martin g

I have heard good and bad regarding all the various performance modifications available, like metal gears and tracks etc...many say original plastic gears for exaple are fine and the metal ones are a gimmick, many many opinions. So..what in everyones opinion IS atually worthwhile??? your thoughts please.

My thought is this...I have just splashed out on 3700mah battery's, ( found a supplier on ebay £12.50 each) to me this is one of the few worthwhile performance mods as the 1700 drain in minutes. I would also opt for hi-tourque motors for shifting the tank, for me strength in an RC tank outweighs speed. My pershing came with them standard, it can outpush the panther with the speedy motors in by an impressive amount. I have also bought paint filled BB's so battling will be a right hoot from now on, not a mod but I couldnt resist.

i am considering metal tracks.but for the extra weight..mmm, Im not sure it will actually beinifit when ones considers the cost, rust in or melt the pins in I say.

ssocr

Martin,

You should get tons of replies on this but bear in mind, it's only opinions. You will have to make the final decision yourself.

Don't know what kind of tank you got but I will tell you what I got for my Tamiya Tiger:
-Kenny Kong metal tracks (there are cheaper but I wanted quality)
-Schumo gear reduction kit (much too fast without it plus this adds tons of torque)
-rear idler bushings (a must with or without metal tracks)

There's tons more stuff you can buy but I stuck with what I thought are the essentials for good running. I only run my Tiger on flat ondulating ground. Like the real ones. No ruts or rocks or mountains to climb for my Tiger. [:'(]

I'll buy new gearboxes when these wear out.

Good luck.

Bernie

martin g

Thanks Bernie, i agree, you can spend a lot of money on stuff that dont really add much. I will be looking into bushing out the idlers now, can you give a little more info on that please?

tanktrack

Hi martin... the hl tiger i have is my first tank (used to build sail and fly r/c boats and planes )
when i bought the tiger i got the one with metal gearboxes and high torque motors and slow speed
and controllability seem very good... i also purchased a few metal add on's ... tracks wheels .. hatches
etc... think that stems from my airfix days and wanting a little detail ... this tank will prob be mostly a static display
but has certainly given me ideas for the next one that will be used and abused

ssocr

Martin,

I got my bushings from axels-modellbau-shop.de in Germany. Remove the idler wheels and they just pop right in.

Those people are excellent to deal with and ship promptly. You can view the bushings here:

http://www.axels-modellbau-shop.de/k...rms::1426.html

templarlock

I am still waiting on my Tamiya Leopard but I also would like to know what modifications are best (if any) for the Leopard. Also, I have seen loads of mods and stuff for the Tamiya King Tiger (maybe my next tank if I can save up another year or so). What is best for the KT?

ah64

I have a HL M26 Pershing replaced the stock PC boards, Metal gear boxes, Metal Drive sprockets, metal tracks....So on SO on..
Why did I do this, for 2 reasons I think metal lasts longer and I have the money to do it. I could have bought a tamiya M26 for around 600 I think they are now. But to add what I have to the HL I would be in the 1500+ area. So my QUESTION TO YOU is how much do you want to spend? Do the Metal add ons make my tank more stable? Drive better?, last longer on run times?... Probaly not. I dont plan to battle my tank against a SUV or anything. I dont have to climb 45 degree hills in my back yard. I just Love tanks and I like the sound of metal tracks clinking on my basment floor. and the gears reving up to get the tank up to speed. All the opions on this form could take you days to read. But if you are having fun with your tank right now. then stay that way. You can always go nutz later with all the things you can add.....You post it we will all help you out. Anthony

GD Dave

I believe alot of the mechanical upgrades have to do with what tank you have. I have a KT, which in my opinion there are upgrades that are a must. I.E., rear idler system and gearbox brace. I also believe that metal tracks are a must for the KT because the Tamiya plastic tracks just don't hold up. My brother has the Tiger I and has no problem whatsoever. This is just my opinion and I am sure someone will disagree, but I have to have an excuse to get metal tracks.

schutzstaffel

plastic(nylon) gears are fine if you shim them(align them) with small washer,
they come out too loose and the teeth are not well aligned.

nylon resist better to wear then metal ,but can strip more easely.

the metal clutch gear can slip to soo ..[&o] see pic..
the good side of the metal transmission is they have brass bearing.

pic below ,from german forum(ketten)
shows the metal clutch-gear that has been bored-pined twice to be lock.(the first attempt broke).

martin g

Wow thanks everyone, plenty to chew on. [8D]

heavyaslead

Martin

Value of upgrades will depend on your type of driving and usage as well. If you drive carefully and treat it as a tank and not a racecar then the stock should be fine generally.

