My Review of the Heng Long 1/16 Scale Challenger II Tank

[Davy101]

Your 2s lipo will work fine, as long as the battery connectors match. Many people solder new plugs on their tanks to match the batteries they have. If the tank has the TK6.0 board (like what MotionRC sells) a 3 cell pack will work too, though you'll be close to the voltage limit (12v).

[karltrek]

Hey Rubicon99,
I am upgrading my Challenger. I got the full metal tracks with rubber pads kit. Including the full metal Drive Gear, Idler, return rollers, and road wheels. If you added them to your Challenger how did you attach the metal return rollers and mounts? The stock units seems to be glued onto the chassis. I don't want to be breaking things off on a guess. There are no instructions. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Rubicon99]

Hey Rubicon99,
I am upgrading my Challenger. I got the full metal tracks with rubber pads kit. Including the full metal Drive Gear, Idler, return rollers, and road wheels. If you added them to your Challenger how did you attach the metal return rollers and mounts? The stock units seems to be glued onto the chassis. I don't want to be breaking things off on a guess. There are no instructions. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Usually the metal return rollers will fit right onto the plastic mounts of HL tanks. I did not use the metal Challenger return rollers because I moved the rollers location to better support the track.

I would say run the plastic ones if the metal are not direct fix onto the plastic mounts. Not really an issue to have plastic rollers or metal rollers. They both with become stuck and not spin time.

Just and FYI, with the sprockets be aware you might need to add a small rubber Oring between the two halves as a spacer. If you bought the tracks and sprockets together it will most likely come with the Orings. They are usually needed because the track for the Challenger is just a smiggen narrower then the metal/rubber tracks sold for it.

[karltrek]

Usually the metal return rollers will fit right onto the plastic mounts of HL tanks. I did not use the metal Challenger return rollers because I moved the rollers location to better support the track.

I would say run the plastic ones if the metal are not direct fix onto the plastic mounts. Not really an issue to have plastic rollers or metal rollers. They both with become stuck and not spin time.

Just and FYI, with the sprockets be aware you might need to add a small rubber Oring between the two halves as a spacer. If you bought the tracks and sprockets together it will most likely come with the Orings. They are usually needed because the track for the Challenger is just a smiggen narrower then the metal/rubber tracks sold for it.

Thanks Rubicon!
I was thinking that I will just leave the plastic rollers in place. The kit did not come with a rubber O ring. I will look into that.

[karltrek]

I lost one of the exhaust covers on my Challenger II. It was pre-installed on the tank and not part of the plastic parts sets. I have scoured the internets trying to find a replacement.

Alpha, Could you ask the factory if they can make that part available as a spare part? And let me know how to get one. Thanks!

[Rubicon99]

I lost one of the exhaust covers on my Challenger II. It was pre-installed on the tank and not part of the plastic parts sets. I have scoured the internets trying to find a replacement.

Alpha, Could you ask the factory if they can make that part available as a spare part? And let me know how to get one. Thanks!

Try Aliexpress.com they will have it. Henglong has a store there and if memory serves under the name Tankzone that has every part for every tank. Going to take a while for shipping though.

[karltrek]

Try Aliexpress.com they will have it. Henglong has a store there and if memory serves under the name Tankzone that has every part for every tank. Going to take a while for shipping though.

I already tried AliExpress. Nothing.

[Beeg]

I already tried AliExpress. Nothing.

Try shapeways/warrenHudson. There is a multitude of various printed parts in various scales for armor and such..

https://www.shapeways.com/marketplace?type=product&q=warrenhudson

[Prowler901]

I received my Challenger last Thursday. Mostly checked out good. It did have an issue with the turret hanging up in spots. There was some paint buildup on the mating surface of the hull ring. It has worked fine after that. Next I added the LegoDEI IR receiver. That is a really great upgrade. I spliced the LEDs into the headlights as they are also mounted in the upper hull.

The only real issue I'm having is reconnecting the smoke tubes. They are too short to reach the outlets on the upper hull when taken apart. I think I'll replace them with a little longer tube.

Tonight I will attach all the external bits and bobs.

[Prowler901]

Does anyone know what colors the British use for their desert camouflage? I've tried searching for a paint set without much luck.

[Rubicon99]

Does anyone know what colors the British use for their desert camouflage? I've tried searching for a paint set without much luck.

For the Challenger 2 it is call “British Gulf War Armor Sand” by ModelMaster/Testers.

[Prowler901]

Thanks, Rubicon!

[Prowler901]

Alright, I got some of that color. However, it doesn't match the paint color that Heng Long used. I wasn't really wanting to repaint the entire tank.
Rubicon99 , do you happen to know what color matches the Heng Long paint?

[Rubicon99]

Alright, I got some of that color. However, it doesn't match the paint color that Heng Long used. I wasn't really wanting to repaint the entire tank.
Rubicon99 , do you happen to know what color matches the Heng Long paint?

HL used something they came up with. I don’t know what the match is.

[Prowler901]

Well, ratz. I'm going to need more paint I'm sure. I only bought two bottles.

[retiredflyer]

I just tried out firing the BB's from my Challenger and nothing happens. Meaning, the recoil and sound works, but no BB coming out at all. I put in about 20 BB's and they all disappear inside the tank somewhere and now it doesn't fire any one of them and I can't figure out how to see if something is jammed or not. Any ideas?

[SoCalBobS]

Had something similar with my T-72. A pellet jammed in the barrel, and about a dozen more backed up inside until the whole mechanism jammed. You might try sliding a rod lightly down the barrel to see if it will go all the way to the bolt. That should be to around the front of the turret. Any less and you've got a clogged barrel. Really the only way is to remove the barrel and push the pellets out. You can push them back in.

Check this thread: Sherman Tank AirSoft BB not firing correctly

It's where similar questions were discussed.

[karltrek]

I lost one of the exhaust covers on my Challenger II. It was pre-installed on the tank and not part of the plastic parts sets. I have scoured the internets trying to find a replacement.

Alpha, Could you ask the factory if they can make that part available as a spare part? And let me know how to get one. Thanks!

Thank you Toucan Hobby! They were able to get me a replacement Challenger II exhaust cover! The hardest to find part in all of tankdom. 😃

[Sappo]

Just wondering where you are getting your metal roadwheels from, found the tracks, idler and sprockets but no roadwheels

[Rubicon99]

Just wondering where you are getting your metal roadwheels from, found the tracks, idler and sprockets but no roadwheels

Until Motion carries them the best place to look for them is Toucan Hobbies. They can be found on EBay or the have a web store under the same name.