be engine speed proportional if possible....just thinking aloud really.
I'm also not keen on the "recoil" aspect when firing - e.g. it's a great idea to have the tank lurch, but it's driven from the wheels so looks a little unrealistic, i have a couple of ideas for something different (that have probably been tried a million times, but I'll dig around on the search function).

EDIT: Ok, so now i am reading about Servo recoil...... that looks better.

[Ava_Banana]

sticker on bottom is not 2.4 but is this: