Andimal Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Hi all, I am relatively new to modelling and basically started during lockdown. I have thus far completed three 1/35 German tanks and fancied something a little more challenging. I decided to treat myself and had a look at the Tamiya Tiger I 1/16 RC, I then seen the price and decided to look elsewhere. It was then I came across a Chinese company called Heng Long. The price for the Heng Long Tiger was much more reasonable (£150 compared to £600), I then learned that not only did it have artificial smoke but it fired pellets and had sound effects. I was sold. It arrived on a day when I was EXTREMELY hungover and the excitement of its arrival helped me ever so slightly. I took it out of its box and was immediately stunned by its scale. I was slightly disappointed in the detail but it wasn't a huge issue. The original paint job made it look like a toy so I couldn't wait to get it painting it. Below are some raw pictures of the finished Tiger, I was contemplating adding some snow to it. Let me know what you think. Thanks for looking. 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince1159 Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 (edited) That's a beautiful job and photo's,i love the last one imagine seeing that barrel pointing in your direction between a couple of trees!... Edited June 27, 2020 by Vince1159 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tojo72 Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Very cool, some day I need to refurbish the Heng Long Tiger that I have sitting around.Did you make the screens or are the AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Brown Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 That looks brilliant Sir! I bought the HL Tiger a couple of years back to do the same. Unfortunately I've not got round to it yet. Every time I get it out I just end up playing with it! It's become like a family pet according to the wife! I've modded the smoke unit and replaced the idler wheels (Stops it trowing a track on the grass..) plus bought a better battery and charger so far and having a hoot with it! Seeing this I really must start painting it. If anyone wants to see how it is un-painted (and pretty boring..) here it is: Rick. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruecutter96 Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 You only started model-making this year!? I would say your painting skills are already in the major league.... If you make any more 1/16th scale armour, Welsh Dragon Models and Forge Bear Models are two names to know about. They both sell upgrade parts for remote-control, big tanks (some parts are much more useful than others to "static" modellers, but thems the breaks). There's also a German company called "Modellblau" who make white-metal accessories, most of which I've never seen anyone else supply. Thanks for sharing with us. Chris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andimal Posted June 30, 2020 Author Share Posted June 30, 2020 22 hours ago, Tojo72 said: Very cool, some day I need to refurbish the Heng Long Tiger that I have sitting around.Did you make the screens or are the AM Thank you mate. It's definitely worth refurbishing the Heng Long, it looks so much less like a toy after some paint. The photo etched grills were after market mate. Thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andimal Posted June 30, 2020 Author Share Posted June 30, 2020 21 hours ago, Rick Brown said: That looks brilliant Sir! I bought the HL Tiger a couple of years back to do the same. Unfortunately I've not got round to it yet. Every time I get it out I just end up playing with it! It's become like a family pet according to the wife! I've modded the smoke unit and replaced the idler wheels (Stops it trowing a track on the grass..) plus bought a better battery and charger so far and having a hoot with it! Seeing this I really must start painting it. If anyone wants to see how it is un-painted (and pretty boring..) here it is: Rick. My daughter and dog are terrified of the Tiger so I don't get to play with it as much sadly. A family pet? haha well people do keep tigers as pets! I've had a look at some of the upgrades but they are pricey, the metal tracks for example are nearly as expensive as the tank! Get it painted up mate, you won't regret it! Thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andimal Posted June 30, 2020 Author Share Posted June 30, 2020 11 hours ago, spruecutter96 said: You only started model-making this year!? I would say your painting skills are already in the major league.... If you make any more 1/16th scale armour, Welsh Dragon Models and Forge Bear Models are two names to know about. They both sell upgrade parts for remote-control, big tanks (some parts are much more useful than others to "static" modellers, but thems the breaks). There's also a German company called "Modellblau" who make white-metal accessories, most of which I've never seen anyone else supply. Thanks for sharing with us. Chris. I think that's me done with 1/16th for a while, far too much painting haha. Yes mate started the hobby this year, currently working on a 1/35 Panther Ausf D. Thanks for your compliment and thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Brown Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 20 minutes ago, Andimal said: My daughter and dog are terrified of the Tiger so I don't get to play with it as much sadly. A family pet? haha well people do keep tigers as pets! I've had a look at some of the upgrades but they are pricey, the metal tracks for example are nearly as expensive as the tank! Get it painted up mate, you won't regret it! Thanks for looking. Funnily enough my cats aren't fazed by it at all. Mind you, I don't tempt fate. Cats can get freaked quite easily by something quite stupid! As for upgrades, yes you can spend a fortune. Some upgrades have a knock on affect too. If you get the tracks you'll need a new steel gearbox and metal drive sprockets for instance. A big seller of the HL also advised me that the metal tracks get clogged up easily and cause all sorts of issues, like broken gearbox (hence the upgrade to that). I can certainly recommend the metal idlers though. They have much better tolerances, so don't move around much. This has cured the track throwing 100%. This was it's biggest problem IMHO. The smoke pump packs up quickly and is noisy. I stripped mine and took the pump off and replaced it with a very small fan. Sorted. I only paid £80 for mine 2 years ago, but noted they have sky rocketed in the last 12 months. I have all sorts of radio control stuff, but the Tiger is the one I keep coming back too! Right, thinking about a paint job for it. Rick. . