ScottyS

So Hobbytron came through and shipped the correct models.
Haven't removed the Snow Pershing from the box yet, but it looks OK.

The Bulldog, however, got hammered! The battery came loose in the box and chaos ensued. Casualty count includes the muzzle brake, transmitter bar mounts, a broken track link, separated rear light, and various cosmetic tools, posts, and rings. The turret is unscathed, likely due to the plastic surround.

Check the photo --- ouch.

I'll be giving Hobbytron a call and seeing what they think --- I used to work in shipping, and I know how things go, but all the accessories should at least be taped down to ship!

Right now I'm planning on keeping it and performing repairs, as I'm an optimist ;-) No sense in sending a load of spare parts back, right? I've got some ideas on how to repair the track link until I source spare links, we'll see. The two outside pin retainers broke longitudinally, so either some carefully-applied super glue or some heat shrink maybe would hold the pin ends...

No idea if either one run yet.....

schutzstaffel

what a mess...[:@]
the battery should have been taped where the plastic bags are in your box.
but , it looks like you have enough skills to fix theses damages.[&:]

icecreamslick

My Feedback: (9)

Don't make the decision to keep it too early.......see if it works.

kuhndog599

i had that same problem. mine didn't turn out that bad though.

ScottyS

Well, after taking it *almost* completely apart, I fixed several issues and got it running.

Wiring --- re-soldered and re-shrinked the rear LED's, re-soldered a loose gun motor wire, added a small fan just above the main controller board (the power transistors are on the bottom, but hopefully this will at least move the air around).

Tracks --- used a crimp-style 10-12ga butt connector (the yellow one) as my broken link repair. Dremeled down the outside link pin holders that broke, and slipped a half of the butt connector over the top like a sleeve, then epoxied the suckers on there, keeping the adjacent link moving free as it cured. Hopefully it will last until replacements arrive.

Cosmetics --- remounted the rear lights, re-positioned one exhaust that had been CA'd askew (due to the smoke hose being too short), will glue the muzzle brake back together tonight, and re-attach the various tools that were knocked off.

Controller --- re-glued the broken parts back on so the handle is functional again, removed those sliding battery retainers so I can use my NiMH's, still have connection issues, probably a wire.



Observations after 20min of running:

1) the smoker is loud, but no smoke yet --- I added oil in each side beforehand, how long until smoke starts?
2) the sounds all work fine
3) the gun is acting a little weird, but the battery was pretty low too
4) the controller is cheapness, anybody been able to substitute a good one?
5) all-in-all, I have a feeling that the electronics are the weak link in the system --- assembly is obviously pretty sloppy. I'm glad there are spare parts sources out there.


Just a few more bugs to work out, and I'll be happy!

JJM

As for the smoke, I know my Pershing smoke is barely visible in dim light. But I don't bother with it anyways.

raimian

if are wanting to upgrade the electronics you could get the 1:16 clark moule and use standard radio gear, the module is due for release in april 2007.

they also do a IR battle unit that is 100% compatible with the tamiya battle system.
here is the link to their site; http://www.freewebtown.com/jyliang/eng/index_e.html

Harquebus

1) The smoke should begin almost immediately after startup. Be careful of adding too much oil. The instructions state that there's already oil in the reservoir added from the factory so very little extra is needed. Many of us, including myself, decided to go ahead and "fill 'er up" inviting disaster. If too much gets in there, the smoker gets "jammed" and you're lead to believe you've killed the darned thing. Find a way to remove the excess oil if that happens. Mine revived itself after a time. The smokers are all pretty noisy. There's a forum modification of adding a CPU cooling fan in place of the smoker's piston-pump which eliminates the noise. The smoker unit is set up for mediocre performance from the get-go because there's an excess of some wadding material or "batting" inside the reservoir that clogs up the system, at least there was inside of mine. I cracked mine open and found this batting piled up right under the exit pipes. Once I removed the excess, I ran the smoker and the output was increased dramatically. I will probably keep some batting in the bottom of the reservoir so the oil won't slosh around in there and leak out the exhaust pipes when the tank goes near vertical. I will attempt to insulate the smoke unit with foam rubber and see if it makes any difference with the noise.

2) [sm=thumbs_up.gif]
3) [sm=thumbs_up.gif] The accessory functions are not tremendously power-hungry but they need a good battery.
4) [sm=thumbs_up.gif] New TXs are available. Upgrades (i.e., Futaba) should be pretty feasible but not too many have tried.
5) [sm=thumbs_up.gif] Astute observation. It is a cheap tank after all.

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful that there's plenty of HL spares out there. The HL has quite a cult following nowadays.

-Harq

ScottyS

Harque, thanks. I just saw that discussion on the stuffing in the smoker. I'll crack mine open and see what's up. I'm probably gonna wait on adding more fans until I can do a total rebuild on the tub. There is a lot of potential there, and I'd like to consolidate and arrange the electronics a bit better. Ideally, I'd do what that other fella doing the rebuild is doing, with cutting, repositioning, adding stiffeners to the chassis. I may eliminate the smoker in the long run too. The rebuild would look something like this:

1) Cut battery box and seal tub for water
2) Reposition all electronics to the rear, remove smoker
3) Add larger heatsink with fan to transistors
4) Place two semi-permanent batteries (3000+mah) with all switches and plugs accessible from topside
5) Add quick plugs for all turret and top deck wires

Someday.

Harquebus

All those mods can be done--and have been done to varying degrees. Aren't they great? These inexpensive HL tanks open up so many possibilities whereas the Tamiya tanks mainly cater to those who like to assemble. They're little more than complicated jigsaw puzzles and that's not a bad thing of course.

