Hi All,
While Im not new to R/C, (nitro trucks, and cars), I am very new to R/C Tanks. I bought my brother one for Christmas, it's a Tauch Panzer lll by Heng Long, as for myself I bought me a Walker Bulldog M41A3 also by Heng Long. These tanks have the sound, and smoke option, how ever I can't seem to find out alot about the hobby for the exception of this forum. I know there are after market parts for Heng Long tanks, but as far as working on them, and their quality there does'nt seem to be much info out there, I can't even find any books on R/C Tanks. Years ago I got a 1/16 Abrams Tank by Hobby Zone, it' was about the cheapest piece of junk I ever seen, deffenatly a throw-way toy. I have'nt opened the new Heng Long tanks yet as they are for Christmas, but I hope they are nothing like that Hobby Zone piece of junk I used to have. Are Heng Long R/C tanks good quality, or are they more of an entry level R/C Tank? Also are the after-market parts, (metal tracks, drive gears, and gear box) worth-wild up-grades? Who else besides Tamiya makes really good quality R/C Tanks? From what I can see it seems as if other companies that make R/C tanks are really still Heng Long with fancy paint jobs, am I correct? Since Im very new to R/C tanks I would appriciate it greatly if you guys can give me some tips, and pointers that will help me understand my new R/C Tank, and also anything I should be aware of with the Heng Long R/C tanks, good, bad and indifferent, and any advice that I can use to "improve "on the new tank. Im sorry for all the questions, but aside from this forum, there just does'nt seem to be much info on this hobby, and I want to learn as much about it as I can.
Thanks much,
paul

get your screw drivers out and dig in then if you want to learn. There is not a lot of info other thasn forums on how to achieve what you are trying to do. pm me anytime and I'll help you.<div>
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with RC tanks, there is Tamiya tanks and there is all the others, tamiya is always much more expensive but come complete (except for the RX/TX) and they got THE  battle system as well, for all the others, you can get 2 henglong and fight between the 2 of you but unless you invest a bit, you will never be able to combat against tamiya tanks.  Henglong tanks are pretty reliable...got 2 for more than a year and never broke anything on them and i'm a pretty rough guy, but I bought them with the metal tracks, sprockets and idlers so that makes them more resistant...if you only plan on fighting with your brother, you should be happy with 2 henglongs no problem...

lets not start the Tamiya and others arguement - that will go nowhere fast.
Heng Longs are what they are and they are great for people that want to make changes and upgrade or just play around, plus their quality has moved ahead by measurable levels.

If you end up at RC tanks from another discipline of RC, you'll be shocked by the lack of interest or info. RC Cars, boats, planes and helis are infinitely more popular and therefore backed up by websites, magazines, shows and vendors.

If you are coming from armor modeling, the sparse RC tanks that are around are great and any info is gravy, but you'll find yourself isolated. You can build a 1/35 static modeling and get tons of help and info, mention it's 1/16 RC and you'll hear crickets.

Tamiya extended their model kit and RC range into RC tanks as a pet project of Tamiya-san himself and Heng Long and a few others are adding to the line as well, but I'd lay cash on the ratio of RC pilots to tankers is about 100:1.

Consider yourself either a member of the modeling elite or a RC red-headed step child, but there's not too many in this sandbox.

I guess this hobby is pretty much a learning experience and thats fair enough, also I take it the metal up-grades are deffinetly worth it, so those will go on the list as well. I guess I'll just run the hell out of my tank, when it breaks I'll do as FreakyDude said, I'll just pull out the tools and fix/replace the parts. And FreakDude thanks for the offer of help, I just might take you up on that from time to time .
Thanks All,
Paul

Love Nitro, I am not surprised you are confused, we are on the outer rim of R/C, I would suggest you set aside a couple of hours with a pen and notepad and scour this site, their is the answer to every question here somewhere, then after you have done that you will have more questions, thats when you come back and ask, we come with various skills and abilities and will gladly help. remember just ASK. shaun

As stated, it's is it's own little world. Read read read, ask ask ask.

If you haven't looked elsewhere, take a look here for additional info on tanks, another great forum.
http://hobbyhavoc.com/forum/index.php

All 1/16 tanks sold should have instructions on how to get to this site. Welcome. For the money the Heng Long are good, and once you have been here awhile you will see you can find just about any upgrade part you want. It is a lot better now then it was 6 years ago.

This is a very helpful site, and as someone has mentioned just about anything you can think of has been asked and answered here at one time or another.

A warm welcome, and I hope you join our fraternity for the long haul

Cheers

Welcome paul....I just started in this hobby a year and a half ago....as most of the guys are saying, rc tanks are kinda a cult of the rc world. Not many people know about them but those that do seem to really get into them. Hl tanks areentry level. There are a bunch of options out there for them. If you are into the other rc stuff, you might want to look into some of the electronic packages that will allow you to use hobbygraderadios and maybe better sound options.....any questions, post them up.



scott

Thanks for the warm welcome, I hope to learn alot from you guys and gals. It's ashame RC tanks are'nt more popular, they really are pretty cool, and it's not like they are brand-new, they've been around for quite awhile. It seems as if the RC tanks are alot more popular in the UK, and Canada than they are here in the States. I think the majority of sites I've been on checking out option parts are either British, or Canadian.
Paul

Welcome

I started into this hobby late in the summer of 2010, the internet sources are a big help.



Here are some "before" and "after" pictures of two of my Heng Longs, a Panther G and a King Tiger, both with upgrage electronics (using a hobby radio) and upgraded motors/geaboxes;



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Glen I always loved your Panther. Btw are those metal tracks, or just the plastic ones painted? Either way they look great

Cheers
Wade

Thanks, they're painted plastic.