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andimal Posted June 30, 2020 Author Share Posted June 30, 2020 3 hours ago, Rick Brown said: Funnily enough my cats aren't fazed by it at all. Mind you, I don't tempt fate. Cats can get freaked quite easily by something quite stupid! As for upgrades, yes you can spend a fortune. Some upgrades have a knock on affect too. If you get the tracks you'll need a new steel gearbox and metal drive sprockets for instance. A big seller of the HL also advised me that the metal tracks get clogged up easily and cause all sorts of issues, like broken gearbox (hence the upgrade to that). I can certainly recommend the metal idlers though. They have much better tolerances, so don't move around much. This has cured the track throwing 100%. This was it's biggest problem IMHO. The smoke pump packs up quickly and is noisy. I stripped mine and took the pump off and replaced it with a very small fan. Sorted. I only paid £80 for mine 2 years ago, but noted they have sky rocketed in the last 12 months. I have all sorts of radio control stuff, but the Tiger is the one I keep coming back too! Right, thinking about a paint job for it. Rick. . To be honest if I started to upgrade it I wouldn't stop. I'd love to have it mostly metal with a barrel that recoils. I may upgrade eventually but Im enjoying modelling the 1/35 German tanks at the minute. I already have all the upgrades on my watch list on eBay haha. This hobby can cost a fortune, worth it though. Yes mate start thinking about a paint job. There is a guy that sells the Heng Long Tigers for £250 all painted and weathered and they look great, I'll give you the link so you can get some inspiration. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/383602837359 Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Brown Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Ebay is ok for some stuff, but I've found Forge Bear Models are cheaper. Erm, just bought a steel gearbox from them..... Oops. Payday. Rick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Had one a few years back with the upgraded metal track/gearbox. Fitted the metal wheels and fitted bearing to them, also had a engine sound module and recoiling gun. Painted up like my scale models but sold it on as I wasn't using it. Sold it on ebay and got back quite a lot of what I'd paid out for it, there seems to be a market out there for these kits painted up and not looking so toy like. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andimal Posted June 30, 2020 Author Share Posted June 30, 2020 38 minutes ago, colin said: Had one a few years back with the upgraded metal track/gearbox. Fitted the metal wheels and fitted bearing to them, also had a engine sound module and recoiling gun. Painted up like my scale models but sold it on as I wasn't using it. Sold it on ebay and got back quite a lot of what I'd paid out for it, there seems to be a market out there for these kits painted up and not looking so toy like. There does seem to be a market, I was actually considering selling mine but I'm keeping it for now. Have you any pictures of your finished Tiger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andimal Posted June 30, 2020 Author Share Posted June 30, 2020 1 hour ago, Rick Brown said: Ebay is ok for some stuff, but I've found Forge Bear Models are cheaper. Erm, just bought a steel gearbox from them..... Oops. Payday. Rick. Never heard of Forge Bear Models, I must check them out. How much was the steel gearbox? I have a feeling I'll be parting with some money aswell haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Brown Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 8 hours ago, Andimal said: Never heard of Forge Bear Models, I must check them out. How much was the steel gearbox? I have a feeling I'll be parting with some money aswell haha. I hadn't till yesterday! The box is a bit of an experiment really. The one I picked up is meant to be a direct replacement. 3:1 etc. Steel gears, not zinc. About £25 delivered. I want one because I know the plastic one will fail at some point. You can spend a lot more on one if you wanted. I'll let you know what it's like when it turns up. Rick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andimal Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 2 hours ago, Rick Brown said: I hadn't till yesterday! The box is a bit of an experiment really. The one I picked up is meant to be a direct replacement. 3:1 etc. Steel gears, not zinc. About £25 delivered. I want one because I know the plastic one will fail at some point. You can spend a lot more on one if you wanted. I'll let you know what it's like when it turns up. Rick. Thats a bargain compared to eBay prices. If I remember correctly the lower the gear ratio the more torque and the more realisitic it is in terms of tank movement? Yes mate let me know what its like. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Brown Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 You are indeed correct. The lower the ratio, eg 1:5 over 1:3 the more torque and the lower the top speed. I believe the HL Tiger 1 has a 1:3 box. The HL Tiger is too fast and it's hard to maintain a slow speed. That isn't really the box at fault. It's the electronics. The cure for that is either get used to how the controller works (I have to a degree), or throw serious money at it and upgrade the electronics. By the time you've corrected all of the HL problems you may as well have bought the Tamiya! I've just got used to mine and put up with it's inadequacies. I just treat mine as a potential big scale model for the shelf and a play thing for the garden. If I wanted better realism and quality I would bought the Tamiya or similar. Or bought a small car for the family..... Rick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andimal Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 (edited) I can get a realistic speed from the Tiger by putting limitd pressure on the control stick, it's no problem. I've decided to try and sell my customised Tiger on Ebay, hoping to get £230 for it. Might consider buying another one, maybe something with a little more metal in it. The Tamiya Tiger is ridiculously priced, you honestly could but a car for the price. Edited July 3, 2020 by Andimal 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanC Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 It fires pellets? That's my pigeon problem solved then... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Brown Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 25 minutes ago, IanC said: It fires pellets? That's my pigeon problem solved then... It ain't that accurate! Rick. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Brown Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Bit of an update. The new gearbox has arrived. It is an exact replica of the standard plastic box. I just had to swap the wires over, as they didn't have the same connectors as my control unit. Forge Bear had already advised me of this. The motors look to be identical, but weirdly drove the opposite way! Not a problem, just swapped the wires round. The box did come with a little oil on the gears, but I cleaned them and added a smidge of SuperLube. The box runs quietly and smoothly. Good upgrade. Good supplier too! Right, saving up for a few more bits. Rick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbot Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 Hey Andimal, You've done a really nice job with that. I wouldn't add anything else to it. Have you ended up with the 1:16 bug now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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