Adding all of these upgrades and enhancements, which are not inherent in the tanks themselves, invites a level of artistry, of actual building talent that really sets these tanks apart from the rest. Same can be said for the Bandai tanks, WSN T-34/85 and many others that are not presently capable of Tamiya-level performance.

Glad you got yours fixed, at least cosmetically for the moment. I think your experience is helpful and will remind many of us to ask the distributor to pack the tanks better and assure the batteries and other accessories are secure in the package before shipment.

Looking forward to your updates.

-Harquebus


EDIT: most of the tank's main components, like the smoke unit and speaker, are plugged into the main circuit board so take note of this before you go around snipping all the wires.

robeeb

They can put a man on the moon, but design a package to hold up during shipping ? Hope you get your tanks up and running, looking to get a couple of these myself.

ScottyS

Took them out and abused them today with my brother --- they held up very well in the sand and rocks. Ran them for over an hour with our GP3700 and GP4300 cells, and still had juice when we had to leave. Details to follow later...

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

WOW nice spot to ride!!
If your tanks where painted and done up ..in this photo they would look real!
Nice shot!

Harquebus

I'll second that emotion. Man, those pics are beautiful! Great environment to run those tanks in. Most of the time it seems that it's pictures from someone's backyard and you can see a swingset in the background...
Like Shenlonco said, they look real enough that you'd have to look twice.

Those receiver antennas on the tanks can be painted without hampering anything so that's certainly something I'm going to do.

-Harq

schutzstaffel

i agree with harquebus all the way,

[X(]i will paint my antenna [:@].

pantiger man

great work mechenicaly and with the camera.
im amazed on the ways them photos came out are you a proffesional photographist or somthing.
any great work thumbs up. oh and also if you could be kind enough to tell me how does the bulldog handles the offroad and does it lack in power.

any replies greately appreciated.

kind regards pantigerman.

Harquebus

I just had to gawk at these pictures again now that I have more time.

I really, really like picture number two with the sand coming off the rear of the tracks. Apparently it is an action shot and it looks very much like the tank is performing "doughnuts"...

I get a smirk everytime I see those super-bright LEDs on the Pershing. You'd think they would get washed out from all that sunlight but not a chance.

-H

Walker Patton

Outstanding pics!

ScottyS

Wow guys, thanks for all the comments. Yeah, there is unlimited terrain out here to work with, so it's not hard to get away from the swing sets ;-)

pantiger --- the Bulldog was by far the best off-road, but mostly because of (I think) track design. It has a different track type than the Pershing, and did not get "bound up" with dirt and pebbles quickly. The Pershing slipper clutches were constantly engaging when turning in the dirt. As you can see, I took the Bulldog through some really sandy stuff that just buried the tracks and got brought up into the idler wheels even, but it kept on going. I wasn't doing any "super spins" in the dirt, just directional changes, but it took it like a champ. I like that track design for that. Otherwise, when climbing straight up, both did equally well. Both have black-topped motors, and the top speed is pretty low.

Harque --- Well, we were up to 2am last night doing a complete tear-down and paint job. They look totally different now. I took my gun assembly apart to try to get it working, and no luck yet --- I'll have to mess with it some more. The priority was paint. I removed the smoker too, and will add another fan in it's place. The Pershing's gun really shoots well! When I get a chance, I'll get my PACT out and chrono it.

They have been camo'd and detailed, enough for running models, certainly nothing close to scale model accuracy or quality. I'll take some more pics today, you'll love 'em.

pantiger man

thanks for the info scotty s.

kind regards pantigerman.

ScottyS

Well, we didn't get a chance to take them back out yet, but here's some pics of the Bulldog anyways.

We're not trying to detail these in an authentic manner (note red Jerry cans), just going for "cool", since we are going to drive the heck out of them. The camo scheme is made-up, using some spray paint from Lowe's hardware store (Honey, Fossil, Oregano). It was applied using random cardboard cutout masks creatively. Some sort of clear protective coat might be in order now.

All the little parts were taken off and painted separately, and the main tank pieces were painted independently as well.

I took my gun completely apart and glued the o-ring chamber in place, as well as the rubber rear plunger seal. It shoots very well now, but still not as strong as the Pershing. I also decided to keep the smoker in place for now, and took it apart and removed the wadding --- now it smokes OK.

I had to re-solder several connections in the process. The Bulldog is definitely more annoying to dismantle than the Pershing in terms of wiring.

So far, however, the Bulldog is still my favorite, due to looks and driveability on all surfaces.

pantiger man

Damn scotty s you really have worked wonders with that bulldog escpecially the paint job since u only done it with hardware shop paints you really are inspiring me for when i get my first tank the bulldog for chrissy.

kind regards pantigerman.

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Looks cool!

Harquebus

You were right (about us loving the tanks). I certainly do. Bulldog looks great especially with your adaptation of a desert scheme.

You've definitely got some talent there as evidenced by your skill with the paint and masking.

The modern rendition (I think the mfr is known as Blitz) of the US Jerry Can is painted bright red, so why not yours?


Fine, inspiring work.
-H

ScottyS

Harque, thanks for the kudos. I dunno about talent, just cardboard, a razor knife, and a rattle can.

Here is the Pershing --- note the rust on the Jerry cans. There was a large chip that was broken (in the box) off the muzzle of the gun, so I cut a piece to replace it before painting. Looks much better now.

All-in-all, a very fun project. Even counting the paint and little bits I'm still well under $100 per unit, and they drive great and look great. Who'd have thought this would ever happen?

Dullcoating to follow eventually.