Heng Long vs Taigen Leopard 2A6

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Leo Part 1
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Heng Long vs Taigen Leopard 2A6

Post by Leo Part 1 »

First, a little background:
After the initial excitement of buying the Taigen Leopard 2a6 V3, I got a bit frustrated by a few things that were not so good. I do want to upgrade it with several Clark items and that will fix some of the shortcomings. What is unclear yet though, is whether the Clark recoil kit will fit the Taigen IR version gun. Strangely enough, the barrel of this tank does not fully retract as part of the recoil The smoke extractor remains stationary, while the front end of the barrel moves. Not sure if we can fix that with the Clark kit. But I'm in contact with Maxmekker about that.

Anyway, as I said I got a bit frustrated. Up to the point that I thought I would go back to modelling 1:35 tanks (ok, I do have a almost untouched Trumpeter 1:16 King Tiger waiting but that's not RC). But while working on the Taigen it slowly grew on me. I just wanted to understand the thing, see how it works and what could be improved. In fact, I wanted to know what the Taigen offered extra when compared to the Heng Long. And vice versa. Just before the Holidays I had spotted a good as new HL 3889 MS (v6.0S) and it was still for sale. So I convinced the wife I needed it (.....). And today I bought it.

So long story short, here's my initial compare:

They are definitely not the same tanks. Though many parts are presumably from the same molds, overall there are a lot of differences.

Taigen pro's when compared:
  • Very good and strong metal lower hull and upper turret
    Tracks and wheels full metal and also very strong
    360 turret rotation (though to be handled with some care)
    Paint work is much better. Less toy like when compared to the HL
    Suspension is very sturdy. Much better damping and rebound. Less prone to parts breaking off
    Due to the overall weight the tanks moves less like a toy tank. Some may argue that it is too heavy or underpowered (sounds like the real thing...) but it drives more stable
Taigen cons when compared:
  • Outdated electronics (Taigen v3 vs HL v6.0S)
    Very noisy turret and gun rotation (mechanical noise from rotation motors)
    Gun only goes up or down fully (cyclic)
    Smoke machinery is really bad.
    Sound is bad, it is overpowered by the noise of the electro motors
Heng Long pro's when compared:
  • Turret and gun movement is very smooth and less noisy
    Gun moves up and down as desired
    Sound is much better
    Smoke is much better
    V6.0S is way more advanced
Heng Long cons when compared
  • Suspension is very soft and flimsy
    Road wheels, hull and turret made out of plastic
    No 360 turret rotation.
    Idler and sprocket wheels are bare metal out of the box (of course, one can fix this)
    BB gun (really not for me....)
    Paint is not very well done. The green plastic is just the bare green plastic, whereas the Taigen is fully painted
    Overall driving, handling and feeling is more toy-like
Basically, what is a strong point for one is a weak point for the other.

Oh how I would like the Taigen to be updated with better electronics and sound. Than it would be my preferred one. But there's a big price difference between them. In the end it is all about how much you can/are willing to spend on a RC tank.
Let's see how far the Clark updates will improve either one of them.
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abramsky
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Re: Heng Long vs Taigen Leopard 2A6

Post by abramsky »

Well. Some work awaits you, but a realistically functioning Leopard is worth it.
If I were in your place and in such a comfortable situation (having two Leopards) I would sell the Leopard HL, but first I would swap all v6.0 MFU including the better speaker from the HL to the Taigen. I would do the same with the smoker and the metal barrel from HL ( it's one piece metal tube ) . Trying to match the HL one piece metal barrel the Taigen's recoil ( it's just a bit of a plastic mechanism that should be easily adaptable to the new barrel with a little persuasion and a few tools), if not I would have rebuilt the ASG from HL to recoil ( but first I would check if it fits the Taigen tower ). It's not that hard. There is a lot of videos on youtube about it. You can do the same with the quieter HL turret rotation drives. However, I do not know if the elevation drive will fit, but you can try to mute the Taigen one.
And then ( when you get bored with HL v6.0s electronics ), you can use the experience gained and install CLARK MFU.
Last edited by abramsky on Sun Jan 03, 2021 7:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jimster
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Re: Heng Long vs Taigen Leopard 2A6

Post by Jimster »

I will share a quick thought or two. Begin with a tank that offers a good metal lower hull with quality metal running gear/suspension like Taigen offers. See if your interested in continuing in the hobby and then if you do, plan on replacing almost everything else. Especially the mediocre electronics that come in RTR tanks and many detail parts. Sometimes a different new turret and upper hull are called for. But always begin with a solid foundation first.
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jarndice
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Re: Heng Long vs Taigen Leopard 2A6

Post by jarndice »

