Heng Long & Mato etc 1/16 Scale Tanks FAQ

[Bigwheels_inc 11]

Ok Had a few People ask me about Heng Long tanks reacently,

Q) what tanks do Heng Long Make

A) The following all in 1/16 scale

Tiger 1, BB Firing with Smoke & Sound

Panzer III F1 BB Firing with Smoke & Sound

Panzer III F2 BB Firing with Smoke & Sound

Panzer IV F1 BB Firing with Smoke & Sound

Panzer IV F2 BB Firing with Smoke & Sound

Stug III I/R Battle system Smoke & Sound

Panther G, BB Firing with Smoke & Sound & I/R Battle system Smoke & Sound

German Panther BB Firing with Smoke & Sound & I/R Battle system Smoke & Sound

Jagdpanther BB Firing with Smoke & Sound & I/R Battle system Smoke & Sound

KV 1 Russian BB Firing with Smoke & Sound & I/R Battle system Smoke & Sound

Snow loepard (Perishing) BB Firing with Smoke & Sound

Walker Bulldog BB Firing with Smoke & Sound

King Tiger (Porsche turret version) BB Firing with Smoke & Sound & I/R Battle system Smoke & Sound

Sherman (Welded Hull) BB Firing with Smoke & Sound

It is worth mentioning that there are 3 main levels of tank from Heng long

Standard = nylon tracks no smoke or sound and usualy an older type bourd

Standard S&S = Nylon tracks & Gears, smoke & sound and an RX18 mfu fitted

Pro version = Smoke & Sound, Metal Tracks, Metal gears, Metal Drive sprockets, + RX18 Mfu fitted

Q) Are they hobby grade or just plastic toys

A) Heng Long Tanks are hobby Grade and have more hop up parts than tamiya tanks with everything available from metal opening hatchs, metal tracks, sprockets, metal gearbox's & on to in some cases complete metal tanks,

Q) What do you get in the box,

A) Everything you need to start running your tank inc the following

Decals

Transmitter

1600 mah ni-cd battery

4 hour charger

accessories kit

1 box of BB's or I/R apple

Smoke oil,

Q) Whats the quality like as i've heard its poor,

A) Heng Long Tanks are good quality items for the money they cost and a great intro into the world of 1/16 Scale tanks,

The quality of the first tanks was debatable and they did break easily but heng long have put allot of time into fixing the problems their earlier tanks sufferd from and they now create tanks to a very high standard,

Electronics

Q) Ive heard heng long tanks have cheap bourds in them is this true ?,

A) Early Heng Long Tanks had cheap bourds fitted but since then they have gone on to produce better bourds inc the RX13, RX14, & The latest RX18 Bourd which is a complete MFU in a very small & robust package and works very well,

earlier Heng Long tanks can very easily be upgraded to the newer RX18 bourd with simple soldering skills which will then make all heng long items plug and play compatable with the RX18 Bourd,

Q) Are Heng Long I/R Battle Tanks compatable with Tamiya I/R Battle systems ?

A) As standard no they are not compatable with standard Tamiya battle systems BUT if you upgrade them to the bourd produced by RC Tank australia using their Mako 2 Bourd this converts them to be compatable with Tamiya I/R Battle systems,

Q) Whats the sound like

A) Awfull as std and totaly drowned out by the noise from the std smoke unit

Again this is not a problem, Heng Long build to a budget and use cheap speakers, Replace the speaker with a better quality one and the sound becomes just as good as a tamiya tank,

Q) Is the smoke effect anygood ?

A) as standard yes & no its great to see smoke from the exhausts of any tank & realy adds to the over all effect but the std smoke unit is a constant pulse smoke unit that runs on a small motor and piston to give the pulse effect, with this constant unit the noise level from the pump is high,

change the Standard smoke unit for a proporsional smoke unit and its a whole diffrent thing with the noise levels solved and better overall effect of the smoke,

Q) What Frequancys do Heng Long Tanks run on ?

A) in the uk and europe Heng Long Tanks run on 27Mhz & in the USA 40 Mhz with 10 frequancys available by changing the crystals

Q) Will Heng Long Tanks run on 2.4mhz radio

A) There are many companys selling 2.4 mhz convertions for Heng Long Tanks and Heng Long are planning on producing their own 2.4 Mhz system which should be fitted to all of their tanks within about 12 months from now,

Q) what motors do Heng Long use

A) Heng Long Tanks use 2 380 size motors which are more than adiquate to power the tank

Q) What other companys make 1/16 scale tanks ?

