Perry S.

I know some of you guys have them. I just ordered one and was curious what your opinions were (opinions and pics). Tried searching the board but you know how that goes. Anything I should lookout for? This will be a heavier tank.
Time to rebuild my old Tiger.

Perry

GeirMagne

I do.
Just be aware of the track tensioners, they can break if overstressed.
I fitted Henntec tensioners in mine, much stronger and easier to adjust.
The tub itself is not that stiff, but far better than stock HL. Just add a couple of braces and it should be fine.
Good luck with your build and keep us updated

lposter

Th emetal lip that locks (thats a joke!)into the lower hull does not sit firmly. If th eplastic of the bottom hull or th etop bit flexes (and it does)out it comes and it looks seriously stupid as well as being annoying.

There are problems with th eholes on th elower plate for holding things like control boards etc etc.

The swing arms are cheapo metal and probe to crack around the grub screw holes.

All in all.....I was seriously sorry Ibought the thing and would have been just as happy using sheets of metal to shor up th esides myself.

And teh suspension is no nothing great either.

p

AFV432

Hi perry
i have the asiatam lower hull
and if you can get one it would be an advantage although as the other guys have said the tensioners arent the best
i havent killed mine yet but i know a few that have

have you seen the henntec tensioner? very good job

another good lower hull is the Taigen base there tensioner is a copy of the tamiya tiger base

Rob

Panther G

I haven't had any problems with my latching mech. or my idlers. Proper track length is just as important here as with any vehicle. This is the best upgrade you can make to any HL tank.

Perry S.

Thanks guys although I was hoping to see some pic's. I feel better about it now. Ordered one from Forgebear. It was cheaper than I thought. I have the good old Asiatam gearboxes that look like the HL's and have a bearing on the output shaft. I filled them with the steel gears from Phil. This was my first tank. Bought it and joined this forum the next week. It's been plastic, it's been metal, it's been airsoft, and it's been IR. It's been everything but reliable. Labor of love I guess.

Perry

Rebellion13

I know Joe ( Yellowshaker) has one on his Tiger and he said it was great almost on par with Tamiya, said the thing runs like a beast.


Cheers,
Wade

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

Had one...sigh....sold it over the weekend.

Rebellion13

Making room for your Elefant Joe?

Buckeye36

My Feedback: (3)

LOL.............come on Joe, you know you want to!

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

Well, I figured I built the Tamiya Tiger and at this point don't really need to have 2...well not now at least.
I am thinking about the elephant as my next project, even though I promised myself that another Sherman is first....

CHIEFSONN

Here is a few photos of it together and in parts,so you can see what you justed purchased.

lposter

There is also an issue with the tensioners where they physically cannot work - literally, when they start to feel resistance from the track, they cease to function.

Iposted a detailed set of pictures about this ages ago and which are here somewhere. Here they are: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_97..._1/key_/tm.htm

The adjuster screw is not fixed to the back of the housing. If the force exerted by the track/idler is greater than the weak little spring - then your tensioning days are over.

That might be fine with plastic tracks and wheels, but if the track is metal then the weight of the track factors in and the tensioners become essentially useless.

In addition, a huge amount of space is lost due to the raised floor and torsion bars - the benefit of which Iam still unconvinced as to.

Plus, the catch mechanism for holding the upper hull to the lower thing - its not well engineered and requires hacking of the pillars down from the upper hull reducing their strength and introducing a serious amount of hull flex.

In addition to all that - even if the tensioners were well designed - you are fundamentally limited with what you can do with them by the fact that adjustment of the screw beyond anything minimal means the screw hits the rear plate of the tank (the one holding the exhausts).

And if that wasnt enough - that plate doesnt always fit as well as it should thanks to some sloppy design of the hull itself.

All things to watch out for.

Unless the hull is suddenly super cheap Iwould think carefully. Especially as mato have a metal hull which seems to be a better match for the HL upper hull given that it is casted from the original.

p

Perry S.

Well then. Some people love it and some people hate it. No middle of the ground people? Thanks CHIEFSON for posting the pic's. Time will tell but just looking at it seems like it is more robust than the stock HL hull. I need to cram a lot of stuff in there so we will see about the space occupied by the suspension. Doesn't look too daunting. I guess I could get all giddy and speculate but I will spare us all and just wait for it to show up.

Perry

lposter

To be fair to the thing.......many of the problems could probably be avoided with a little work.

But some are always going to be an issue. Like the cracking swing arms.

Why they couldnt shove some metal up front where flexing has the potential to cause real issues is beyond me.

