Your Picks on the Worse Henglong Tanks You Own.

[DavidN]

Similar to the post on “Your Picks on the Best Heng Long Tanks That You Own”, I also would like to ask for your picks on those worse HL tanks that you have purchased, worked on, and played with. Please share with us about your top 2 or 3 HL tanks that give you the most headaches and time consuming in term of….

1. Durability in running, maintenance, upgrading and IR battling.
2. Appearance in details or accuracy.
3. Values.

[DavidN]

1 place durability: British Challenger.

It is so slow. It can’t even climb over a 20 degree slope. This is a main issue that I detest. If a tank can’t climb and run, then it is not a tank. I regret that I bought it.

[DavidN]

2^nd place in durability: Panzer IV.

I got myself a customized one. The idler came off many times. I tried to fix and readjusted many times too. The process of opening and putting back the turret to work on the components inside were very difficult. Those screws holding the gun barrel to the turret were hard to unscrew. The plastic wheels are also glued in. I had to break the outside wheel in order to have the screw exposed in the inner wheel so I could to unscrew it out for replacement. And if I want to unscrew the whole wheel set, it is also difficult as I cannot put the screw driver in to do so. In the turret, the components inside were also exposed from the top view of the turret.

[Rubicon99]

Similar to the post on “Your Picks on the Best Heng Long Tanks That You Own”, I also would like to ask for your picks on those worse HL tanks that you have purchased, worked on, and played with. Please share with us about your top 2 or 3 HL tanks that give you the most headaches and time consuming in term of….

1. Durability in running, maintenance, upgrading and IR battling.
2. Appearance in details or accuracy.
3. Values.

All the HL Panzers have road wheel issues and de tracking problems. ThIs can be solved by buying the metal road wheels and a quality aftermarket track and idler.

Many of the Tigers and King Tigers also suffer from finicky track retention issues and these two tank seem to sit on the sidelines of battles more often then the are used. That should tell you something about what the owners think of their reliability.

Sadly the Challenger 2 has always seemed to have issue with its right track coming of the sprocket. Even with the 6.0 update to the Challenger this is still a common issue being seen. Otherwise when the motors are upgraded and aftermarket rubber padded tracks are installed its a great tank.

Now one tank stands out for poorest value that is the “Pantiger”. For years people have wondered what the HECK Heng Long was thinking making that tank. It’s awful in every respect.

[DavidN]

1st place in appearance: Panzer III

This tank has the wrong sized gun barrel. Most Panzer IIIs that I read had the long barrel gun up to 5cm. This gun looks like a 7.5cm. Those real tanks with 7.5cm had short barrels only. It is just not right when looking at it. I hope to replace all the barrels in my panzer III tanks in the near future.

Here are the 2 pictures for compassion:

[DavidN]

For Values: I don’t have any complaints on any HL tank for being overpriced, lol. Oh... except the new KV-2 that they have just released. Too high :-( But on the other hand, I have not bought it. So it does not include in this post.

[Delta_19]

honestly in my experience the T34-85 is my worst tank durability wise.

within a day of owning it one suspension arm broke in shipping and another in testing.

in terms of appearance i have no pick over my tigers or T34.

and value wise all came out to roughly the same price.

[Sappo]

My upgraded Abrams is my worst tank for durability, loves dropping a track, t90 for looks and they are all good value for what you get

[DavidN]

Now one tank stands out for poorest value that is the “Pantiger”. For years people have wondered what the HECK Heng Long was thinking making that tank. It’s awful in every respect.

You are right on the Pantiger. I put it away from my eyesight in the far corner of my displayed shelf that I forgot that I have it.

[DavidN]

[SoCalBobS]

I never owned the Pantiger, but that'd take my vote for worst. I really don't have a least favorite, I like 'em all, but I'd say the PzKpfw 4 would be the least capable in rough terrain during IR battles.

[Rubicon99]

Proof that even the worst looking stock HL tank given a quality paint job can be made into something nice.

[DavidN]

Proof that even the worst looking stock HL tank given a quality paint job can be made into something nice.

Well....if you put it that way, I guess I need to show the rest of it, so our members could recognize it when they see it. Then They won't buy or get it :-) And thank you for your comment.

[DavidN]

[DavidN]

I really don't have a least favorite, I like 'em all, but I'd say the PzKpfw 4 would be the least capable in rough terrain during IR battles.

Just to prove your post......the idler came off.

[Operator7G]

All the HL Panzers have road wheel issues and de tracking problems. ThIs can be solved by buying the metal road wheels and a quality aftermarket track and idler.

Sorry if I'm late to the party. I bought my son a Heng Long Sherman for Christmas, and now I'm thinking about getting a tank so we can IR battle together, probably mostly in and around the house. I'm considering the Panzer IV since it seems to be a good match up for the Sherman size-wise. I need to keep the tracks plastic for running in the house without scratching up the floors so metal tracks aren't really an option for now. The durability and de-tracking comments give me pause, especially since it looks like the Panzer IV in the pic above has metal tracks, road wheels, drive gear, and idler, and it still happened. Am I overthinking this, or should I consider getting a different model tank?

On a separate topic, is the Pantiger a different kit from the Panther G? From what I could tell, it looks like the rear deck of the upper hull and exhausts are different and possibly the turret, too?

[Rubicon99]

Sorry if I'm late to the party. I bought my son a Heng Long Sherman for Christmas, and now I'm thinking about getting a tank so we can IR battle together, probably mostly in and around the house. I'm considering the Panzer IV since it seems to be a good match up for the Sherman size-wise. I need to keep the tracks plastic for running in the house without scratching up the floors so metal tracks aren't really an option for now. The durability and de-tracking comments give me pause, especially since it looks like the Panzer IV in the pic above has metal tracks, road wheels, drive gear, and idler, and it still happened. Am I overthinking this, or should I consider getting a different model tank?

On a separate topic, is the Pantiger a different kit from the Panther G? From what I could tell, it looks like the rear deck of the upper hull and exhausts are different and possibly the turret, too?

Get a T34 it is by far one of the most reliable HL tank made and a rather nice looking one when all the accessories are mounted. It is also the closer in same to the Sherman.

[Delta_19]

Get a T34 it is by far one of the most reliable HL tank made and a rather nice looking one when all the accessories are mounted. It is also the closer in same to the Sherman.

thats completely opposite of my experience, out of my 4 tanks my tigers have been the best and my t34 broke half its suspension arms the first week i owned it. No outdoor use or anything either, just flat level hardwood.

[Rubicon99]

thats completely opposite of my experience, out of my 4 tanks my tigers have been the best and my t34 broke half its suspension arms the first week i owned it. No outdoor use or anything either, just flat level hardwood.

Then you must have the older version with plastic arms otherwise your T34 is an anomaly. Out of the dozens running out here and along with the four I own none have had any real issues.

Tigers have the single worst track record of reliability of any HL, Taigen or even Tamiya tanks. That is well know throughout the hobby. Again yours must be anomalies.

[Delta_19]

Then you must have the older version with plastic arms otherwise your T34 is an anomaly. Out of the dozens running out here and along with the four I own none have had any real issues.

Tigers have the single worst track record of reliability of any HL, Taigen or even Tamiya tanks. That is well know throughout the hobby. Again yours must be anomalies.

All my tanks have build dates of 2020 or newer and full metal suspension. Also, I find the tiger comment hard to believe when the only difference between HL tanks component wise is the design of the suspension arms. Well that and the lack of complaints about the tiger on Facebook groups and forums. But then again with the tiger being one of the most popular models it would increase its perceived failure rate.