RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Hello all, Raptor here (Michigan, US)

This site has answered so many questions for me, its such a great place.
I have been into modeling and rc for most my life.

I purchased a Heng Long Tiger I off ebay about 6 months ago. As I have always fancied WWII era armor models, I figured, "Hey, why not get a huge tiger model that I can actually drive?" It arrived with a striped idler wheel, which the seller sent a pair of metal ones. "Score! First upgrade!.... and... now it could use this..." (repeat as neccassary). I will keep this story short and make a list below. After MOUNTAINS of research, It has gone through extensive torture and modification by my hands and by the hands of my lvl 3 half-squat, but it has been a fun and incredible little machine. It has been repainted 3 times, and the internals have been constantly changing to hopefully come together as some sort of an uber Frankenstien'd beast of a "toy".

--Ugrades--
To the best of my knowledge in order

Idler Wheels
Metal Sprockets
Metal HL gearboxes
Metal Tracks
Tarr MkII smoker
Clark TK40S MFU
Bits like volume knob, fuses, voltage alarm, etc
Flysky FS-i6X Tx + FS-IA6B Rx
3s Lipo 6000Mah
Taigen Lower hull (torsion bars)
ETO Armor Transmission

The only items still stock are skyward of the upper hull.
--In transit--
5w speaker
Amplifier
30mmx30mm fans

--Down the road--
Recoil
IR System
Metal hull and turret

Since I have had the time as of late, i took EVERYTHING out and tried my hand at wire management and also applied grease and loctite to applicable areas.
I think it was an overall success and gave me plenty of real-estate to build a speaker box.

However....
The brute has picked up a few bugs along the way that need be slain.

Looking forward to our chats,
Raptor

Hello and welcome to the forum Mr KingRaptor

Looks like you've got carried away with your "Heng Long" Tiger 1. Going through your list of changes, once you do your final changes, it won't be the same tank you started with

Reminds me of Triggers Broom. . . .



Enjoy the forum, I'm sure you'll find the answers you seek
And don't forget pictures of what you've done to your beast, we like pictures

Thanks Gunner, I am excited to finally be on the team.
Haha yes, it is exactly like Triggers broom!

I forgot metal road wheels on my list.

Photobucket seems to be working for me today, lets see if i can figure this out.

https://app.photobucket.com/u/KingRapto ... f3401fd860
Ah, the second paint job, back when it was light.

https://app.photobucket.com/u/KingRapto ... 7cfd8371b6
https://app.photobucket.com/u/KingRapto ... 1c858259be
and here is how she sits as of yesterday.

Clearly I am still not doing the photos right, but that is the only way it will let me.

If, lets say, I am having a mechanical issue, would i post in general discussion to seek an answer? Where is the best place?

Much appreciation,
-Raptor

General questions maybe?

Oh, and welcome!!

What a journey this has been, quite the learning experience.

Welcome aboard! Would love to see a video with that ETO Armor transmission in action.

Jimster wrote:Welcome aboard! Would love to see a video with that ETO Armor transmission in action.

Jimster, thank you! Its good to be here!
I was looking through your Tiger build the other day, truly amazing work!
It makes me nervous knowing you are looking at mine

I will try to get a video of that transmission in action.
Last year i roped it to my daughters little red wagon and pulled her around in it.
She loved it, it was struggling to get traction in some spots but with just a little more weight.... heh heh

Ever since i started this project i have tried to build it with the idea of having it scale weight in the end, around 50 pounds!
That's why i went with the ETO's from the get go. I'm not sure if i will be able to find enough spare room to tuck all that extra weight in there. She's pushing 20lbs right now.
I have a Metal lower and upper on the way. Once i get those, I'm going to try to make molds to melt fishing weights and tuck them anywhere i can. (between torsion bars, under fenders, inside stowage bin, etc)

I'm sure I'll break a lot of stuff on the way to 50, but that has been my favorite part about building this, eliminating the weak links and making it better, and better.
Hopefully in the end it will be indestructible, a true mini tank.

