RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

My HAYA Chieftain was delivered yesterday and my first impression is that it captures the image of the original very well.

I like the matt paint finish so my initial plan is to run it as it is and maybe only look at some slight weathering to start with although in the longer term I would like to see how much work would be involved in converting it to a mk11 and repaint it in the BATUS colours that I think suits this tank really well.

My Chieftain was delivered with metal tracks and sprockets with plastic road wheels and I was pleased to see that the tracks and sprockets are in a gun metal colour so maybe I don't need to "blue" them before painting and weathering them?

I don't have the BB firing mechanism but the main gun recoils and has muzzle flash with smoke instead.

The supplied tx looks "interesting" - and is the reason why have not run the tank straight away! I was expecting to bung in some AA cells and go, but it comes with a rechargeable battery so while it is on charge I can take the time to find out how it works and what the buttons do.....and charge the main tank battery at the same time!

Hopefully I will give the tank its first run this afternoon and if it runs as well as it looks I will be more than happy with it.

kinked smoke tube stopped one side workingone tube working - one tube blocked.Tygon tube replacements.

Following my first run with my new HAYA Chieftain tank I have a couple of observations to share that may be of some interest to other potential new owners.

I will talk more about the "toy" transmitter that came with the Chieftain later, but the tank itself drives really smoothly giving a very nice easy drive, but I also noticed straight away that it is not as fast as any of my Tamiya tanks. This is not really a problem, just something that my first drive noticed straight away.

The tanks steering when driving slowly or when turning "on the spot" is excellent, but I found it a bit reluctant to turn when it is being driven as fast as it can go (this its not that fast).

The main on/off switch is neatly hidden away under a "pop-up" hatch cover just under the main gun. This is very neat and tidy - but it does have a downside. If like me you intend making a carry tray to safely transport your Chieftain tank you will probably want to rotate the main gun barrel backwards to shorten the overall length of the tank, but in this position the mantlet covers the switch making it difficult to reach. Re-positioning the switch to sit inside one of the storage cases would solve this problem and since they all have opening lids this would be a neat solution.

The exhaust smoke on my example is not very impressive and the smoke only came out of one of the two exhaust outlets. On inspection I found that one exhaust outlet was blocked due to a couple of kinks in the thin walled clear tubing on that side. The only tubing that I had to hand was some translucent yellow Tygon petrol tube. This tube has much thicker walls and is impossible to kink so I removed the back panel of the tank to gain access so that I could remove the original tubes from both sides and replaced them with the Tygon tubing and refitted the rear panel. This solves the problem with smoke now coming equally out of both exhaust outlets - but only just as my tank was still not generating very much smoke.

After I figured out how to switch on the main gun smoke I was surprised at the amount of smoke that came out of the barrel with every shot. Very impressive - and it puts the pathetic dribble of smoke that comes out of the exhaust tubes to shame. I was thinking that maybe I could find some better smoke fluid, but with the main gun smoke being so impressive there is obviously nothing wrong with the fluid provided with the tank. Compared to the clouds of exhaust smoke I see on other peoples videos coming from the same smoke unit I need to take a look at mine to see if I can adjust it in some way......or at worst .....replace it with another unit that works better.

The muzzle flash unit is prevented from jumping out the end of the barrel during the recoiling action by a soft alloy collar that is made from a thin wrap-around strip of alloy. To start with I could not stop the flash unit jumping out of the end of the barrel, but I kept adjusting it and eventually found that by fitting it midway down the outlet section of the barrel it stayed in place and actually gave a much more realistic "glow" as it reflected up the inside of the alloy gun barrel tube. When combined with the excellent gun smoke unit it gives a very good effect.

The LiPo that comes with the tank has a Tamiya type of plug connector on it. Looking inside the tank I noticed that the tanks main control board actually had an XT60 connector fitted to it, and an XT60-Tamiya converter lead was supplied to plug into this to fit the LiPo ! I am not a fan of Tamiya type plugs so I will be changing the LiPo connector to an XT60 so I can get rid of the converter lead. Removing the converter lead will also make a little more space inside the tank in this area.

Switching the commanders light on and off (and the main searchlight) can both be done (individually) from the "toy" transmitter, and once the sequence has been remembered this can be easily done as the tank is on the move. The barrel gun smoke unit can also be switched off from the tx - this is not something I have any plans to do, but I have tested this function and it works if needed.

