Customizing a King Tiger
The Tiger II (“King Tiger”) is one of my favorite tank subjects. In this build log, I will document my process of upgrading and customizing a Heng Long 1/16 King Tiger.
This is not an attempt to build a perfectly accurate King Tiger –if I wanted to do that, I’d start with a Trumpeter kit and convert that to RC—but rather this is simply my effort to show what can be done with a basic RTR Heng Long Tiger that looks good but remains sturdy enough to be IR battle-ready. As such, I won’t be installing super scale PE brass sets for the wingnuts to attach the various pioneering equipment, since those fragile parts would be the first to break off when plowing through the bushes, which I plan to do with this machine.
To begin, here is the BEFORE, a stock Heng Long 1/16 scale RTR King Tiger. This happens to be the basic version with plastic wheels, tracks, etc.
The plan is to install metal tracks/wheels/idler/sprocket/bearings/idler arms from the Professional edition. If you already have a Professional edition, you can skip ahead to the cosmetic texture/paint/weathering steps.
To better handle the added weight, I’ll install red motors for higher torque/output and a larger battery to compensate for the motors’ higher consumption.
Let’s begin!
STEP 1: Bodywork
Based on reference photos from WW2, I wanted to depict a King Tiger that was missing some of its side skirts. After removing the side skirts, you’ll need to cover the resulting gap. I used the removed side skirt, sanded flush, to reconstitute this area.I also removed the rear engine cover from the rear hull and the driver’s hatch from the forward hull. I then designed and 3D printed fairings to be glued inside the hatches, and glued a magnet in the corner to secure them. The driver’s hatch pivots on that magnetic, to stow itself in the open position.
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