Hi everyone,
I'm new to the hobby and to this forum.
I have a 1/12 Abrams and I want to upgrade it a bit : Heng Long electronics, King Tiger tracks, 0.43 paintball gun, camera, reinforce and use ball bearings, metal suspension and roadwheels, etc.
However I don't know much about electronics or gears, suspensions, etc. so I want to ask for your help, either tips or a link to previous threads or links to places I can read and learn.
I purchased some Heng Long components :
RX 18 board + fan (to be installed)
TX/RX board
cables
turret rotating system
gun elevation system
airsoft gun (will be replaced by the paintball gun if I can figure it out)
crystals for 4 different frequencies
Pershing brass 1:3 ratio motors with gear boxes
I have another 1/16 Heng Long S/S tank so I can reuse for now the battery, charger and transmitter.
My questions are :
1. What else do I need to have a complete Heng Long electronic system?
2. Can anyone provide schematics to hook up the components?
3. I broke in the motors as per the FAQ's. How can I break in the gears (brass, 1:3 ratio), should I just follow the procedure for the standard metal ones?
4. Can anyone provide measurements for Abrams roadwheels? The ones from this tank are about 52mm diameter but is impossible to determine the width and the gap because of the poor quality.

Thank you all,
Vlad

All the 1;16 scale parts you just listed no of it will work. The 18 boards are to small of an ?ESC the gearboxes are to small .you need equipment meant for a 1/12 tank. They use 12 volt motors and batteries and speed controllers. You basically need the whole shooting match it sounds to me. May wanrt to try one of the larger scale forums, they will be able to get you turned in the right direction.

Hi Panther G,
I couldn't but notice the number of posts you have, 1944 almost the end of WWII.
I saw some hints about people modifying the 1/12 to HL electronics even on this forum, however I didn't find details.
I'll try by myself if I don't have another chance but I was hoping for some help.

Thanks!

ELMOD makes a controller for the larger models.

I would check with RCTANKWARS.Com. Phil might be able to hook you up. For sound you may want to look up Bendetti (sp) he has many items for the bigger boys.

Some items though you are going to have to DIY. If you succeed (and no reason you won't) share it with us please. If things don't go so hot share that with us also as it will be a great learning tool.

Good luck with a great project! I was the commander of a M1A1.

BEst

Don

With the 3:1 gears I think the RX 18 can handle it. Might not be as fast as you would like though.


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I just meant that it would really not be to any accuracy of scale. IMO the gear boxes and ESC would be a little week especially at 7.2 volts. You really would want something up in the 12 volt range to runt his tank .Now you can get big motore like 540's that can handle up to 12 volts but I'm not sure the gear boxes would hold up to the stress that would put on them. Maybe a set of steel 3:1 gearboxes from Bill at RCCommand should be strong enough. It would be a good idea to replace all the bushings for bearings. This will help add durability to the box.  El- mod may just be the electronics package you should go with, they even have a correct Abrams sound card. Would like to go this route with my HobbyEngine 1:16 scale Abrams. As usuall Dan has some pretty good experience with this tank I believe. Thanks Dan.

I've got Zero experience with this tank. I just have learned with the right gear ratio keeping the motors from stalling the RX is a pretty solid ESC. Darkith and Bondo(electrical guys) both have said the components are top drawer, as owners we just have to make sure they stay cool with proper heat transfer. Could they handle 12 volts????? I don't know, but if it was me, for $22.00, some copper heat sinks, and fan I would give it a go!!!!!!! I would then let you guys Know if it worked or it didn't I am guessing the voltage regulators to 5 volts are good for up to 35 volts of input, so 12 might be OK

Thank you guys for yor input. I'll try my best with this and if doesn't work I'll try something different.
I'll post some pictures as soon as I start.
Just shooting blanks here, I was wondering if 2 RX 18 can be connected somehow and let one with a batteryhandle the 2 main motors and the other one with another batteryall other electronics.
The RX 18 schematics looks very detailed (thanks YHR), probably if I'd know anything about electronics I could use that information better.
Another question came to my mind : if I don't use smoke, sound ir is it possible to use those channels for something else without modifications?

Thanks again everyone!