Wow! 50 pounds. I will offer this friendly advice as an opinion only. As a fellow American I would never step on anyone’s toes. A totally metal weighted down tank in the manner you’re going for will eat batteries alive and be a bit unwieldy transporting and handling. I also wanted to have a tank that handles like a prototype piece of heavy armor. This goal can be realistically achieved with a programmable radio and a top of the line control board like Elmod or Beier. Settings can be adjusted to represent a 54 ton Tiger 1 with a model that is relatively lightweight. Driving it can feel like a heavy behemoth lumbering along with a most realistic driving manner. Metal turrets and upper/lower hulls are very difficult to modify as opposed to plastic in case you also want to achieve prototype detail accuracy.
Just food for thought my friend. Your tank looks awesome and only you knows what will make you happy. Please keep us updated and again, welcome aboard and thanks for the compliments on my tank. It also started as a Heng Long. Not much of the original tank is left.

Jimster wrote:Wow! 50 pounds. I will offer this friendly advice as an opinion only. As a fellow American I would never step on anyone’s toes. A totally metal weighted down tank in the manner you’re going for will eat batteries alive and be a bit unwieldy transporting and handling. I also wanted to have a tank that handles like a prototype piece of heavy armor. This goal can be realistically achieved with a programmable radio and a top of the line control board like Elmod or Beier. Settings can be adjusted to represent a 54 ton Tiger 1 with a model that is relatively lightweight. Driving it can feel like a heavy behemoth lumbering along with a most realistic driving manner. Metal turrets and upper/lower hulls are very difficult to modify as opposed to plastic in case you also want to achieve prototype detail accuracy.
Just food for thought my friend. Your tank looks awesome and only you knows what will make you happy. Please keep us updated and again, welcome aboard and thanks for the compliments on my tank. It also started as a Heng Long. Not much of the original tank is left.

Haha yeah 50! Well if my maths are right, 49.32. So, not quite 50, it wont be so bad after all.
I take no offense to your warning, and I appreciate you expressing your concern to me. I try to accept all criticism, good or bad. Everything's a learning experience.

I bought my Heng Long 2 years ago and slowly upgraded it. Along the way I have done a load of research, and quite a bit of trial and error. I have changed everything on the HL out for an aftermarket this or that. The only thing still stock HL is the upper hull and turret housing (which I have metal ones ready in the bin). Once I move what is in Tiger 007 into the new metal body, Tiger 007 will be rebuilt with spare parts I have in the bin, with the old tk40 board. Tiger 007 will remain my play tank.

I recently bought another completely stock HL tiger, and 2 stock HL Shermans. (1 Sherman is my daughters and its pink and purple, she loves it .)
We are trying to get all set up to IR battle, for some extra fun. She is old enough now that she can actually drive and battle without to many whoopsies, and I have the other 2 tanks for anyone around who wants to join in the fun.
I haven't found any other tankers around me yet, so for the last 2 years I have just been tankin' solo . The last time I drove Tiger 007 (apart from this last week to show my co-worker) was last August.

The new metal tiger will be probably be more of a shelf queen (strong shelf, queen ) I just want to turn it into an epic model that I would rarely drive, really only to show that it can. I have other RCs for the bashing. It may seem silly to dump a whole bunch of time and resources into something that will just sit, but that's what I do with models anyway. Well, most of my models heh heh .
I want to be able to say, "yup I made that, pick it up" More of a personal challenge, "You say I shouldn't?! Hold my beer!" type thing.

I wont go for exact realism on the Metal Tiger, as long as its good enough for me. There is really no one I personally know that could even tell me the difference between a Tiger and a Sherman
It was just a thought when I first got the HL tiger, that turned into an idea, and has spiraled into an incredible addiction.
I hope one day it gets there, and I hope you follow along, whether glorious victory, or terrific disaster. I know no matter what I will learn a lot along the way, and that's what matters most to me .