If you go here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/attac...mentid=2487688 you can see the little spear heads that are screwed into the pillars coming down from the upper hull. Those things are held in to the plastic by little self tappers - that metal screw to plastic join is under a fair bit of pressue (they keep the hull together in effect)and after a few months Inoticed that the pillar was cracking where the screw went in.

Ialso had trouble with the axles for the idelrs being a bit long which required some work too.

To my mind the front latch which has about 1 mm of "grippage"to a flexing plastic plate, the tensioners and the swing arms are the weak points.

But if you dont drive the thing to hard (like on anything other than a flat surface), dont let it crash into anything head on and are willing to take the hit in terms of battery life (Iget 15 minutes of mixed driving with that hull and metal tracks) - then its fine.

And you can always go back to the plastic hull if you dont like it.

p

Panther G

I have mine on the Tiger. I actually was able to use the Tamiya Tiger speaker box with a little trimming and it gives you the perfect amount of room under it to fit 2 battery packs, which works great with the Tamiya electronics I have in mine. I also have the Asiatam Early style metal road wheels on mine. They are really nice and give the tiger a really good ground pressure with all the weight. That plus a Turnigy chip in it makes it very realistic to drive.

philipat

Funny...I was thinking that Taigen was just HL's way of releasing the same thing as Asiatam's hulls. In other words, HLmakes those hulls anyways and sells the complete tank under the Taigen moniker.

I also appreciate everyone's input and photos as I'm considering getting one of these and an upper with metal early road wheels (buy parts as a kit). So, Perry, I'll watch your build closely to see what your experience is.

abo

For your info Perry, . I've just had an email from Welshdragon stating the the Asiatam hull is now being branded under the "Taigen" label with " improved" idler adjustments and quick release system. Its going for a special offer price of £48.99 thats just under $80 pre postage for you troops from the colonies. Never had anything "Taigon" but it may be worth a browse www.welshdragon.co.uk

Abo

YHR

As your friend Joe, I must speak out. Call it an intervention. I bolded the statement above to point out you are showing the first sign of a Sherman addiction. It starts out with, "right after I do another Sherman". As a Shermaholic myself, I know the signs. THere is no right after in this disease. All your life becomes is one Sherman after another. After awhile it becomes a blur, FireFly, easyeight, HVSS, VVSS, M4A1 early hull, M4A1 large hatch, M4A3 gas, M4A2 Deisel, M4A4 stretched, Kageroo, Priests, and finally skinks. It is a sinister disease. It starts out so harmless. I have to build one ugly duckling Sherman. How can I call myself a WWII armor modeler if I don't have one Sherman. So I will build one just to fill the void. AHA, but one is not enough to fill the void. So then it is another, and another, and you start selling off Tigers, and Panthers just to finance the addiction. THen sadly you will end up like me, OUt of shelf space, boxes of stock Mato's piled in storage waiting to be the next fix. Very sad.

Back to regularly scheduled programming

Panther G

That's priceless Dan. And yes Joe has it bad.

Perry S.

Thanks. I think I am getting the new release as well. That's what I paid for it. The ad allso showed the new version that is unpainted and calls it out as an Asiatam/Taigan hull. I'll let you guys know when it shows up. Anxious to see what the idler is like. If it is any good it would be a great addition for a pretty low price. That is until I start getting crazy ideas about late model road wheels/etc.

Perry

AFV432

apparently they are a different company this thread explains a bit more with piccies http://www.rctankregiment.com/rctank...=2785&start=80

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

If you are going with the late road wheels, there are 2 options. One is the Asiatam...they are fine if it not goingt o be a fighter. If it is, then buy the Wecohe wheels and use Tamiya axles. All you will have to do is drillout the suspension arms to 4mm and put the wheels on. They are true quality and will not fall apart like Asaitams will. trust me on this....there are still wheels at the field from my first 2 attmepts with their wheels....someplace at the field....

Dan, I appreciate the concern adn intervention. aI have admitted to myself that I do, indeed, have a problem. I am addicted to tank building, and Shermans are becoming my pitfall. I find myself browsing through build threads and old ww2 photos of all types of sherman tanks. The reason I am planning the elephant is to see if I am making progress with my addiction. If I can somehow make it through the build without stopping to build a sherman or 2 in the middle, I am on the road to recovery. Please be advised that I you may get the odd phone call at 3am to talk me down when I begin to falter....just be there for me, my friend. I know I can get through this will a bit of help.

Green Amphibian

Hehehehehe, He thinks he can get through this with only a bit of help? The Sherman affliction is so strong that there is no cure!

philipat

AFV432, cool...thanks for the link.  Those are some good pics to get started.

Perry...let's see the pics when you get it. 

Would love to see what Taigen brings out next.