Hooben stuff

[RichJohnson]

I would like to build on what Rubicon has said about Hooben.
he and I worked over a Fury Ez8 Sherman pretty good which I now have and use in IR battles. It now resides on top of a Tamiya chassis. The top half is well and accurately detailed but the bottom was weak without bearing wheels and with Phillips screw heads showing all over in the suspension. It ran in a few battles fine after some hard test driving until a small stick went up into the idler and snapped it right off. That would not happen to a henglong taigen or a Tamiya, The plastic the Fury was made from was weaker than that of henglong. There was no good way to fix it so I trashed the chassis and put it on a Tamiya,

Hooben has bad rap what is well deserved. Their elephant kit is very detailed and nice looking but has bad trannys and the gun system needs to be reworked. My friend that built one was only able to get it to work with aftermarket trannys from ETO Armor, and li think different sprockets too.

I have seen two T55 kits and have always been tempted to buy one as they are very Tamiya-esk and have nice trannys. Not turn key models for sure but quite nice and I have not heard anything bad about the current production model kit of it, which is available at a good price from DKLM.

The new stuff that is coming out we will have to wait and see but it seems Hooben has upgraded their chassis and wheels with bushings that can be popped out and replaced with bearings on some of their tanks like the ZTZ they produce based on reviews and photos recently posted on RCU.

We are all hoping that the Cromwell and Merkava have bushing wheels and decent chassis.
I have pre ordered the Merkava to be a guinea pig for everyone as I would like this tank, I can’t have all Shermans..... I will post a review when it comes in in June if that date holds true. I’m not too worried based in what I have seen so far but I also have the skills to go total mad scientist on it and solve whatever it needs but I know many just don’t have the tools or skills necessary to completely rebuild an RTR tank.
So if your interested but leery, be patient and I will tell all when it arrives.

Overall, Hoobens tanks have had very little continuity to date. What worked well in one tank was not carried over to another tank. The Elephant, the T55 and the Fury Sherman are all very different nearly totally different models based on totally different principals. The trannys in the Fury were very nice, I saved them but being a proprietary shaft size.... who knows what I’ll do with them. Hooben definitely sank the Titanic with their poor effort on the Fury, just sad because if they had followed what they did on the T55 it would have been a winner.
I have seen things I liked show up in photo releases of the new stuff coming and things I didn’t like. So we will just have to wait and see, but.... I highly suspect they have not made the same massive mistake they made with the Fury tank they made. These new ones seem on the surface to be in the right direction.

So just wait and see till this summer and I will post the review of the Merk when it shows up.

[Zippersnapper]

I relaize this thread is quite old, but felt the need to chime in. Recently took delivery of the Easy 8 Sherman myself, having a uncontrollable impulse for a Fury HVSS. I have chatted with Rich Johnson on this topic and allot of light was shed (Thank you sir). I have also read another residents expert, Rubicon's input as well.

My first reaction to the Hooben was disgust at the quality, especailly the sound system. I did contact Hooben via Townhorse Model in Germany. German designed, Chinese made and sold, shipped from South Korea. Scratched my head on that part. I paid $550 for the Ultimate version, all weathered & stowage attached. The bright lime green jacketed tank commander was another head scratcher. After doing more research (way too late, I might add) I found out why this brand gets allot of hate-well deserved hate. Its light & flimsy, and once again the sound is a complete joke. Chatting with the Chinese seller on FB, I was told Hooben knew thay had an issue with the VCU, but couldnt get the chips to fix it due to covid-yet they continued to sell the tank with the sound issue. Townhorse Models (Germany Hooben) refuses to do anyting about it. So much for help from a fellow Kraut.

I dont do tank battles, and I wont be driving the snot out of it so the other shortcomings hopefully wont come into play. What I do insist on, is realism at the very least. This tank is actually pretty decent in look's, ......but that sound. My God....at idle the enging sound is in a hiccup, stuttering sound loop. I have a video of it on my YT channel-Kenneth Rich, if anyone cares to hear it. It's as if the sound enginner didnt understand how to use a simple sound editing program. Not knowing jack s*it , Im throwing more money after bad. I went out and bought a Flysky 10 channel Trans & receiver with the understanding I will have to swap out the whole electronics for an aftermarket one. Clark, IBU, etc. Then I read horror stories about those brands.....which now leads me to Beier. I'm super pissed at the thought of having to spend ANOTHER $250 just to get this tank in order. All I want is respectible sound. My Taigen Sherman has a great sound-Ford GAA V8-perfect...love it. Of couse Taigen, wont mix in with Henglong (I have a 6.1s Henglong MFU coming from China, waiting to pass through US customs as I type). Another $55 spent.