The single most important difference between Taigen and Heng Long is nowhere to be found in your lists,
The fixtures and fittings on Heng Long Tanks come separately on sprues for fitting after detailing is complete thereby allowing for a decent no compromise painting and weathering job unlike the Taigen Tank bodies which come with everything moulded in place which gives you the choice either bodge around everything or physically scrape everything off, neither alternative being my first choice :thumbdown:
And that is why where a Taigen metal hull and a Heng Long plastic body for a particular Tank are available that is always going to be MY first choice.
I think I am about to upset someone :haha:
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Kaczor
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Re: Heng Long vs Taigen Leopard 2A6

Post by Kaczor »

To be honest would buy Taigen without electronics and buy clark or elmod. HL even with newest board runs still like a toy.
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Re: Heng Long vs Taigen Leopard 2A6

Post by Leo Part 1 »

abramsky wrote:Well. Some work awaits you, but a realistically functioning Leopard is worth it.
If I were in your place and in such a comfortable situation (having two Leopards) I would sell the Leopard HL, but first I would swap all v6.0 MFU including the better speaker from the HL to the Taigen. I would do the same with the smoker and the metal barrel from HL ( it's one piece metal tube ) . Trying to match the HL one piece metal barrel the Taigen's recoil ( it's just a bit of a plastic mechanism that should be easily adaptable to the new barrel with a little persuasion and a few tools), if not I would have rebuilt the ASG from HL to recoil ( but first I would check if it fits the Taigen tower ). It's not that hard. There is a lot of videos on youtube about it. You can do the same with the quieter HL turret rotation drives. However, I do not know if the elevation drive will fit, but you can try to mute the Taigen one.
And then ( when you get bored with HL v6.0s electronics ), you can use the experience gained and install CLARK MFU.
Yeah, I will definitely go down that path. I'll try and make 1 very good tank and the other one....well, it will have to do with whatever parts remain....
Jimster wrote:I will share a quick thought or two. Begin with a tank that offers a good metal lower hull with quality metal running gear/suspension like Taigen offers. See if your interested in continuing in the hobby and then if you do, plan on replacing almost everything else. Especially the mediocre electronics that come in RTR tanks and many detail parts. Sometimes a different new turret and upper hull are called for. But always begin with a solid foundation first.


It's gonna costs some money....... :haha:
jarndice wrote:The single most important difference between Taigen and Heng Long is nowhere to be found in your lists,
The fixtures and fittings on Heng Long Tanks come separately on sprues for fitting after detailing is complete thereby allowing for a decent no compromise painting and weathering job unlike the Taigen Tank bodies which come with everything moulded in place which gives you the choice either bodge around everything or physically scrape everything off, neither alternative being my first choice :thumbdown:
And that is why where a Taigen metal hull and a Heng Long plastic body for a particular Tank are available that is always going to be MY first choice.
The Taigen comes with parts in sprues as well. Nearly identical parts as the HL.

I made some quick videos to compare. The quality of the videos is quite bad but I was in a hurry.....

Turrent rotation (left one is the HL):
phpBB [video]


Sound (sorry, the fan of the Taigen is not good audible, but trust me, irl it is definitely noisy)
phpBB [video]


And the smoke (or lack of it). First one is the Taigen.
phpBB [video]
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Re: Heng Long vs Taigen Leopard 2A6

Post by Exhibitedbrute »

May I throw a spanner in the works

My first tank was a Taigen Pershing plastic hull is all that is available from Taigen or hl with these but it does have metal tracks and so on, it’s elevation was and still is terrible.

My second tank was the henglong Sherman again all plastic apart from tracks etc, much better elevation

Both of them had the stock bb system in and they are that old that they were version 1 2.4g boards

At the time the Taigen/toro board was leaps and bounds better than the HL but from what you say it seem that HL has overtaken Taigen with their stock boards as there doesn’t seem to be any improvements from the version 1 to the version 3 other than you can bind to an aftermarket transmitter.

My third tank how ever was somewhat of a hybrid it started as the hl t34, but like you I got to trying different upgrades and so on, so as it stands now it’s still a t34 but it has the toro lower hull tracks and road wheel etc with the henglong upper hull and turret
Ther elevation and recoil unit is henglong but has been modified to work on a servo rather than a spring system offering better recoil, this was build in a time when aftermarket servo recoil didn’t exist
It also uses an aftermarket board which several years old now is still quite a good board
And offers just as much at slow crawling speed as it does at full chat it’s not all or nothing.

So if you decide the hobby is for you, upgrading your tanks will certainly give you a more rewarding experience, even if it’s just the upgrading that you enjoy
It’s your tank it’s what you make it
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Re: Heng Long vs Taigen Leopard 2A6

Post by tankme »

The latest HL 7.0 board looks like you can now turn off neutral turns and adjust the turn radius in 20 steps. There are some new vids of it in action on Facebook under the "RC Tanks Cold War to Present Day" group.
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Re: Heng Long vs Taigen Leopard 2A6

Post by Kaczor »

Did they add possibility to turn off track recoil?
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Re: Heng Long vs Taigen Leopard 2A6

Post by Leo Part 1 »

Kaczor wrote:Did they add possibility to turn off track recoil?
That is already possible with v6.0S.

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