pattoncommander

Sevoblast, read the response in War Room from the Tamiya modeling staff. They fought to stop release of such an inaccurate tank, but were overrulled by Tamiya bosses. Understand the expense of re-tooling for a different model, but when so many are screaming for other than the zillion KTs that are flooding the market (in spite of the very few that were actually used), seems marketing would listen.

I have not seen every model of IDF Sherman, however I have done some serious research into the highly complex and confusing Isreali armor developement. There are many different modifications on all tanks, however all of the eight IDF Shermans I have rebuilt are identified by model, representative date of use, unit and area of deployment. In this way, I feel comfortable in displaying
a particular tank whereby I can identfy and explain the difference, color scheme and incidentals of that particular tank.

The M-51 was delivered in july 1962 being converted mainly from M-4A1 76mm (Super Shermans) with an unspecified number from M-4A3s received in 1956 and M-4 105 models. Stowage patterns were early & late...early having one box on each side with spare tracks in front at the driver's position and later with an added box on the sides and tracks moved to the turret cheeks. Stowage of spare wheels and jerry cans sometimes varried by unit. Cummins dielsels were received in 1962 and installed first in M-50s, then carried into M-51s, most being upgraded by 1965. Only ones not upgraded were a few M-4A1 Super Shermans with dozer blades.

Tamiyas rendition uses both early and late stowage, retains the old unmodified radial engine deck (and sound) and the very prominent travel lock over the rear deck has been totally left off. Admittedly. the incorrect name of Super Sherman was purposely given as a marketing tool.

Tanks have different model designations and can be easilly identified. We started a few years ago with a Tiger...now it is common to see upgrades to early-mid-late production, same with other tanks. A Panther A can be modified as well as a Pz III by adding or modifying parts, turret, gun etc. Critcal is to stay with the particular vehicle photos and data for the tank you are modeling for reference. A tank can be very accurate if one is portraying a particular tank and not a generic production spanning 10 years.

This is what model companies should aim for..not just dream up a generic design. How many changes are we going to see on this new HL KT?

Panther G

I still like the IDF Sabra the most. Best upgrade of any tank IMO. Now if we only had a 1:16th M-60 we would be in business.

pattoncommander

10-4....the Sabra is a very mean machine, just wasn't used all that long. It has really great lines, but the Merks have taken over everything and there isn't a better tank on the market for Israel's geography and deployment problems. The 188th Bde just got off the Egyptian border last week....in two/three weeks they'll be on duty on the Syrian border...different terrain & environment and very hard on the tanks. Merk IVs can handle it.

Ern

I've said it before and I'll say it again... HL needs to steal from airbrush painters from VSTank! Perhaps Heng Long could trade some of their sound boards to VSTank for the painters and make a lot of people happy ~ I know I would be, plus I'd probably be the owner of a few more tanks!

lposter

The Phillipines. Indonesia, all the south east Asia countries, Russia......all are big markets for Chinese goods. And they are not small places.....

That the tanks are, or could be marketed to kids, is surely evident in the crap like the headlights, the BB gun and the smoker. I mean how many enthusiasts (ie. those who spend significant money on doing up tanks) really honestly care about the BB gun and the smoker?

Or th elittle paper target that comes with the tank?

We tinker with them because they are there, not because we need to. If they were not there I assume we would still buy the tanks.

Th emarketing of these tanks alos points towards kids or young people. With words like "super spin" featuring in the ads. Which is hardly something an enthusiast cares about? If they were being aimed at enthusiasts they would surely ficus on something like "realistic speed" or "3:1 gear reduction".

Even the manuals are child oriented.

I reckon they are selling whacks of tanks to youngsters who do not speak English and I reckon thats why the cares of the enthusiast market will never have any bearing on what they do.

I would bet my bottom dollar that one is more likely to see a modern tank like an Abrams or something appearing long before a Pz II. Because an Abrams would probably sell more to kids. Especially now that that tank is appearing on Discovery Channel all the time and is nearly as recognisable as the Tiger.

Th eonly reason I think the assault guns that have appeared have been developed is because they are low-prive modifications to extant products - its cheaper to make a stug hull than it is to make a new turret with all the parts.

P

B/Man

Who here doesn't repaint their tanks anyway? I couldn't give a rats what colour they release them in as long as they keep improving and releasing them and to be honest, the stock colours are very low on my wish list of improvements.

As for smaller tanks, I think it's a matter of internal space as much as anything. I think they would struggle to fit everything into the hull of a PII or similar size tank.

YHR

I heard a story that part of the release stems on the market, and it is opposite of what you might think. When the current stock is sellling well, they don't want to release a new tank. When the sales of existing tanks fall off, then they release a new one.

The Panthers and JagD are good tanks, and people are still buying them. It is obvious from all the pictures we have seen for a long time that the HL KT is ready to produce. The economic downturn maybe didn't effect the makers of low cost tanks as much as we think. It is possible with money being tight that a few Heng Longs got purchased instead of something more expensive to run. Maybe make that car last a couple more years and buy a cheap tank for a reward of being so frugal!!!!!!!!!

easyy 11

My Feedback: (2)

Will the new KT be better inside ??

What improvements did they address ?