Hours and hours spent looking for an electronic RC tank genius to show how to add the Taigen sound into either the Hooben or a Henglong MFU. No luck of course. So now it looks like the big $$$ spend on another electronics package must happen... Now my Big problem- I cant afford to screw this up. Electronics is not my speciality. Sure, I have tools, and I can solder & make up JST plugs and all, but thats about it. I have yet to see a dumbed down wiring diagram on what to hook up, to what. I have all the stock diagrams PDF'ed for Taigen, Henglong & Hooben but I'm too simple minded to figure it out. A $250 aftermarket MFU going up in smoke is too terrifying to think about. I'm having great difficulty in pulling that trigger.

[RichJohnson]

The hooben system is junk. The one in my Merkava malfunctioned and caused it to run backward on my bench and broke part of the tank.

Throw away the electronics, And remove all the wire harnesses when you replace it. The plugs hooben uses are a different size.

buy a henglong system and a henglong wiring pack for the tank and solder all the new wires in place or buy a new taigen system if you like them.

for aftermarket, I’m afraid I cannot recommend Clark any more, I have seen too many varying failures now with his products.

the IBU2 Ultimate is good but has some inertia built into it even when you set it to 0 it’s still there. If your just driving and not battling you may like the board. Rc tank electronics in Uk is a good dealer for them. Excellent sounds, and you can mix and match all manner of sounds from other tank sound sets that are included.

[SoCalBobS]

Hooben's WW1 British Mk 4, the "Rhomboid" tank.

Speaking of Hooben being tantalizing but disappointing, they have another product in the works. Apparently going to have a metal chassis & metal gearboxes, supposedly two operating turrets. A "static" version, as they sell some of their other tanks, may have potential. Somebody else's quality electronics, and the fact that this tank has no suspension per se to break, could be acceptable. Here are some photos from their Facebook account. We'll see.

[Sureshot]

Who will be first to take the bait???? 😁

I ordered a Cromwell from Hooben back in January. After 3 months of excuses why the tank was not built I gave up. Thank goodness I had paid using PayPal so was able to file a claim and get my money back. Everything from covid to Chinese new year to the war in Ukraine.
I have a T55 kit that I bought from a friend and it looks pretty nice. Probably build it this fall using a Heng Long 6.1s system.
I see Twin Horse sells Hooben on Amazon. That would be the only place I would buy one due to Amazon's great return policy. But from what I hear about the quality not improving I think I will pass.
It's really too bad because Hooben has some nice subjects not available elsewhere.

Steve

[tank_me]

I have two Hooben tanks - the T55A and the ZTZ-99A. The T55A can make a nice tank. The ZTZ-99A looks decent enough, but wouldn't recommend it - too fragile. I've heard the Elephant takes a lot of work to make it work right and since the Tiger P is the same lower I would say it is probably in the same boat. Both their Maus and E100 are overpriced IMO.

[Zippersnapper]

Sureshot, Amen. Twinhorse is actually Hooben. A German company. They are built & sold in China however. I too tried to file a claim with Paypal because I proved that they sold a defective product after admitting they had an issue with the VCU. The Chinese company whom I bought it from, claimed I had "Altered" the tank-total horse****.. Paypal took the side of the Chinese "Hooben" and denied my claim, so Im out $558. When I questioned "German" Hooben on thier website about the horrible sound I was told "If your that concerned about the sound, you need to replace the VCU". perfectly clear they dont give a crap. Hooben SUX....plain and simple. Avoid them like a bad case of Covid.

[RichJohnson]

How did they claim you altered the tank?

In my posts and ramblings about hooben with the two that I own, I have made it very clear that if you desire to have a tank made by hooben, you must throw the electronics away completely and rewire the tank and put in some other system. Even a HL 6.1s would be perfect. The stock system is absolute trash.


I don’t think Hooben is a German company. Others I have talked with tell me the owner’s name is Feng, in China. They have told me personal conversations with him, and his attitude and business model. Had I known those things, I would not have bought the Merkava unseen.

The Fury E8 is a sub par tank model chassis but the upper half I decent if mounted on a Tamiya. So, my suggestion is start saving for a Tamiya full option Sherman to mount it on.

[Timbo68]

The HL 6.1s has servo control which is necessary for the barrel elevation, and works well in the T-55. I bought mine without the Hooben electronics, so I had to improvise. The only problem I still have is that, with all the stuff crammed in the hull, the turret can jam or lift while rotating, and the pieces provided to prevent the turret tabs from lifting out of the hull don’t fit without some work. I hope I don’t ever need to remove the turret again…

[Zippersnapper]

How did they claim you altered the tank?

In my posts and ramblings about hooben with the two that I own, I have made it very clear that if you desire to have a tank made by hooben, you must throw the electronics away completely and rewire the tank and put in some other system. Even a HL 6.1s would be perfect. The stock system is absolute trash.


I don’t think Hooben is a German company. Others I have talked with tell me the owner’s name is Feng, in China. They have told me personal conversations with him, and his attitude and business model. Had I known those things, I would not have bought the Merkava unseen.

