Professor TC's Tinkering - Page 6

tigertc · 07-04-2006

which one? Tiger 1 or king?
Man, you only just finished the King and its a belter. Good photos are the key to selling anything on fleabay. None of the eady built ones get there full money back though.
I work it out like this
- 250 for the tank, then about half the price of the addons and radio gear.
I have only seen 2 tanks of your standard on the bay and it went for about 450 with metal tracks but nothing else, the other was one of Tomsrctanks a real belter which didnt reach its reserve. I think the main reason why the good ones dont get as much as they should is due to the notorious HK cowboy doin them for £300 all in. I would try putting it up on some of the other r/c tank forums. At least if another tanker buys it you will know it has gone to a good home. I would take it off your hands like a shot but i'm all spent up for the next couple of months.

Nigel.D · 07-04-2006

Its the King tiger now its built i have kinda lost interest It just seems a shame that i should keep it and prob never get any use out it and i would like to fund a couple of other projects too (Sorry mate i wasnt trying to flog it to you!!!!) just seeing as you bought a made up one i was curious

tigertc · 07-04-2006

theres a real munter on ebay right now for £90.00 i dont think it will sell.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-16-tamiya-ki...QQcmdZViewItem
Yours Will! its all in the photos and the detail. The love a care thats gone into the build ...and a paint job to die for. Pains me to think your getting rid, man, its a shelf king!

tigertc · 18-12-2006

Update on my tanks coming!

Well I am hoping that the above comment will make me get off my lazy arse and finish what i started!

**Bunkerbarge** · 19-12-2006

Apart from the fact we're all waiting for it!!

tigertc · 01-01-2008

I have decided...(due to spending more time looking at them than actually working on them!) to call my tank collection THE MUSEUM.
Today i attempted to tidy up my workspace after 2 hours of moving things from one place to another, i happily gave up and am now enjoying Vodka.

I now have my 1st Bandai Tiger 1 to add to the "Museum" which my lady baught me for Chrimbo (Not the Tam Panther i wanted but no worries).
I have to say i am hugely impressed by the Bandai. I will probably invite criticism from Tamiya fan boys by saying this.. but i think the Bandai is actually better quality moulding.
To Do list for Jan/Feb/March
1. Strip, rebuild and repaint Bandai Tiger 1.
2. Finish Tam King Tigers
3. Strip, Rebuild, Respray Tam Sherman.
4. " " " " Tiger 1

As you can see my efforts at tidying are hopeless!

Gerry · 05-01-2008

[quote=tigertc;13681]hi guys, just thought I would let you in on a few tinkerings with my tank.
Some of you will already know that before xmas I ordered a Hen Long Tiger 1 (H-F Trade, dont go near them). The company that sold me it were in Germany and thoroughly ripped me off. The transmitter for this tank was never going to work as solder was all over the place on the mobo. But all is not lost!
Possibly the only remotely good thing about Hen Longs is the smoke unit. After metering its voltage and current draw it became apparent that it will run off the 7.2v pack in the Tam Tiger 1 and 2. I then plugged it in and what do ya know....It works!!!!! My king Tigger now has exhaust smoke!!. Also the led's that are used for the machine gun are the same as the Tam only clear instead of orange. Now all I need to do is drill out the exhausts.
Also found a nice Tam tiger 2 on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eB.....

Hi Terry,

I recently got an RC M-26 Pershing Tank (Snow Leopard) 1:16 Tank by Hen Long equipped with the smoking exhaust. The unit worked fine until the other day when I decided to repaint the whole tank (except the tracks) using Gunze Sangyo Olive Drab (water base) paint so it would appear flat and give it more realism. I applied several coats until it looked drab all over. However, after the paint dried, the tank failed to start. I first turned on The RC unit, then switched on the tank, and the 4 signal lights was flashing as ususal. However, when I pressed the stast key on the RC, it didnt activate the the engine (idling motor sound) and all the controls remained inoperative.