I am not sure if the engine sound is the correct one for the Leyland L60 multi-fuel engine, but is sounds good both when running and during the start-up and shut-down sequence. A push button on the "toy" controller needs to be pushed to start the tank after switching-on and this also fires up the engine sound. Another button underneath the "start" button is pushed to shut the engine down and turn off the tank.

The machine gun sound is OK and the matching barrel flash works OK too but is a little "quiet" compared to the sharp clear sound that the Tamiya full-options systems make.. The main gun sound is comparatively good and is loud enough.

There were no malfunctions or failures with the Chieftain during it's initial test run (after I replaced the exhaust smoke tubes) and overall I am very pleased with my purchase and look forward to adding a little weathering to personalise the tank.

I am not so impressed with the 'toy' transmitter, but in all fairness it works OK and it does have a hell of a lot of possible features available - far more than will ever be needed on this HAYA Chieftain......but I will comment further on this tx at a later date.

After seeking advice from the very helpful Andrew Haya, I have ordered the upgraded smoke unit from him.

This upgraded unit looks like it is the same one as used for the barrel smoke function that I have on my Chieftain, but with two outlets - one for each exhaust.

I know this unit works far better than the standard Heng Long unit that came with my HAYA Chieftain, so I am sure that I will be pleased with it.

It was also confirmed that the sound that comes with the Chieftain is not correct for the tank.

The only way to get the genuine Leyland L60 sound is by buying a Clark board that can be specified with the Leyland L60 sound. This is a very expensive option as it will only work with the Fly Sky FS-i6 10 channel radio. (£160.00 for the Clark YK5HSP board and a further £65 for the HAYA branded version of this radio). This makes an eye watering £225.00 just to get the correct engine sound for the tank !

On the positive side though - it does do away with the "toy" transmitter that comes with the HAYA Chieftain tank......more about this "toy" transmitter later......

Let's hope the next batch of HAYA Chieftain tanks (rumoured to be a Mk5) come with the correct engine sound as standard without the need to spend another £225.00 just to get the right engine sound. I admit that I would like a Mk5 Chieftain in the BATA colours....or even the Berlin Brigade colours....and maybe they will come with a better (not "toy") transmitter too!

If they do - I would like one to run alongside my HAYA Mk3 Chieftain

The transmitter that comes with the HAYA Chieftain is quite small measuring only 6" wide and less that 4" high including the pair of plastic aerials that sit on each side of the tx and fold into the centre, one on top of the other. The tx supplied with the tank differs slightly from the one shown in the Chieftain handbook insomuch as it has two push buttons under each gimble and not just the one on each side as shown.

A supplementary A4 sized printed sheet shows the tx variant that is supplied and explains all its functions.

As delivered, the two gimble stick control buttons are not fitted and need to be pushed-on to the very thin looking plastic (?) pins that are in the middle of the two stick gimbles. This did not give me any confidence in the structural integrity of this very small sized tx and I was fearful of pushing the control buttons onto these thin pins too hard as I was worried about snapped them off in the process.

The two control "buttons" pushed onto the thin pins without problem and seem to "bottom-out" with a "click" that suggested a micro-switch may be fitted under each gimble. This is indeed the case and the microswitch that is hidden under each stick unit is used in some programming sequences.

There is a large flat push button on each side of the twin aerials. The left hand one fires the main gun. The right hand one is depressed ( 6 times) to activate 8 different functions and is held down to activate another four different functions.

Behind these two flat push buttons are a pair of trim wheels that can be turned to adjust the tracking .

The micro switch under the right hand stick unit can be pressed down (like a button) to activate reverse functions.

In all there are 24 different function settings available ........but fortunately only a few are likely to be needed to run the Chieftain tank.

The two flat plastic "fingers" on top of the tx case are aerials that over-lap each other like a pair of old style classic car windscreen wipers, and they open from the middle outwards to stand upright - one on each side of the transmitter. The only time I have seen anything like this is on a small RTF toy drone controller.

The right hand "wiper blade" sits on top of the left hand one and differ's by having a moulded ridge on its flat top surface. A wire of some sort can be seen running up from the transmitter casing into the right hand wiper blade and so presumably this is a working aerial . The left hand "wiper blade" has a moulded ridge on its underside, but I can see no similar wire running into it I so maybe this one is a dummy?

