Review and Discuss: Heng Long 1/16 King Tiger "The Brute"

[Goose246]

By the way for anyone who may also run into this problem. The plastic drive wheel hubcaps absolutely do not fit on the metal drive wheels. However, the plastic caps fit perfectly in the metal front and rear sprockets.

[keilau]

All I need is the hubcaps but that may be the only to get them at this point! Thanks for the link!

If you make acquiesce with a sales person at one of the Heng Long store such as Toucan Hobby, he/she is quite likely to get an individual spare part from the Heng Long factory for you. It happened with me a few times. However, those sales rep turns over quickly and seldemly stay more than a few months.

[Goose246]

I’ve been working with Lucas at toucan for several weeks now but he has had no luck getting the metal hubcaps. Hopefully In the future they are available.

[Max-U52]

Will the hubs for Taigen sprockets work? I might have some of those around here somewhere, left over from a KT I sold a few years ago.

[Goose246]

If by sprockets, you mean the wheels on the four corners, luckily the plastic ones do fit perfectly on the metal sprockets. I’m having trouble finding the metal cap for the actual road wheels. That being said it can’t hurt to have extras , so if anyone can confirm that the taigen ones would fit I’d be happy to buy them from you. Thank you regardless though

[Max-U52]

I didn't know you were looking for caps for the road wheels, I thought you were looking for the little plug-in jobs that go in the sprocket. Sorry 'bout dat.

[Goose246]

No problem! I do appreciate the help !

[Goose246]

Well, the factory decals have peeled off on their own… peddinghouse decals Inbound

[MrChef]

Well, the factory decals have peeled off on their own… peddinghouse decals Inbound

Not surprising. Just be sure to clean/prep the surface. Waterslide decals like a smooth surface. Might even gloss coat before applying them and matte coat after to be safe.

[Goose246]

Prep with rubbing alcohol?

[Max-U52]

I use the same method I've used for way too long on model aircraft (don't want to date myself), a gloss clear coat (I like future for that), the decals, then a flat coat, and for that I like testors dullcote (flat lacquer). If it's a complete re-paint, I like to gloss clear coat everything and do the washes and what not at the same time as the decals, before a final over all flat coat.

Peddinghaus decals tend to be rather thick, so a good decal setting solution (I like micro soft and micro sol) can be very helpful.

[Max-U52]

Have you thought about stencils? If you have a decent airbrush they can give excellent results. I have a King Tiger in the wings myself, (Torro metal lower with a preproduction upper hull/turret) and I picked up a set of stencils for the 312 KT (with the famous mounted knight) so those are set aside for when I finally get to that project. There's also a Taigen IR JS-2 to go with it, a pair of battle tanks running on IBUs when they're done. If I live that long, knock on wood.

[Goose246]

Thanks everyone! This forum is always full of people offering good advice and it is appreciated. I do not have an airbrush set, but that is on my list of things to get proficient with.

[Goose246]

I’ll post this here since there is so much activity on this thread. It looks like Motion has the hang long tiger S3 three in the upgrade version only. Looks like steel gearbox but plastic tracks. Anybody have any idea on the durability of the plastic tracks? The metal ones had no problem on sharp rocks, wondering if the plastic tracks are fairly durable?

[MrChef]

I’ll post this here since there is so much activity on this thread. It looks like Motion has the hang long tiger S3 three in the upgrade version only. Looks like steel gearbox but plastic tracks. Anybody have any idea on the durability of the plastic tracks? The metal ones had no problem on sharp rocks, wondering if the plastic tracks are fairly durable?

The plastic tracks are fine.I have several tanks on plastic tracks. They do wear and stretch over time and the HL open pin design isn't the best for longevity but replacing them with plastic is cheap and upgrading with metal is an option up to you. I had picked up 3 sets of plastic tracks for the Tiger I from Toucan on sale last fall. $3.99 per set.

I do understand you adding your question here but it is better for the forum and the "Search" function if you start a new thread next time.

[Goose246]

Thank you

[tank_me]

The metal tracks also open up over time and the pins get loose, so it's not just a plastic track issue. A little CA glue and they stay put.

[Goose246]

Very good to know. Thank you! I would imagine the plastic treads fit on the professional edition metal wheels that come stock on professional edition ?

[tank_me]

Very good to know. Thank you! I would imagine the plastic treads fit on the professional edition metal wheels that come stock on professional edition ?

They should. I say that just because most of the time the tracks are compatible across different brands and types of sprocket, but sometimes they aren't depending on the model of tank and brand. Some brands' parts don't fit the same model in another brand. I haven't heard of any compatibility issues with the King Tiger tracks, but I also don't own a one. I have tons of tanks, but very few of them are German. HL is very good about making sure their plastic tracks/sprocket/wheels are upgradable to the metal versions in multiple combinations.

Most of the cross brand parts compatibility issues I have run into are on the Russian based tanks. Tamiya stuff is also not usually compatible with other brands except for their plastic Abrams tracks which seem to fit a wide variety of tanks.

[Goose246]

Thank you appreciate it !