RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

I recently got a few of these Henglong 1/30 scale tanks as I do not have room for the larger tanks as my collection is very large and I only have so much room in my condo. Anyway, these are great little tanks with proportional control and 2.4 ghz radio tech.

Only thing I do not like is the throttle on the right stick with the left right steering control. So after investigating options for changing this control system to throttle on the left like every other Tank in my collection, I figured a way to change it without doing anything to the receiver board as I ordered several of the boards for experimentation and perhaps installation in other tanks in my fleet as I like the sounds system, IR battle system, proportional motor controls and the ability to run on a lipo, or 3 cell nicad. It actually will run with a 2 cell battery if the motors are the right impedance.

One more thing to work out is main gun up and down control. The Sherman and M26 Pershing 1/30 scale tanks have the IR emitter in the barrel so would be nice to have up\down gun control along with proportional left\right control in turret.

Good morning,
I've had one of these Sherman's from back when they first came out.. so old that it does not use the split road wheels or the track with incorrect center guide horns. ( any new tracks that I buy for this tank require that those guide horns be cut off before use ) I'll dig up a pic after the Shift is done. Good to see that these neat little tanks are still made.
regards,
Painless

Afternoon,
Pics ( Click to enlarge ) from the wayback machine.
regards,
Painless

PainlessWolf wrote:Good morning,
I've had one of these Sherman's from back when they first came out.. so old that it does not use the split road wheels or the track with incorrect center guide horns. ( any new tracks that I buy for this tank require that those guide horns be cut off before use ) I'll dig up a pic after the Shift is done. Good to see that these neat little tanks are still made.
regards,
Painless

Good morning PainlessWolf.
The 50 cal machine gun on your Sherman looks way better than the one that comes with the HL Sherman.
I only recently noticed these tanks and was disappointed that there are only two models available in this scale from Henglong. My wife and I play battle tanks now and then in the evening so I got two of these HL tanks for IR battle use to see if we like them as well as the ones we already have. The other tank here is a M26 Pershing. After my wife drove one around she said she did not not like the throttle on the same stick as the steering and it too hard to control that way. So I modified the transmitter so that the throttle is on the left and seperate from the steering. I like it better that way too.
Yes I also was surprised to see "live track" on the HL M4A3. I think it a good idea and I have tested this HL M4 on carpet and the tracks stay put.

I am totally impressed with the radio system in this tank and I ordered 4 more receiver boards to upgrade some of my current tanks. I have a 1/25 Tamiya Tiger 1 that I will upgrade to battle tank using the HL IR battle radio system. The only downside to this radio system is the throttle on the right side on the same stick as the steering. The mod to change that is not too bad but does require some soldering skills to perform.

PainlessWolf wrote:Afternoon,
Pics ( Click to enlarge ) from the wayback machine.
regards,
Painless

Wow PW just noticed that the main gun has a LED in it that flashes? Mine model does not do that. In mine a IR LED is in the main gun barrel so the "flash" is invisible.
Also you say that the gun flash in visible as the gun goes up and down? Does your model have TX controlled gun elevation?

Modler,
My version of this Sherman does not have Infra anything. The led in the barrel lights up and stays lit while the barrel goes up and down in true Heng Long fashion. All my changes to this tank have been cosmetic, barrel cut back and sleeved with brass, better.50 cal on the turret, turret antenna, etc. One day I will be wanting for a project and give it a real paint job and markings. I already replaced the original battery by having one built at one of those Batteries-R-Us type stores a few years back. Worth the inexpensive, initial outlay many times over. )
regards,
Painless

These are very nice Tanks but I do not like "right stick throttle". Not only that but throttle with L&R steering on the same stick I am sure this made these tanks less than popular with Mode 2 users like me.

Mode 1 = Right stick throttle, left stick Elevator.
Mode 2 = Left stick throttle, right stick Elevator.

I decided to mod one transmitter for "mode 2 throttle" After the mod it now is way better control for me. This mod requires advanced soldering, wiing skills to perform. It was worth it to me as the receivers are quite small and will work in my 1/35 fleet.

These receivers have true Digital proportional control of all functions including turret control. Also it has volume control via transmitter and also can be put in standby mode via remote control.

I recently got a few 1/24 scale Vs Tanks and noticed that they are not true Digital proportional control of throttle but rather "3 position stepped control" with low, medium, high speeds. I will be upgrading these 1/24 scale tanks to Heng long receivers in the future.

I have also been looking at HL 6.1S radio gear and may get one to evaluate but they look to be a bit too large in size for my purposes but well see.

"I recently got a few 1/24 scale Vs Tanks...not true Digital proportional control.... I will be upgrading these 1/24 scale tanks to Heng long receivers in the future."

Very interesting thread. I'm starting a project to motorize a 1/16 Takom Panzer 1B. The HL Sherman gearboxes and main board seem a great fit, literally for this purpose.

If I may ask, how are the sprocket wheels attached to the drive shafts? Nuts, bolts, or press-on?

Regarding the transmitter re-configuration; did you move the gimbal/sticks, or just re-route the wiring? Any other steps? Hey, thanks in advance.

SoCalBobS wrote:Very interesting thread. I'm starting a project to motorize a 1/16 Takom Panzer 1B. The HL Sherman gearboxes and main board seem a great fit, literally for this purpose.

If I may ask, how are the sprocket wheels attached to the drive shafts? Nuts, bolts, or press-on?

Regarding the transmitter re-configuration; did you move the gimbal/sticks, or just re-route the wiring? Any other steps? Hey, thanks in advance.

I will post answers to your questions asap. I rewired the HL TX. This involved cutting a few circuit board traces and adding a few wires. I will post a few pictures asap.