Official Torro 1/16 Scale German King Tiger Heavy Tank RTR Thread

[steve vfr]

Guess it is time for a bump......

Just added the Torro KT to the depot. Because of the 30 day warranty window I jumped right in to make sure all was sound. It will take the place of my old Tamiya KT. Also, have a Taigen Panther and Tiger 1. Like the Torro's because of the crate which is not offered in the Taigen package.

I am just a casual armor hobbyist. About the time I entered the hobby the nearby club (Detroit Tank Command) was in the process of dissolving. As a side note back in my college days I was in a class that toured the Detroit Tank Arsenal back in '75.

On to the Torro KT......

First issue is the battery......

In the manual it states not to use lithium batteries, I really don't see why as long as the voltages are equal and the correct charging profile for the specific type of battery is used. The problem is the supplied battery and charger do not provide any info on charge level. Have 2S batteries here but I thought I would ask first.

Removing the deck.....aka, the deck follies

Kind of funny here....not really hard to remove but the forward hull clevises interfere with the removal and refit of deck. Furthermore, the turret needs to be swung to access the deck hatch and switch. Then to place tank in crate the turret needs to be centered. Also the "charging port" next to the switch inside that same hatch is a totally different connector than that of the supplied charger, could be a 3-4mm barrel, which is not supplied.

Like others around the web have mentioned, one must have a light touch with the throttle....way too fast.

So far the only issue has been with the smoker unit. Both hoses were kinked and is not working. The fan runs but no smoke. Pulled cap to inspect looked ok. Don't get me started on refitting that gasket.

Ah yes, the flopping barrel and turret....it's on the list.

Overall, seems to be pretty good as a baseline....with plenty to do.

[tank_me]

Taigen/Torro doesn't recommend lithium batteries of any kind because their MFU doesn't have a low voltage cutoff circuit built in. Nothing wrong with running them if you use a low battery alarm.

Can't help with the smoker as I remove them from all my 1/16 scale tanks.

[steve vfr]

Thanks Tank_Me for the info, will look for info on low voltage cutoffs.

Yeah, the smoker is not a big deal for me either.


For the new owners.

Did some research on NIMH and LIPO batteries.

Interestingly, Nickel based (NI CD and NIMH) battery chemistry is rather complicated when it comes to charge monitoring and optimal management for performance and longevity. In a nutshell, I don't see how the wall wart supplied can properly cope with the battery. At a 400 ma output it will work but at .2C or C/5 it's a medium rate charger with no way of knowing where you are at when battery is either connected or disconnected. Working blindly it would be easy to under or overcharge. Both lead based and LIPOs are much easier to manage

Fortunately, I have a Passport P2 charger which allows me dial in a charge or discharge rate. I can dial down to 100ma which to the 2000mah NIMH supplied is at the top of the trickle threshold (.05C). Based on one of the tech article I read NIMH can be charged continuously at a trickle rate without damage. Modern NIMH can process overcharging at .05C and below. Having several batteries this will permit me to utilize the longer charging times.

I did remove the fwd clevises, definitely secured with a threadlock. Also, have an issue with the hullsides. The matter involves the spread of the hullsides being too wide at the front for the deck to slide in easily. The fix looks to be either a strap or threaded rod to pull the hullsides closer together by about .060-.080". I also have a Panther which does not have this problem.

[steve vfr]

Not all that long ago I purchased a HL Pro StuG. Up to this point I had either purchased Taigen or Torro products. I was rather pleased with the much better slow speed functionality of this HL. For me excellent low speed performance/operation is a high priority.

So, I recently added the HL Pro King Tiger to compare with the Torro King Tiger. Again, like the StuG it has superior slow speed functionality over the Torro KT. It's always seems this way; you never quite get all the right stuff in a single package, there are always tradeoffs. Each product line has it's strengths and weaknesses.

Though by no means other than a newby, is the correct path gearing, a software change, or both? I have seen mention of both in various places.

Taking the software path, is there a MFU with the correct sound card, that will improve the slow speed operation of the Torro/Taigen KT, or am I wasting my time. I did see over at Toucan Hobbies a HL TK 7.0 kit. Have also heard of the Clark products.