The Panther is based on a late-war MNH Panther.


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Hopefully this may help some of you folks who don't know of it.

Other than articles in magazines regrading specific projects there's only been one author who has specifically written about
RC tanks.

Sorry but the books I'm about to cite are written in German; not too bad if you can read the language. My German isn't very good but I can muddle
through and get enough information to get started. Pretty good photos.

The author has several different titles related to tracked vehicles now it seems but the one I'm familiar with is a very generalized
treatise on the subject; doesn't focus on one type or scale. It's been out many years and has been revised several times.
I have 2 or 3 revisions myself but I'm not familiar at all with the latest.

At least look up the author on line; he's written other modelling related titles as well.

Title - "Ketten- und Sonderkraftfahrzeuge "

Author - Gerhard O. W. Fischer

ISBN-10: 3788321172
ISBN-13: 978-3788321178

http://www.amazon.de/KettenSonderkra...143246&sr=1-11

His title "Der Einstieg in den RC-Panzermodellbau: Vom Fertigmodell bis zur Eigenkonstruktion"
ISBN-10: 3881804285
ISBN-13: 978-3881804288
( Getting started in RC tank model construction:
from the finished model up to the in-house construction ) looks interesting. Too bad someone hasn't translated that one into English. I may just buy
that one to see it...

Jerry

My RC tank brothers have already said most of it. Heng Longs are good quality RC toys. Tamiya are the highest in quality RC models. I have never seen a complete running used Tamiya RC tank ever sell for less that half of it purchase price. They hold their value very well... where the H L tanks do not. All Heng Long/Mato(Mattoro) tank repairs and mods are "learn as you go" without any manuals or instructions. Tamiya gives you everything you need including spare parts, tools, lube/loctite, PLUS color plate/poster of the tank, a users manual and a build manual. Bandai and Hooben tanks are a far distant second and third place...did I say FAR. WSN/Wasan T34 & Tiger I are better than most HL but not by much. Taigen is a upscale HL and the new kid on the block....results are mixed thus far. DBU, ElMod, SLU & CLarka re allupcoming batle units but they cannot match Tamiya in value, warranty and resale appeal.

If you decide to get serious and are a quality and reliability oriented tanker, enjoy the H L but don't sink a bunch of money in them. You will never get it back. Buy a Tamiya either new or used. Most good built used ones go for the $400 to $700 price range. A new inthe box Sherman kit can be had for $480 and most others in the $650 to $800 range. A 4 ch radio and battle unit will also be needed. There are good deals out there but be sure to buy from a reputable seller. Be sure to look at shipping costs since these kit are big and heavy. Some want $80 to $150 for shipping.

I wish you were nearby I would invite you to a NEAD event to try a few of my Tamiya & HL modified tanks in IR battle. I have several Tam-Longs and Ta-matos with many hours of work poured into them.

i like the Heng Longs and i have some WSN they are fun to work on i like to paint them and add things like side skirts on my Panther add Grill Screens just making the tank a little bit different than everyone elses i got into this February 14 2011 4 days before my birthday and bought myself my first tank M26 Pershing and have been hooked ever since

i do want to get a Tamiya one day to experience building one

Welcome to the forum. I too am fairly new to tanks but have been into everything else RC for the last 30+ years. You will learn a lot here and other forums also, just google heng long tank, and you will run into all kinds of info. I myself have had to get much of my upgrades and such from vendors and seller outside the U.S., but have not had any issues so far.

Heng Long, Matto and all the knockoffs of them are entry grade. Tamiya is always, and Hooben to an extent, what we call 'hobby grade'. Heng Long etc are ready made, Tamiya and Hooben are kits, as is the exquisite Aeromate 1/16 Tiger 1 in all metal.

Depending on what you want to do with the tank should decide which you buy. There is a fair amount of aftermarket equipment available for Heng Long et al, of varying quality and price ranges. To get Heng Long etc up to Tamiya running standards will require some significant monies for metal lower hull and suspension systems, tracks, upgraded transmissions and motors, Elmod or something similar for control and sound generation, different radio and batteries, etc etc.

Tamiya is not perfect out of the box. Some are excellent runners and battlers built stock, some are not if you are building for competitions. There's a huge amount of both running and cosmetic upgrades for Tamiya, most of which will fit the corresponding Heng Long tanks as far as cosmetics go, but NONE of the running gear and motive systems are interchangeable without a bit of work, sometimes significant work. With a Tamiya kit, except for kits marketed in Japan you have to buy also a radio of minimum 4 channels, plus batteries, chargers, etc.

Bottom line, all depends on what you want to spend in the initial outlay and what you eventually plan to do for the future in this hobby. However, if you eventually intend to get in to competitions, please be advised that the Tamiya protocol for the Infrarot Battle System is the world wide standard for competitions. Stock Heng Long, Taigen, etc do NOT use the same protocol as Tamiya and will not work with the Tamiya system. That being said, in Moskau the last competition included a separate battle event for Heng Long and others without the Tamiya battle systems.

Actually, this is not a Hobby... per say. It's a combination of RCing, electronics and model building. So other than the RC Tank Forums there isn't going to be a lot on the Internet about them.

And, not to pit one brand against another but anytime you acquire an RTR (ready to run) there is going to be a lower expectation than if it were built from the ground up. Most of the seasoned tankers here take an RTR and it's way above what it started out as.

It's a fun thing to get into as we have all levels of accomplishment here so whether you run it box-stock or go full blown into modifying or customizing it, there's always a place here for you.














~ Jeff