This happened after I painted the tank. What could be the probem? I checked voltages on the battery pack on the tank and the AA batteries on the RC unit, and all had the right voltage readings. Your thoughts on this would be highly appreciated.

tigertc · 05-01-2008

HI Gerry,
I have have had a little experience with Hen Long tanks. My first 1/16 tank was a Hen Long, it was also my last Hen Long.
Please do not take this the wrong way, but in my humble opinion they are exactly what you pay for!!!

As you know Hen Long stuff is made in China and not terribly well put together. The usual faults lie with bad soldering and cheap components (But a 1/16 rc tank for less than £40, i dont think there is space for complaint. Sometimes they work...sometimes they don't).

You will need to gain access to the interior of the tank to see if any wiring has come lose or check the circuit boards for dry joints ...
(Dry joint-where solder has not taken properly to its point of contact, tell tail sign is a tiny crack only visible with a magnifying glass around the point of contact)- you will need a fairly high powered magnifying glass for this.
I have heard rumour that if the rx airial touches the tx airial this can damage/render useles the reciever or transmitter chip on the tank and tx controller.

If you have no joy finding loose connections/dry joints a brand new set of circuit boards can be purchased cheaply from Ebay for about £10-£15.
A can of worms can be opened up going this route also ...if the new circuit boards don't work then you will have to purchase a new Transmitter just to find out if its the circuit board at fault. You may end up chasing your tail.

I doubt very much that painting it could have damaged it.

Forgive me if any of the above sounds a bit arrogant, but i have discovered the beauty of Tamiya/bandai large scale tanks. There really is no comparison.
My advice overall would be to leave the Hen long as a Static model and save up/purchase one of Tamiya's.
I hope the above is of some help.

(I bought my Hen Long from an ebay seller, it never worked from the start. I managed to sell all the bits (Tracks, turret elevation, etc) seperately and more or less got the money back i paid for it) I still have the chassis for target practice though

**Bunkerbarge** · 05-01-2008

I agree with Tiger that the painting is unlikely to have caused the fault but rather the fact that you have been handling it a lot during the painting process and possibly causing a loose joint or wire to come adrift. Your only option is to take it apart and go through the thing systematically and logically to try to locate the fault.

As for the differrences I am no way into tanks as much as Tiger is but I have a Hen Long and have built many Tamiya's in the past and of course they are a completely differrent beast altogether.

Having said that the Hen Longs are a good way of getting into the hobby and give you an idea of what can be achieved from building and owning such models. I would seriously consider saving up for a Tamaiy model, or even, buy a second hand one to start with from somewhere like Ebay so you can experience the difference in quality that Tiger is referring to.

Gerry · 06-01-2008

Hi Terry and Richard,

Good morning gentlemen. Many thanks for that fine forensic appraisal of my Hen Long Tank's operating problem. I believe you're right guys. I'll try opening the unit and look for loose wires hanging around or as Terry has said, may appear soldered but not making a good contact. Well, to think of it, I did turned the tank sideways and turned it over one side after the other during painting, Richard, and since the thing was heavy sometimes dropped it an inch from the table while i was trying to rest it on its side. I bought this locally for about US $130 new!!

I may conclude that its of inferior quality because there's a big difference in price when compared to the Hummel 1:16 RC tank by Bandai whcih costs around US $340 here.

Yes Terry, thanks for encouraging my thoughts on this. If I cant fix the problem myself then I WILL DEFINITELY PUT THIS ON MY DISPLAY CASE AS A STATIC MODEL!!! Actually, I already had this in mind prior to purchasing it anyway (to paint and weather it and not using it as an RC unit so the tracks dont loose their weathered effect. I was really looking for a static model as I already have a 1:16 T-34/76, in which (thanks to all the generous and kind people on this site, and that includes you Terry and Richard) the tracks are now fully weathered with rust.
Unfortunately, static armored kits in 1:16 scale here are hard to come by. Thats why I had to settle for the 1:16 RC unit to possibly convert it to a static model, sans the assembly. They look good, though fully assembled. At least the painting and weathering would be up to the owner.

Thanks again all you wonderful people!!