HL Tiger

[stgoat95]

I started my tank project a few months ago, but took pics along the way to show progress.

Started with a HL Tiger 1 that is a few years old. I played with it for the first year but it had to go in the box during a move 2 years ago. Needed something to do…so here I am now.

The initial project was to upgrade the electronics…but since I was having to rip out everything I decided to go a head a do a full upgrade. I’m pretty sure that the parts and supplies have significantly exceeded the initial purchase price of the tank. In fact, I probably spent enough to buy one of the better tanks on the market. Don’t tell my wife.

This is with what I started…all plastic. I tried to be selective on the metal upgrades. Example kept the plastic turret and gun barrel but upgraded the hatches, ports, barrel tip, machine gun, etc. to metal. Same with the hull. I did have the metal tracks and gears before I started.

[stgoat95]

I dried fitted the electronics, only testing power to the gears and speakers to make sure the receiver and remote works.

I upgraded to a 7.0
Added a better speaker (went with the one everyone uses)
Added an amplifier board for the speaker,
Using a second battery to power the amp (amp requires 9 volts)
The green board is a remote off/on for the amp (I didn’t want another black switch).
I still need to add a volume dial as the amp negates the sound adjustment on the remote,

Heavy tank.

[jarndice]

Great work,
We all feel for you over the cost of upgrading and "The Wife" is someone you really need to get on board as well as the Bank Manager
2 things to think about when you come to sorting the outside of your Tank First the decals, The place for Heng Long decals is the nearest bin, That Turret number is heng longs product number for the Tiger 1 a little warmth should help to lift it,
I can hear the Forum There are 2 spare aerial holders each side on the flank (Long Tubes) That is wrong, The Tiger 1 had one tube and it was on the other side so the one we can see needs to come off, A sharp blade flat against the tank body and push it along and under the tube once you have started it may well peel off,
Apart from that go for it we shall be watching your progress with interest

[stgoat95]

I stripped off the parts that were meant to be removed by a screw driver. I dremeled offed the molded pieces that are being replaced by metal pieces. I filled-in the scapes, holes, and grooves with putty.

I found a turret bottom from another manufacturer that had rollers. I cut those out and added them to the HL bottom. I decided this was better than trying to fix just the rollers (which are sold in a pack).

I removed the screws and added magnets. Everyone has done this too.

The only thing I didn’t remove was the rear circular service cover…too much stuff around it to cleanly remove it. I thought about making the rear engine covers open/close but the cuts would have been too wide and a clean & tight fit would have been impossible.

[jarndice]

Do be careful with the rear plate, I have managed to break too many locating tabs off and the only metal replacement is an item needing far to much modification to be fun ,
Keep on keeping on

[Ecam]

Love the work you've done so far. The Tiger is far from my favorite (unlike many other members of the forum). However it has been one of my favorite tank builds. So many things wrong on this, the first tank released by Heng Long, yet it looks pretty good out of the box. This tank deserves much of the credit for this forum and our hobby.

You are going from one of the earliest control systems to the newest and I'm sure you'll be impressed. Like many have said elsewhere; It is your tank, build it to suit you.

I really look forward to the rest of this build.

[stgoat95]

Top side pics with everything stripped away.

I added the rear lift pin on the turret (metal). HL didn’t have…so, I followed what everyone else has done. The two forward pins are metal.
You can see the metal gun port on the turret (it’s not primed in the pic because i forgot to added at the time).
I added a metal escape hatch. The top hatches are metal.
You can see where I left the circular access panel on the rear of the tank.
I’ve primed the entire tank…only the turret has been primed in the pic.

I found it rather odd on what HL decided to make removable and what to mold. Example, the shovel was pinned but the cutters were molded. Maybe HL solved that issue on newer tanks (mine is rather old)???

[stgoat95]

I know HL didn’t exactly keep their tank true to scale. There are somethings I wanted to change out (like the pins) and others I decided to leave alone (i think there is a scale issue with the storage bins on the back of the turret).

Now that y’all mentioned about the HL stickers…here is everyone’s opportunity to provide their 2 cents.

My original plan was to do the Das Reich S13. I liked S13 because of the color scheme - dark gray and green. But, everyone has done that tank.

So…I’m asking for suggestions for my tank. Dark greens and grays preferably. Hasn’t been done often on other rc tanks. If y’all fail me I’ll paint it pink with a breast cancer awareness ribbon on it. LOL.

Let the suggestions begin.

[stgoat95]

More pictures of the filling I had to do.

I left the old battery compartment. I know some builders removed it…but I needed to put the battery somewhere and I needed a platform for the receiver and smoke unit. I did make a small indentation at the front of the compartment to fit the speaker.

I dremeled off unnecessary molds and supports, such as the supports for the old speaker.

[stgoat95]

Working on the grenade launch tubes. I got the kit and the metal upgrade. Unfortunately the brass grenades didn’t fit into the metal empty tubes. I had to remove the metal tubes in favor of the brass. Used jbweld to attach the brass base plate. Will use jbweld to secure the entire kit. The small pieces will be challenging.