Hey Everyone !!! Well, I finally, finally got to take "Helga" (HL Tiger I) out today for some real outside running. I must admit, I haven't had that much fun in a long time. She handled everything I threw at her with ease. The only thing that didn't work the way I thought it should was the smoke unit, but then it was so breezy, I doubt I could have seen it anyway. The airsoft cannon functioned extremely well with only a couple of misfires, but with Helga pitching and rolling around the way she was, that was not even a minor issue. Helga run for well over two hours on the new Radio Shack 3300 mah battery I picked up (along with one of their fast chargers). I've done a few things like moving the commander's hatch, and re-positioning the pistol port. Next up, after a couple more hours of terrorizing the backyard squirrels, is the take apart phase - mount my Mato Toys corrected turret, Dremel away the plastic tools on the upper hull (to be replaced by metal ones from the Fatherland), mount the metal drive sprockets, idler wheels and arms, and several other small fixes. I'll then start of my winter camo treatment, "Totenkopf," 1943 version. So far, Helga has proven herself a very effective toy . . . er, tank and much, much fun. Pictures to come shortly. My thanks to all for you help and encouragement. This is fun !!!

Ralph

See the threads on improving the smoke unit and you should be able to see copious amounts of smoke belching from the exhausts. I improved mine almost tenfold by disassembling, removing excess "batting" and reassembling with a silicone type sealer. It is sort of a "gee-whiz" addition that adds no function to the tank but it makes it a more visually appearing sight. A lot of people are fooled into thinking it is actually powered by a small tank engine.

I think the design of the smoke generator is quite fine as-is but executing a proper assembly of the thing (on the assembly line in China) is haphazard at best.

Just a suggestion when you will mount the metal drive and sprocket wheels: check with a ruler the correct alignment of the wheels/theeth/tracks.
At the beginning mine run flawlessly, but after some wear it began to be more 'sensible' to the track alignment and had to regulate it more precisely.
Now it eats any terrain without loosing tracks anymore.