The Fury E8 is a sub par tank model chassis but the upper half I decent if mounted on a Tamiya. So, my suggestion is start saving for a Tamiya full option Sherman to mount it on.

I STAND CORRECTED. Twinhorse must be a Chinese company it would appear. Below is a transcript of my conversation with them:

• Twinhorse model:

We have a registered company in Germany and we have a factory in China

• Me:

I spent $558 on this tank,,,,fixing the sound issure should not cost me a dime

9:50 PM

• Twinhorse model: sorry, we can't help you

9:53 PM

• Twinhorse model

This is what our tank sound like, if you aren't satisfied with the sound, you need to change VCU.


On Hooben FB page, they show them to be in Germany, at least thats the way I interpreted it anyway.

Rich, my iimpulsiveness and lack of doing proper homework (reading ALL of your posts) have caused me a bunch of greif and a hellava lot more money. Lesson learned. Buying a Tamiya lower hull + a new MFU is out of ther question. Im going to have to choke for a new electronics package for sure as it is. When the smoke clears, I'll have $1000 tied up in this POS. Damn near the cost of a brand new Tamiya.

I dont know where or how Hooben came up with the idea that I altered the tank. After being denied my claim, I called Paypal and plead my case again. They denied it....again. It would appear Hooben is making a nice bit of change for Paypal, and thats that.

[RichJohnson]

Sorry to hear that, pretty sad result from the claim.
The hooben fury is an ok model as is, just don’t drive it in sand or mud and don’t jam the tracks, if you do your likely to break the rear idler off like my son did.
A HL system is about 75 bucks on evilbay,that’s a cheap way to get it goin good. If you want fancy sound well then your gonna have to pony up for an aftermarket board. If I still had the IBU Ultimates here I would hook you up but I sold them to other club mates that wanted to give them a try.

[Zippersnapper]

Sorry to hear that, pretty sad result from the claim.
The hooben fury is an ok model as is, just don’t drive it in sand or mud and don’t jam the tracks, if you do your likely to break the rear idler off like my son did.
A HL system is about 75 bucks on evilbay,that’s a cheap way to get it goin good. If you want fancy sound well then your gonna have to pony up for an aftermarket board. If I still had the IBU Ultimates here I would hook you up but I sold them to other club mates that wanted to give them a try.

Stanlley has the IBU2 Ultimate in stock.....Order placed. Hope this works out.

[SoCalBobS]

Ken, how has your Sherman fared? What MFU did you install? Have you broken any parts, like the idler Rich mentioned?

I'm happy rewiring and replacing internal components, and the tank is one that interests me.

[RichJohnson]

I have thought about the Hooben fury idler more since, It might be possible to adapt the mato adjustable idler to the tank but I have not tried that obviously.
Also drilling and bracing it from the inside might also help before it breaks.

[Zippersnapper]

Ken, how has your Sherman fared? What MFU did you install? Have you broken any parts, like the idler Rich mentioned?

I'm happy rewiring and replacing internal components, and the tank is one that interests me.

I put the IBU2 Ultimate in....Runs great? to a point & sounds great. Drive sprocket loosend up, had to reattach, but ok. I dont run it very much or often because of all the plastic running gear & suspension, so its a shelf queen...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPsXUZN_h5U

[Zippersnapper]

This video was the first run after the IBU was put in. Notice the slop in the left track. The drive sprocket was on the verge of falling off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1TQ5GL6YhM&t=116s

[Vintage Racer]

Anyone know if there is a good source to see how folks have fixed the many issues this model has? I REGRET the hell out of buying it, even though the T-55 is one of my favorite tanks. I also bought metal tracks for it, I was super disappointed to learn its not really a T-55A, but the NORINCO Type 59 or 69. The engine deck detail with the Hooben model is not T-55A. This make it hard to make it East German and be accurate, which was what I really wanted. I didn't want to scratch build to make it more accurate. There are allot of differences on the two different tanks turret also. Thanks.

https://old.weaponsystems.net/weaponsystem/CC05%20-%20Type%2059.html

[RichJohnson]

I was not aware it was not a true T55 tank and instead a Chicom T59. Good to know.

I have heard the new kits are pretty decent but I do not know first hand.

My other hooben RTR tanks have been maintenace heavy to say the least if not troublesome etc. But I still like them. Yes I like to torture myself.

[keilau]

I am interested in buying a nylon track for the Hooben Merkava. But they do not accept Paypal. I email them but they do not respond. Is there any Hooben distributor or reseller?

I do not like the pen pin design of the HL Merkava track which seems to be the only game in town.

[DavidN]

I am interested in buying a nylon track for the Hooben Merkava. But they do not accept Paypal. I email them but they do not respond. Is there any Hooben distributor or reseller?

I do not like the pen pin design of the HL Merkava track which seems to be the only game in town.

https://twin-horse.com