A) Matorro make the following Tanks in 1/16 scale

Jagdtiger (marked as Heng Feng) BB with smoke & sound

Sturm Tiger

Tiger 1 BB with smoke & sound

King Tiger (Henschel Turret version) BB with smoke & sound

Sherman (Cast hull version) BB with smoke & sound

T34/85 (Previously produced by Trumpiter & WSN)

Jagdtiger pic lent to me with permision from Matorro

In my opinion the Matorro tanks are just as good looking as Heng Long Tanks and Tamiyas but the electronics do tend to let them down (but again easy to upgrade the electronics to an RX18 Mfu)

Remember all of the tanks mentioned here are hobby grade and can be upgraded to very high standards but are entry level tanks, spares & Upgrades are readily avalable for them at a fraction of the cost of a tamiya kit.

I would say for anyone planning on useing their Tank for more than just a gental run buy a Heng Long etc as they are not as fragile as a tamiya (how many times have I stuck the track gaurd back on the tamiya tiger 1) just ask any Tamiya leopard owner how many parts he has lost or missing and then as a heng long owner the same thing.

Heng long & Tamiya are not the same std as each other and no one is saying they are but for everyday use they are extreamly good and well worth the money.

Any questions please feel free to post them below and I will try to answer asap

Pete

[Daves956 157]

Most of the Ebay sellers of the H L tanks are sending them out with 2000 MAH batteries now. It's 27mhz in US and 40 in europe or I've gotten 4 with the wrong radios. Last but not least, the BBs they come with aren't worth the hassle of using, good quality ones are easy to get.

Thanks for all the information Pete

[Bigwheels_inc 11]

Most of the Ebay sellers of the H L tanks are sending them out with 2000 MAH batteries now. It's 27mhz in US and 40 in europe or I've gotten 4 with the wrong radios. Last but not least, the BBs they come with aren't worth the hassle of using, good quality ones are easy to get.

Thanks for all the information Pete

Uk & europe radio sets are all 27mhz the early ones sold in the uk where 40mhz labeled as 27mhz (big no no but they did it), the USA ones are 40mhz or supposed to be acourding to heng long (but being chinese they do tend to change the spec without telling anyone and it would make sense to standardise the range to all 27mhz so maybe they have now will contact them and double check)

1600mah battery is std the 2000mah comes with matorro and is an upgrade for heng long tanks offered by dealers to make the deal sound better, but still not the best batterys for good run times,

The BBs just come as standard but allot better ones are available along with paint balls

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

Nice FAQ. I've been eyeing some of these tanks on Hobby King's site and wondered if they were any good.

[bromvw 744]

I got the Heng Long Walker Bulldog at Christmas . Its the pro version with metal gearbox's , drive sprockets and tracks . Overall i'am pleased with the quality . As said the sound is aweful but easily improved just by fitting a readily available upgraded speaker . The standard smoke units work ok but fitting the far better proportional items makes a huge differance in terms of realism and solves the rather noisy issues from the standard items fan . The only other gripe is the paint finish . The standard finish just looks too factory fresh . Easily improved with some simple weathering . On the Walker the drivers periscopes need correcting . They point skywards . Again easy to fix . Half a hour with a sharp knife having poped them out and cut them to fit better and re glued them back in sorts it out . About the only things i still have left to do is add some stowage but thats just a personal choice as i think tanks look better if they appear to be 'well used ' and to source some decent decals ( the heng ones are just far too gloss ) .Everything is so easy to find on evil bay to vastly improve its scale appearance . Would i buy another ? Yes .

Cheers Arron .

[Bigwheels_inc 11]

Nice FAQ. I've been eyeing some of these tanks on Hobby King's site and wondered if they were any good.

They are very good for the money I would say buy one and you won't be disapointed

[bromvw 744]

They are very good for the money I would say buy one and you won't be disapointed

their excellent value for money and dont need much doing to make them just as good as a Tamiya tank IMO . Plus parts are a heck of a lot cheaper and far easier to find from re sellers .

[mr crispy 2293]

Before getting back into RC cars I was into 1/16 tanks big time. I currently still have a number on Heng Long tanks in various stages of WIP including a late war era Tiger 1, Walker Bulldog, Stug3. My first early Tiger 1 that wasn't smoke or sound I began converting into a Sturmtiger.

It all kicked off when I bought the Tamiya full option Tiger 1. That was a fantastic build and a great model to run. Never lost any parts although a few bits did pick up a little battle damage but hey, that's just free weathering All told with the radio gear, batts, paint and glue it must've cost me close to £800! And then it was hours of build time.

You can pick up a new HL tank for around £80 and have 95% or more of what I had with the Tamiya kit which cost 10x as much. Parts are also the same and you can swap over with Tamiya in many cases.

If you fancy one I say buy it! At worst you can resell it easily for not much loss.

Note: For a great friendly 1/16 tank forum have a look at www.rctankwarfare.co.uk. I'm on there although don't visit much these days... I'm running cars instead