Has anyone even seen one at the toy shows ?

pattoncommander

Have to agree 90% on everything you posted. The issue of useless headlights and the totally redundant exhaust smoker have been addressed as very unrealistic. The high volume smoker however, is really nice when you want to depict a tank that has been hit...only problem is no way to pump out black smoke in lieu of white. []

HL has been listening to a degree, as evident of the upgrading of the electronics and some minor corrections on a couple tanks. Like some others on the RCU, I am more interested in scale modeling and my own tanks are simply detailed scale models that run, rather than something to bang around in unrealistic tank "combat". Many RC tank enthusiasts will do some degree of upgrading or modelling on the tanks, but it would be a big step forward if the AFVs were more accurate to begin with. Some very fine detailing is done an Tamiya and HL and the Mato Sherman is pretty nice as a great conversion base,, but the makers always seem to put stuff on the tanks that would not be seen on a 1;1 scale.

It is apparent that many dealers out there are paying attention, as evident by all the era or production upgrades, reduction gears, recoil systems, proper sized guns and very high grade/$$$ electronics now available. Seems a lot of tank owners want them to be historically accurate. Europe has many VERY well detailed and historically accurate tanks and most of the sources for upgrades are there due to the interest. Assault guns have gone the way of the real ones....easier to make and cheaper.

Believe we can expect to see an Abrams turning up soon...as popular as the tank is, someone HAS to bring one out....and then too.....an adversary is needed...T-72, T-64.. I'd prefer a Merkava II or IV.

STO_118

Yes they should release a 38 T, then lose large sums of money because very few people would buy it.

People, especially people into scale models, tend to look at things from their own perspective rather than what the market actually is. I would say that many people who purchase Heng Long tanks buy them because they are cool and good fun, not because they are a rivet counter. Not to say accuracy is something to be avoided it is just not required from the majority of people who buy these tanks.

As long as the tank looks reasonably like what it should I am happy to buy it.

And yes I am very happy Heng Long have released the King Tiger, Tamiya's are too pricey and I barely have the time to keep my Heng Longs, let alone build a Tamiya. The only other variant I know of is the Matorro, of which I have two here and I am not overly impressed with much about them.

On a foot note, I would buy the 38T and the Panzer II! Personally I would love a Matilda or a Lee.

Dmon1996

I'd vote for the Matilda or Lee, or maybe a Churchhill. There is lots of Axis armor on the market, how about evening up the score? The Allied forces won after all.... Or how about a WWII French tank? Personally, I'd love to see a WWI tank on the market - like the one in Raiders of the Lost Arc! That was the first tank I fell in love with, and it is so primitive compared to even the WWII tanks....

But instead, we see retooled regurgitated crap like the <ahem> SUPER Sherman! Gimme a frigging break- how is it worth any more than the regular Sherman? But Heng Long is starting to listen- we want a Porche turret KT and they deliver! It's funny - Tamiya had the market cornered, but did not listen to us and a toymaker like HL heard and now they have an impressive lineup of what we wanted to see....from small stuff like the Panzer III and IV and of curse the Stug all the way up to the Panther and Jagdpanther. That was a smart move, half the tooling for the Jagdpanther and lookie lookie! A lot of pople (including me) sport both a Panther and a Jagdpanther! I'll be buying a Mato Sherman shortly, but no chance I'll shell out $700 for the same tank as I already have sitting on my shelf! Ok, rant over!

That being said, I still love my Tamiyas. I just wish they would listen to us the same as Heng Long does. The thought of a Tamiya Churchill would be too awesome!

Imnotanace

Will the new KT be avalable both airsoft and IR or just airsoft ?? I am hoping it comes in the IR as well.

Ron

ObsessiveTanker

I think that it will only be available in IR

Dmon1996

I just heard back from MatoMart. They expect to have the HL KT in ASAP unless it is MIA which would be TFB. Now I'm ROFLMAO!

Seriously, I heard back - they expect it in for end of February to beginning of March. No idea on cost yet.

Saxondog

Brazil, a very large country with a lot of import from Asia, their are many South American countries that are just overlooked as a market place,then seldom is the Iceland,Greenland,Norway, Sweden or the Baltic countries mentioned. Belgium,France, Ukraine, Spain, South Africa, Even the Arab countries? They do have children and adults with a culture of military force being second only to the worship of their god. If your making a product and depend the English Speaking world as your market place and China then you do what Heng Long has done,Instructions are in two languages English and Chinese only?  This seems odd when in America most instructions are in Chinese, Spanish,English and French. 

j z

In regards to the paint jobs, I think the only explanation would be the HL gluemonkey got promoted to paint monkey. Regards, jz

STO_118

I wouldn't say the best products come from either of those countries personally. One of the reasons China came back from the recession is it has a very large export business. Since the majority of products come from China they are pretty much guarenteed orders from the other developed countries.

I did write a full explanation but it's not needed so back to topic, costs are much higher here. People don't want to, or cannot pay high prices for products. Everything is cheaper over there, work force, land, rates, insurance, quality control so businesses use China to survive. Add to this, in the UK anyway, a large number of people now have access to university. They go there without needing much in the way of grey matter, spend four years studying a pointless degree at taxpayers cost and leave being generally clueless about everything.

This has left a huge skill gap in the UKworkforce, which means even if we wanted to manufacture here we probably couldn't for years until we have a workforce capable of doing the work.

Back to the tanks, the paint looks like that most likely to bad camera work. The Panther G and Jagdpanther use a similar camouflage scheme and the colours are muted. Here's hoping anyway!