Under each gimble is a pair of large round function push buttons and between these is the on/off switch that slides to the right to switch the tx on.

The upper left hand function button is used to turn on the sound and activate the tank and the one underneath it is to turn it off again.

When I find out what the two function buttons under the right hand stick unit do I will come back add this info, but to date I have not found any use for either of them.

This "toy" transmitter is in fact a highly capable little unit that has far more functions and programming options than most of us will find a use for when operating our Chieftain tanks, but they do offer the ability to fine tune and set up the tank perfectly.

............I just wish it was a bit bigger - like "normal" TX size - then it would be a winner!

If anyone has lost the A4 printed page that comes with a new Chieftain (or maybe bought a used one without this document) I thought I would share this basic tx info for the most commonly used functions that need to be accessed:-

To switch on the searchlight.
Hold the large function button on the top right hand side of the tx down.
Move the left and stick DOWN to switch on/off the searchlight.

To switch on the commanders light.
Hold the large function button on the top right hand side of the tx down.
Move the left had stick to the LEFT to switch the commanders light on/off.

RELEASE the function button that has been held down to complete the action.

If you have the optional smoking barrel function it will be controlled by the Aux channel.

To turn the barrel smoke on/off.

Press the large function button on the top right hand side of the tx SIX TIMES.
A voice will announce that the functions are switched on.
Press the left hand stick DOWN and HOLD for 3 seconds.

PRESS the large function button on the top right hand side of the tx ONCE to EXIT the function setting.

I have noticed that there is not much elevation travel (up and down) available on the main gun on the HAYA Chieftain Mk3.

On one of "tank a lots" excellent videos he has shown a simple "dodge" to allow the main gun barrel to lower slightly more, so I will give that small "mod" a try later as having such a small amount of travel available just feels a bit "odd" and I would like to improve it.

I got Andrew Haya’s Chieftain in the past year, checked it for shipping damage, ran it just a tad, tucked away for future fun, zooma, but you make me want to get it out right now. Thank you!

Herr Dr. Professor wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2024 4:27 pm I got Andrew Haya’s Chieftain in the past year, checked it for shipping damage, ran it just a tad, tucked away for future fun, zooma, but you make me want to get it out right now. Thank you!

I am sure you will be very happy with your HAYA Chieftain Herr Dr. Professor - I am delighted with mine......even with that "toy" transmitter that is far too complicated for its size!

Not too much of anything was done to my Chieftain yesterday as I was trying to make a repair to my Tamiya Leopard 2A6 (!), but I did paint the two tow ropes in a more realistic colour than the moulded green plastic that they come in. The main Chieftain body is painted, but the two tow ropes are not painted and look a lot better now that they have been "picked-out" with some colour, but this has taken longer than it should as the mounting brackets for these ropes are already glued onto the body so they have to be painted in situ. without letting any paint stray onto the main body.

I slid a printed card 10 meter air pistol target in-between the tow rope and the body to protect it from any unintended paint but I had to take extra care at each end where the rope and the shackel ends actually touch the tank body.

Now I need to find out what shade of Tamiya paint gives the closest colour match to the pre-painted body as there are some small areas that need "touching-up" and the metal drive sprocket and front idler wheels come with a shiny black finish that also need colouring to match the green body paint. The colours should be NATO Green and NATO Black so that is what I will be trying first.

As a matter of interest the main gun barrel is not painted and the underside of the tank is not painted either and so the black camouflage pattern that runs down the front of the tank ends abruptly where the upper and lower hull halves join!

As a matter of interest I ordered a set of plastic tracks for the Chieftain from HAYA . I plan to paint and weather these plastic tracks and fit them to compare how they work following the comments about the comparative performance of plastic tracks on the Challenger tanks...or on any of the longer chassis "modern" tanks. At only £9.99 a pair (£11.99 with UK tax) this could be an interesting experiment.

......oh, I forgot to mention that I removed the Tamiya type connector from the supplied HAYA LiPo battery and soldered an XT60 female connector on instead. This small upgrade is well worth doing and the XT60 to Tamiya adapter lead can be unplugged and removed from the tank. Any future LiPos will be bought with XT60 connectors or changed to them if they can only be bought with any other type of connector.

All my other LiPos use XT connectors of the appropriate size and I think that the XT60 size are the best size to use on 1/16 scale r/c tanks.