Tonge Centurion. First impressions.

[zooma]

When I saw a Tonge Centurion at our club recently I was quite impressed with its shape and detail and its similarity to the Heng Long models - as far as the price, basic features and radio spec etc was concerned.

I also liked the way the exhaust smoker had been mounted under the top deck to avoid having to disconnect the tubes every time the battery needed replacing.

The example in our club has had a fair bit of work done on it to convert it to a well weathered Australian Centurion, but I could see that it could be an inexpensive base model that I could use to make another interesting addition to my own British Army MTB collection and started to consider buying one...but not for too long!

I placed an order with Dave at Foregebear Tanks for a new Tonge Centurion as (apart from my own observations) the impression that others have given me is that it is at least as good as my HAYA Centurion, costs less, and actually drives better.

Naturally I want to find this out for myself as I really like my HAYA Centurion but admit that I am a little underwhelmed by its lack of power or its inability to drive over my lawn like my other Heng Long and Tamiya tanks can achieve with ease.

I will continue to find the answers to improve my HAYA Cent, as I really like the model and eventually want to be able to drive it with the same amount of freedom as my other tanks, but with the Tonge Centurion costing so much less with metal tracks, sprockets and road wheels etc and potentially being able to be driven straight “out of the box” I am looking forward to receiving the call from Dave to let me know when his delivery with my Tonge Centurion arrives.

If the Tonge Centurion drives just like a Heng Long MTB - that will be good enough for me to enjoy whilst I explore its finer details and compare it directly against my HAYA Centurion......and I thought that this could make an interesting “First Impressions” log to add to this Modern Tanks section.

[zooma]

I am sure that a British Army Centurion made from the Tonge r/c model could be just as “interesting” as this Australian one !

[Ecam]

I dig (really like) those tracks!

[Ad Lav]

Smart looking Aussie one for sure.

The Aussie mk5/1, the Israeli Sho’t and the British mk3 were the ones I wanted to make. Alas having three Centurions would be a bit excessive

[tankme]

I'm gathering the parts for an Aussie Vietnam build of my Haya and there is a good build thread here on the forums of one.

[Ad Lav]

Here’s a short video of when I finished my Tamiya Centurion for comparison.

phpBB [video]

[zooma]

Smart looking Aussie one for sure.

The Aussie mk5/1, the Israeli Sho’t and the British mk3 were the ones I wanted to make. Alas having three Centurions would be a bit excessive

“Go for it” Ad Lav !

The Centurion is a classic modern MTB and the three variations you mention will all make really good and interesting models in their own right - but having all three types to compare alongside each other would be more than interesting - especially if each of them was from a different “donor” source.

One each from Tamiya, HAYA ........and Tonge should take care of that and provide an interesting manufacturer comparison too!

If you ever need a hand leading you into rctank temptation- I will always do my best to help

Bob.

[zooma]

My Tongde Centurion arrived from Forebear safely and I have driven it outside on my drive with a fully charged battery...

The tank drove very nicely with enough power and the engine sound worked well.

The metal wheels and tracks combine to give a nice "rumble" when moving and this noise can overpower the engine sound.

I have yet to adjust the sound volume but I will take a another look at this so that I can lower it for indoor use and increase it for outdoor use.

The track recoil when the main gun is fired is a bit violent, so I will see if this can be dampened - or even removed.

Steering the tank was a little "notchy" (less proportional) than others that I have driven, but in a way it makes it turn a little more authentic than a nice smooth turn would do (?)....and with practice nice smooth turns can also be achieved.

The turret turning sometimes "clicks" (like the sound you get when the turn limit is reached) but it also sometimes turns without the click, so maybe it has a slight rough edge on a gear tooth that will "wear-in" with use.

The tank was fast enough and the transmitter had as much range as I would normally need - and the transmitter aerial cap stayed in place (I glued it on earlier) - so overall I am very pleased with my new Tongde Centurion Mk 5 and I look forward to adding the detail parts and making a decision about the pale Olive Drab colour (I think it looks too pale).

I have also fitted most of the detail parts that come with the tank. Most of the fitting holes were quite loose, so I used a thick cyno to glue them with as it also acted as a "gap-filler".

The spare tracks that are shown on the rear of the turret have not been fitted yet - I am not sure how they should be mounted - and there is a chance that they may not have been fitted to the Berlin based tanks that this model represents.......so I need to try to find out a bit more about this.

I don't plan to do too much extra work on this tank (at the moment at least!) as I am enjoying working on my HAYA Centurion Kit build, but maybe later I will take a longer look at it - but for now I am happy just to take it to the club and drive it.........but these alloy wheels and tracks could do with a lick of paint!

[jarndice]

And it has a working escape hatch

[Exhibitedbrute]

That’s an effort