M18 Hellcat

[JDMac761stBP]

Any idea if Heng Long plans to do a 1/16 scale M18 Hellcat tank destroyer?

[James]

Hey JDMac761stBP, welcome to HobbySquawk. I can say for sure what Heng Long plans, but having spoken with our product teams and theirs as we start our partnership, they love all tanks. It's truly a passion for them and part of why we are so happy to be able to distribute these in the future. I am sure they would love to eventually have every Tank in their arsenal.

[JDMac761stBP]

Thanks for the welcome, James. Glad to be apart of the community. I thought when the German Jagdpanther TD came out Heng Long would make an American TD. The Hellcat would make a fine addition to my collection.

[Alpha]

I agree, a Hellcat would be a neat addition! Although before we made it, Heng Long would need to add a radial engine sound set to their MFCB. The R-975 has such a distinctive sound!

[Elbee]

Any idea if Heng Long plans to do a 1/16 scale M18 Hellcat tank destroyer?

JDM, Welcome to "Hobby Squawk". Best, LB

[Hellcat 7]

I agree, a Hellcat would be a neat addition! Although before we made it, Heng Long would need to add a radial engine sound set to their MFCB. The R-975 has such a distinctive sound!

Hello, any new information about this Tank?

[Nfafan]

Agree on an M18, but an M10 or M36 would fill a niche faster using the current M4A3 running gear. That said, any open-topped TD would mean H-L sets aside scale fidelity completely if they want these to have airsoft.

[Vaseline]

Mato didnt have any problems doing the M36 or M10, although IIRC the M36 turret has the shrapnel lid it got going into Korea.

[Nfafan]

The shrapnel roof makes sense to hide the airsoft gun. I would simply put a "rain tarp" over the roof...

[Vaseline]

I had tossed around the Idea of getting one of the Mato metal turrets and just recasting it out of fiberglass to save on weight but in the end, Seemed like it was too expensive and too much work to make a one off cast for myself, It would be a recast so its not like I could sell one.

[amgsky1]

Would love to see an M18 hit the market place. Gear it up for speed, torsion bar suspension with a 46mm gun.

[Vaseline]

Would love to see an M18 hit the market place. Gear it up for speed, torsion bar suspension with a 46mm gun.

Your tanking about the armoured car right?

[rampage]

I'd love a 1/16th M18. That'd be an instant-buy for me. Given the recent popularity of the M18 thanks to certain video games, as well as numerous running examples existing, including at least one with a functioning gun in private ownership, you'd think it'd be a shoe-in. There's even a movie about an M18 crew.

It's actually more surprising to me that there ISN'T an M18, honestly.

[Rubicon99]

I'd love a 1/16th M18. That'd be an instant-buy for me. Given the recent popularity of the M18 thanks to certain video games, as well as numerous running examples existing, including at least one with a functioning gun in private ownership, you'd think it'd be a shoe-in. There's even a movie about an M18 crew.

It's actually more surprising to me that there ISN'T an M18, honestly.

The problem is the M18 is too small to fit the current “off the shelf” gearboxes that HL uses. This would mean it would have to be built slightly out of scale to use the current gearboxes. That is something HL is moving away from and towards more true to scale tanks.

Given the need for a new gearbox design, limited internal space, and other design cost I would not hold my breath to see a M18 come to market, at least not by HL.

People have used the HL M41 lower hull along with some 3D printed parts to build M18s. These look reasonable good but are out of scale and closer to 1/14 vs 1/16.

[Sureshot]

Check out "Saints and Soldiers - The Void" on YouTube. Lots of Hellcat vs. Panzer action.
Steve