tankme

I was going to include this in my build thread, but I thought it was nice enough to stand on its own. I said I was going to be the guinea pig for this thing and this guinea pig has a big grin on his face. This thing is awesome in my opinion. All torsion bar suspension, built in track tensioner, CNC sealed gearboxes, and thick metal plate with almost zero flex. Also has a screwless mounting system to mount the upper hull to the lower hull and came fully assembled as shown. It came packed in a 1" walled styrofoam container. Can't wait to get it wired up and take it for a spin. Yes it was expensive ($538 shipped) and took 2 weeks to get here.




Rear view - note relocation of power switch.


Front view.


Side view - all metal road wheels, idler, sprockets, and return rollers. They seem to have bearings installed.


For attaching the upper HL hull.


Torsion bar and tensioner detail.


Bottom view


CNC cut suspension arms.


10lbs 6oz as delivered.


Note the lip on both sides of the tank making it easy to create a shelf above the torsion bars to hold all the electronics.


Gear boxes shot.




Page 1 - hull mounts


Page 2 - hull mounts cont.

afv aficionado

Very nice. I wonder if they'll expand the metal chassis to the rest of their range?

Mal

tankme

They have it for the Tiger I also.

borealis

Wow this looks serious!
Looking forward to watch it in action on rough terrain,

MAUS45

Wow, looks indestructible!!! Real good construction. Looking forward to seeing it run.

RC_BobM

That's not a bad price for what you get. That is very nicely machined hull. Should be a rock solid runner! The M1 only had two track rollers though? Looks like its missing one in the middle of the hull.
Super cool!
Bob

tankme

The Abrams actually only has two return rollers per side.

Desertrat99

How and from where did you acquire this hull?

tankme

Directly from Heng Long through their FB page. That is the only place I've seen it and I haven't found any other pics of it besides mine on the net. They have a Shop button on the left side of the FB page. https://www.facebook.com/Heng-Long-R...0858944333696/

tankme

You can't go by the picture. Originally they had it listed as a Tiger I or Abrams metal hull, but no way to select which one you wanted. I made them put a an Abrams specific link on their shopping page to make sure I got an Abrams hull, but they didn't change the picture. The picture is still of a Tiger I hull, but it says Abrams.

Fsttanks

tankme

Fsttanks, the wheels look like the standard HL wheels, but they have bearings installed. Bearings are in the road wheels, idler wheels, and the return rollers. Took some more pics of some of the sub-assemblies.


Bearings shown in road wheel and sprocket has a guide to help with track retention.


The silver plate in the pic comes off to reveal an O-Ring to keep water/dirt out.


New suspension arm type.


Gearbox removed. There are also 3 unused screw holes in the bottom.


Gearbox opened up. Lubed from the factory. All bearings on the shafts.

bowlman

Looks like there getting there game up to par .

MAUS45

Wow, that is really raising the bar. This thing will run so smooth and last a long time. The enclosed gearbox, wow!!! It would be nice if they do the same thing for the Panther, Tiger II, Panzer III/Stug III lower hulls???

tankme

They offer the sealed gearboxes separately for the different tanks with two different gear ratios. They don't have one for the T34 or Sherman and they aren't cheap. Right now they are listed at $119 on their FB page. You have to know the HL model number to cross reference with this chart:

tankme

They are also offering a 1/8th scale Abrams now for around $1600.

Tanker1966

Nice! I just sprung for the Tiger 1 lower hull.

Pah co chu puk

That looks cool.

Couple of questions:
Are the tracks metal with rubber track pads, or 100% metal?

How are you planning on covering the bolts showing on the front lower armor plate?

Please keep the pictures coming, I think my Abrams may need that upgrade.

tankme

The tracks it came with are all metal HL tracks. I will be using the metal and rubber tracks. Unfortunately the bolts on the front are the adjustment points for the track tensioner so they will have to remain accessible. If you really wanted to cover them you could do a false plate held on with magnets. The two bolts don't bother me as much as all the missing details on the HL and Tamiya Abrams...

mustclime

I mean how could they not include the whirlpool spa on the rear deck, the screen door for the loader’s hatch and the kitchen sink by the commander’s hatch?

Pah co chu puk

Well when you get it all put together it would be nice to see a movie of it in action.

MAUS45

Where did you order this from and do they carry the enclosed gear boxes?

tankme

Ordered it directly from the official HL Facebook page. There is a "Shop" button on the left side of the page.

MAUS45

Thanks for confirming!!!