If you plan to be rough or do stunts with the tank or run it like a 16 year olds first automobile, then upgrades are probably in order. An important consideration is that one upgrade frequently means another upgrade is also needed to make the first upgrade work well. Metal tracks are a good example, by itself it will end up wearing too heavily on the tank transmission and may cause early breakage. Metal tracks perform great but need additional upgrades to gearboxes, support structure and bearings to realize the full advantage of this upgrade.

schutzstaffel

well said heavyaslead

martin g

ok, well i took the first plunge last night. I managed to buy a cheap pair of S+S boards on ebay, seller wasnt sure if they worked so it was a risk. Transplanted them into the Standard HL Tiger 1, I wanted the better control and option for sound etc. Well to my surprise it worked fine first time[8D] not sure which tank they came from but the overall quality and wiring was way aboe the other S+S I have, so a bonus there. Moved the aerial to real position and turned the gun mantlet too whislt it was apart so a pretty good overhaul. Being an engineer anyway I did have a natural poke around iside, I did notice the play in the gearing as mentioned, it would help to tidy that up, otherwise all looks beefy enough. I may have caught a bug here...ooops

The tank incidently is my Tiger 1, replica of Tiger 131 (Bovington) so I will post a pic once im done.

schutzstaffel

i like those tanks because there is so many modifications and improvements you can do .. a feast for the brain cells

waiting to see your work martin,

martin g

Well it getting on, I am adding a cooling fan.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1266.jpg

I am going to try to avoid using the stock sound box, I installed a speaker, any tips on this? can i wire straight from the board to this or will i need components?

martin g

ok well you asked so here it iss...

Firstly the S+S board install is complete, I dont want smoke, so i just fitted a small speaker from Tandy. I moved both the speaker and the motor cooling fan from the upper hull to lower today the pics show why.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1277.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1275.jpg

I took detail from the real tank, even the fatal damage that caused the turret to fail and hence be captured. Sorry the pics arent great, flash on one cant see a thing, flas off, same really. Its pretty close, the paint colour isnt quite green enough but I wanted here to capture the tank as it was then back in Tunisia, not all shiney and clean as it is now. I have just two things to do, paint on the 131 number and work on the barrel, to lengthen it. My stock tank you may notice has a twisted barrel. []

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1282.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1281.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1287.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1289.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1292.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1296.jpg


The fatal damage

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1298.jpg

I have just tested it and all is well acccept i got the motors round the wrong way, so it goes left instead of right etc, another 15 mins needed. [:@]

schutzstaffel

nice tank ,
going great ,
i like your battle damages on the mufflers well done
you have probably finished your wirings by now .
thank you for the pictures.

Harquebus

Problem with most mods is that people get them as soon as they get their tank or have purchased the tank pre-modified. Doing this negates the possibility of these tank owners knowing just how the modifications benefitted or were detrimental to the stock tank.

I say just go slowly, make the mods and note how they affect your tank. If you're having track problems, and you just might be since you own a Tiger I, then metal tracks are beneificial. Either way, the mods are reversible and the tracks can be interchanged with the plastic ones, for instance, so that is something to keep in mind.

I'm just very leery of the fact that most consider these metal add-ons absolutely necessary. I have the Pershing so the tank's running gear and tracks offer me utter reliability (so far, so good).

-Harq

martin g

Thanks guys, teh the muffler damage is pretty close to the real thing...

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1155.jpg

so is the turret strike damage...hopefully.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1174.jpg

Sound advice Harque, I did buy a set of metal boxes, only as I found a set cheap, wont fit them i feel until maybe I trash an excisting box as we have four HL tanks and I may need them one day in any one of them.