HENG LONG PLASTIC.

[jarndice]

I took delivery today of a new HENG LONG Tiger 1 body via TANKFORCE1, as ever speedily to my door and extraordinarily well packed, Opened the box and oh yes all the tools popped off without the two days it took me last time with a Dremel of course the second and redundant areil tube will have to have that treatment and the clamps holding down the air intake pipes actually unscrewed! So another job I won't have to do, BUT I am very disappointed at how flimsy the body is, I have used stiffer plastic carrier bags! This will need reinforcement .Still it answered my question which I asked before I saw it in the flesh, "Why is it so cheap"? And those headlamps, I would have been quite happy if it came without, firstly because the one's fitted are wrong and secondly, the type and location of Tiger 1 headlamps seemed to depend more on the mood of the fitter in the factory than any practical reason, which is why we end up fitting the right type in the proper place, the front glacis plate used to be screwed on with a touch of glue around the screws this one is held in place by 1/2 kilo of glue,without any screws, looks like I shall be buying another bottle of ZAP 7 debonder! The coal face beckons. shaun

[Marc780]

What's a coal face?

When you reinforce the hull I'd like to see how it's done. What type are you planning?

[greengiant]

I,ve had my Tiger 1 for about 5 years and when the upper and lower hulls are put together it is quite sturdy even with metal tracks and gearboxes. The ABS plastic they use is much sturdier than the styrene Tamiya uses and I have found no need to build internal bracing.

[blue danube]

agreed ABS is a far better plastic for rc use,(tamiyas styrene is quite soft)easy,only problem i have with it is bonding

[billpe]

To be fair, on Tamiyas the load bearing parts are a rigid metal bucket which everything attaches too. The Tammy Leo 2 uses an ABS bucket but it's bulletproof, you can't even compare any other RC tank with that model. HL ABS is really inconsistent, I have a panther g where all the support pillars are cracked and my first HL tiger had one sides motor support pillars sheer off. You'll never get any of these problems with a Tamiya, they'll run without fault for years. HL is improving but there quality can't be compared with Tamiyas.

[Woz]

agreed ABS is a far better plastic for rc use,(tamiyas styrene is quite soft)easy,only problem i have with it is bonding

Acetone is good at bonding ABS (not nail polish remover as that has additives).

Liquid Solvent Cement (EMA-Plastic Weld) is even better as that will bond just about any type of plastic, perspex or acrylic.

I keep a jar of LSC with dissolved ABS in it (like a thick honey) that I use to weld parts together.