Discussion: Heng Long's 1/16 scale M1A2 Abrams RTR, Upgrade Edition!

[Rubicon99]

Yes, I want to move the battery in the hull and seal of the factory bat box. Also relocate the on and off switch if its still located on the bottom. Has anyone cut the Battery housing out and made it level with the hull? Thanks!

All my HL Abrams and other HL tanks have the battery boxes removed so I understand the process very well. But I do not seal the battery access hatch on the bottom. This is left in place to proved a way to charge the batteries while they are still in the tank without having to remove/open the upper hull. This can be done because I use larger heavy sub “C” 5000mAh+ NiMH batteries(placed forward in the hulls for improved weight balance vs stock) which are much safer then others and don’t require the close monitoring during charging, storage or running.

The work involved to make the upper hull easily “removable” is rather involved and time consuming, but there are systems out there that can be retro fitted into the hull. They will most likely end up costing almost half the price the tank. IMEX/Taigen use the system on their metal Leopard 2 and JS2 tanks. Stop by Taigen’s web site and check it out.

Lastly the on/off switch is no longer on the bottom of the 6.0 and up Abrams so you don’t have to worry about moving it.

[Hellcat 7]

Are you planning on not using the factory battery box and placing the battery elsewhere in the tank?

Yes, I want to move the battery in the hull and seal of the factory bat box. Also relocate the on and off switch if its still located on the bottom. Has anyone cut the Battery housing out and made it level with the hull? Thanks!

[Rubicon99]

Oh okay thanks for the advice and input Rubicon99/Sappo. I'm planning on buying the Pro-Edition M1A2, do you have a recommendation on another mod for a quick release?

Are you planning on not using the factory battery box and placing the battery elsewhere in the tank?

[Hellcat 7]

Rough terrain and magnets aren’t usually good bed fellows especially on the longer modern tanks hulls that will flex quite a bit if their unibody designs are not properly tightened down. Add to this some speed, heavy metal tracks and higher toque motors and the tops tend to pop off rather easily.

Oh okay thanks for the advice and input Rubicon99/Sappo. I'm planning on buying the Pro-Edition M1A2, do you have a recommendation on another mod for a quick release?

[Sappo]

I can agree with that statement, I can almost lift the Abrams by the top hull with the magnets holding it in place, and I put in lower hull bracing but the top still pops off in rough terrain sometimes.

[Rubicon99]

Woohoo\o/, Looking to buy my 1st Tank as soon as it comes in. How's the magnets working for you? Does the top pops off on rough terrain? "Hellcat 7 out!"

Rough terrain and magnets aren’t usually good bed fellows especially on the longer modern tanks hulls that will flex quite a bit if their unibody designs are not properly tightened down. Add to this some speed, heavy metal tracks and higher toque motors and the tops tend to pop off rather easily.

[Hellcat 7]

Getting some mods done. The bearings worked out perfectly thanks guys. I also added magnets for quick access.

Woohoo\o/, Looking to buy my 1st Tank as soon as it comes in. How's the magnets working for you? Does the top pops off on rough terrain? "Hellcat 7 out!"

[SoCalBobS]

Any hobby paint that matches the tank will do. I do prime mine with Tamiya’s light gray primer first. Remove them if you can.

[Rubicon99]

I would use ModelMaster “dark tan” it will be close but not a perfect match, but then road wheels tend to get really dirty and grimy with use and will have a slightly different color then the upper hull and turret anyways.

[pappy3122]

tan

[Rubicon99]

was looking at painting just the road wheels to match the tank

Is your tank desert tan or NATO camo?

[pappy3122]

was looking at painting just the road wheels to match the tank

[Rubicon99]

a few questions, one what paint would you use for metal road wheels? where can I get the metal tracks with the rubber pads, mine are just metal? is it possible to blue the tracks black?

Are you repainting the whole tank or just the road wheels?

The metal rubber padded tracks can be found on EBay. Toucan Hobbies carries them as well as a few others. They run about $90. Be aware they often need to be adjusted for overall length and then you will need to use the idler tensioner on the tank to make final adjustments. When done correctly they run great and are all but indestructible.

Yes you can use “gun blue” to blacken the tracks I do it to all my metal tracks. It will wear off high/contact point over time but does so just like metal wears on real tank and looks pretty good as they wear.

[pappy3122]

a few questions, one what paint would you use for metal road wheels? where can I get the metal tracks with the rubber pads, mine are just metal? is it possible to blue the tracks black?

[fuchstraumer]

Saw a picture of this experimental new paint scheme called TALON and decided I had to make it happen (guess who may have ordered a NATO camo Abrams because he can't stop buying tanks...)



Anyone have any recommendations for these paint shades, or good places I can search for paints? I find a lot of sites don't have good extra tools for searching things like paint

Also, does anyone know what the procedure is for the ERA chunks when it comes to painting? Do they match the underlying pattern, or just paint close enough, or just all one color or what? I have a detail set coming to add the TUSK armor update, which is what started me on the path of trying to identify the paint job for a tank that just shipped today lol

[Rdex2]

My M1A2 lower hull plastic version in process.

[SoCalBobS]

Cool! (pun intended). With your info, I tracked the panels down; they’re called “Combat Identification Panels”, described on Wikipedia.

[Rubicon99]

I have two questions regarding the HL Abrams. I tried googling this but no joy. First, hat are the three louvred squares mounted around the turret? Second, what is the function of the two rectangles on the front of the turret? WW2 tanks I know, but not the M1! Thanks.

The louvres squares are IR/thermal identifiers. Abrams, Challengers and other NATO vehicles have them so as not to be targeted by friendly forces at night.

As I understand it, basically the rectangles on the forward turret glances are the areas where the DU armor is the thickest. Not all Abrams tanks have DU armor and you will often see foreign operated Abrams without the rectangles. Typically DU armor is held for US and Tier 1 foreign partner countries only.

A follow on question. Why do we make these DU panel so obvious? My theory is it is on purpose as they make great contrasting aiming points for enemy gunners. Where would you want an enemy gunner to shoot if your tank became exposed and he had to take a quick shot? The strongest part of the armor which just happens to be the best aiming point to get a good sight picture on and fire as quickly as possible.

There is precedence of obvious aiming points used by enemy gunners. Such as in WW2 with the Sherman’s and the huge white stars on the front and sides. These made great aiming points for Germany gunners and as such many crews painted over them not long after the invasion of France. The Sherman of course did not have strong armor and the crews did not want to make it easier for enemy gunners to get solid hits.

[SoCalBobS]

I have two questions regarding the HL Abrams. I tried googling this but no joy. First, hat are the three louvred squares mounted around the turret? Second, what is the function of the two rectangles on the front of the turret? WW2 tanks I know, but not the M1! Thanks.

[Hoomi]

I cut a small piece of foam board to fit in the tank commander's hatch, put some Velcro on top, and stuck the Matecam there. Seems to work pretty well for a low-cost, low-profile action camera for the Abrams.

I need to edit and upload some example footage.