Review and Discuss: Heng Long 1/16 Scale "M4A3 Sherman" Tank

[Gerard Teo]

Hello all,
Does anyone know if the HL Sherman upper body will fit the Mato or similar metal chassis with or without simple modification/s? Thanks.

[Merry Boozer RC]

Welcome to Squawk TSN glad to have you. i haven't owned the Sherman yet but its defiantly high on my list. got a chance to see it at james's and its sweet.

[TSN]

Thank you James. This my first one. I am mostly into RC planes and this was a nice change. Really interested in the Toro M16 half track

[James]

Hey TSN , welcome to HobbySquawk! Your Sherman looks great, what other tanks do you have in your arsenal?

[TSN]

Just finished mine. I added an aftermarket set of metal bogies to my pro version. I repainted and added some light weathering.

[Prowler901]

Wow! Awesome work, Beeg.

[Beeg]

While waiting on my axle repair to setup I tried my hand at more involved figure painting. My previous experience was tiny 1/48 and 1/32 scale pilots. Anyway, here's what I have done on "Crazy Joe" as I've read that the UK R/C Tankers call him...

[Beeg]

There was a small dab of glue holding the metal plug in place. After heating the plug with a soldering iron it came right out. Bogie is easily separated for install or painting. I contacted ForgeBear about these since they were the only folks I've found that sells them separately and they said individual parts aren't available. Only complete units. He didn't say who the manufacturer was but said they're made in China.

[Vaseline]

What about running a pin punch through were the screwboss broke off and tapping that plug out from the back side?

[Beeg]

One of them broke off.





Notice the second lower screw isn't installed. I checked and they aren't installed on any of them.
You would have to split the bogie to install the lower screw and then assemble it in place on the hull.



I have a call into the company I purchased it from. They haven't responded yet..

[Beeg]

I think I found them. Must be a third party as Torro and Taigen both look a little different.

Here's a link that must be them.

https://www.forgebeartanks.com/store/p579/Heng_Long_Sherman_Metal_Working_Suspension_for_1%3A16_Scale_Tank.html

[Rubicon99]

They don't look like Mato's. Different attachment.. At least I didn't notice the outside screw plug on the Mato's.

Take a look at Taigen / Torro. They use a lot of HL parts in their tanks.

[Beeg]

Most likely they are Mato bogies. How did it come off the tank? I will check with the Sherman guru RichJohnson and see what he say. You can also PM him and ask. Super nice guy and he will have an answer.

They don't look like Mato's. Different attachment.. At least I didn't notice the outside screw plug on the Mato's.

[Rubicon99]

Curious, I guess I need to find who makes them.. I found two companies that sell HL tanks and they call this Sherman version 3898-2. They must do their own upgrade. The bogies are very well made.

Most likely they are Mato bogies. How did it come off the tank? I will check with the Sherman guru RichJohnson and see what he say. You can also PM him and ask. Super nice guy and he will have an answer.

[Beeg]

Curious, I guess I need to find who makes them.. I found two companies that sell HL tanks and they call this Sherman version 3898-2. They must do their own upgrade. The bogies are very well made.

[Alpha]

HL doesn't produce metal bogies for their Sherman. The metal bogies you're looking at here are made from third party shops. I was surprised when HL told me that, but they told me that to my face while standing in the HL foundry, so, I believe them. They also did not have any metal Sherman bogies on their spare parts price list, and their Pro version doesn't have metal bogies, so, again, I believe them. The good news is that they did comment that most metal Sherman bogies on the aftermarket do fit. It seems sellers will market them as "Heng Long", which we English speakers interpret as "Made by Heng Long", when in reality a more accurate descriptor would be "Made to fit Heng Long". So it shouldn't too much of a chore, if not a breeze, to install them onto a Heng Long hull, in the same way that Mato wheels were drop in fits to my Abrams.

Also, for any new spare parts requests, keep in mind that Squawk isn't an official Motion RC Support channel, so officially please call the CS Team at 224-633-9090 or email at motionrc.com/support to get a technician to create a New Spare Parts Request. They will then follow our internal process to document the request and plot its progress.

[Beeg]

Finally found a somewhat useful picture on the web for un-installed HL bogie's. Looks like I have to get the plug out somehow.......darn it. Alpha, can you put an order in for replacement metal plugs? May have to drill it out and use a plastic one for the time being..

The proper way for them to be installed and removed from the hull requires them to be disassembled to get to the lower hull screw..

[Beeg]

Looking for advice on how to dismantle the HL bogie.... One of them broke off and now I'm trying to dismantle it for the repair I have in mind. For the life of me can't get the plug on the outside to budge.. Can I drift the plug out from the inside without damaging the inside of the assembly? What do they look like when apart?

[Rubicon99]

My son has the basic model and we are looking to upgrade by adding metal tracks - this seems simple enough. The other upgrade we are considering is adding to the current BB setup by adding IR so he can battle against similar fitted tanks - is this upgrade possible for the basic heng long model ?

When you say basic model what do you mean. Is it an older tank like a year old or more? Is it just a basic 6.0 version?

[AndyP57]

super thanks - Im totally new to tanks myself and my lad has always had cars - my specialty has always been boats