Heng Long Tiger 1, First hobby grade Tank.

[SoCalBobS]

One more tip to save money. Toucan in the US uses a lot of different seller names on eBay. The common factor is where they ship from. If it's from Cranbury NJ, it's a Toucan seller. These sellers often accept offers. Averages 15% plus or minus. We all buy from them.

Welcome aboard!

[Quakinking1]

Yes, but be sure to order item from their US warehouse in NJ. Their shipments from China take quite a while to your US location.

Thank you

[cmdrcody]

Is toucan hobby a safe site to purchase from?

Yes, but be sure to order item from their US warehouse in NJ. Their shipments from China take quite a while to your US location.

[Quakinking1]

I might just go with this baseline as the tank. https://www.toucanhobby.com/products...42854935068922
I feel as if this is a good start, it fits the bill for what I want, and I just have to paint it, and give it metal ground wheels. Is toucan hobby a safe site to purchase from?

[Rubicon99]

The reason I want to purchase the plastic version, and upgrade it is because I want the building experience. I thoroughly enjoy the building process. Also, cost is not a problem with me.

The plastic versions offer no real building experience that the metals ones do not. Trust me you will be taking the metal one apart for painting and maintenance. There is really nothing special or even hard to dismantle and reassemble on the Tiger.

Adding a proper recoil system in either version is exactly the same and is simple in itself, yet by comparison is the harder of all the upgrades to do.

As far as accuracy of detail changes its up to you which if any you change. If they bother you change them. I generally just give my tanks a good paint jobs and add a bunch of crew kit/gear to them which covers most issues and pulls the eye away. Good paint and weathering will go a lot further then chasing down and trying to fit small inaccuracies. Like I said 99.99% of people that see your tank will never know there are inaccuracies.

Now if you want a total build experience from the screws up look at getting a Tamiya Tiger. Expensive yes but you will be building a true "hobby grade" well engineered RC tank with far fewer inaccuracies.

[Quakinking1]

First understand all Heng Long tanks are made to be "toys" first and foremost. That is directly out of the mount of HL themselves.

That being said start of with the "pro" metal edition at the minimum that has metal tracks, metal suspension, metal road wheels and the steel gear gearboxes.

The HL barrel recoil is junk and completely "out of timing" with the sound and hull movement. So if you want a realistic recoil you will have to add an aftermarket servo recoil to the turret (I like the ones that JVM3Dconepts makes available through RichJohnson here on this site). This will require you to upgrade to at least the 7.1 HL control system. There are other ways to add recoil without the upgrade, but the 7.1 has the best overall simplicity of drop in and tuning of your tanks running performance.

After you have run your tank for a while you might also consider upgraded bearing to a gearboxes and more powerful motors. These will aid in make the tank drive even smoother especially if used outdoors in soft dirt, sand and low cut grass.

Cosmetically the Tiger has a number of inaccuracies that can be addressed with aftermarket add on parts or simply left alone as 99.99% of the people that see your tank will never no.

As far as painting the tank that's up to you but it does take away for the factory toy like appearance and help elevate it to looking more like a hobby grade tank. Remember it's your tank so if you paint it,
paint it to what you like not what others like.

Could you point out some of the inaccuracies, so I can fix them? I’m aware of a few, but I am not sure if I’m missing any.

[Quakinking1]

You'll find that buying a metal version as opposed to a plastic one then upgrading with separately purchased add-ons is much less expensive. Use eBay and look for versions that specify "US stock". Most of those are sold by retailers drawing from Toucan Hobby. They'll be the cheapest. Compare a metal version, then look at the costs of each upgrade and add them up. You'll see what I mean.

(Oh, and we all said "this will be the only tank I'll buy for a while". They are like potato chips in that regard!)

The reason I want to purchase the plastic version, and upgrade it is because I want the building experience. I thoroughly enjoy the building process. Also, cost is not a problem with me.

[SoCalBobS]

Please keep In mind that this is the only hobby grade tank I’m going to purchase for a while. I would prefer to maximize its capabilities.

You'll find that buying a metal version as opposed to a plastic one then upgrading with separately purchased add-ons is much less expensive. Use eBay and look for versions that specify "US stock". Most of those are sold by retailers drawing from Toucan Hobby. They'll be the cheapest. Compare a metal version, then look at the costs of each upgrade and add them up. You'll see what I mean.

(Oh, and we all said "this will be the only tank I'll buy for a while". They are like potato chips in that regard!)

[Rubicon99]

I’m looking for my first entry level hobby grade tank, I have decided on the henglong Tiger 1 plastic version tank. I want to upgrade its durability, and performance. What are some recommendations?

First understand all Heng Long tanks are made to be "toys" first and foremost. That is directly out of the mount of HL themselves.

That being said start of with the "pro" metal edition at the minimum that has metal tracks, metal suspension, metal road wheels and the steel gear gearboxes.

The HL barrel recoil is junk and completely "out of timing" with the sound and hull movement. So if you want a realistic recoil you will have to add an aftermarket servo recoil to the turret (I like the ones that JVM3Dconepts makes available through RichJohnson here on this site). This will require you to upgrade to at least the 7.1 HL control system. There are other ways to add recoil without the upgrade, but the 7.1 has the best overall simplicity of drop in and tuning of your tanks running performance.

After you have run your tank for a while you might also consider upgraded bearing to a gearboxes and more powerful motors. These will aid in make the tank drive even smoother especially if used outdoors in soft dirt, sand and low cut grass.

Cosmetically the Tiger has a number of inaccuracies that can be addressed with aftermarket add on parts or simply left alone as 99.99% of the people that see your tank will never no.

As far as painting the tank that's up to you but it does take away for the factory toy like appearance and help elevate it to looking more like a hobby grade tank. Remember it's your tank so if you paint it,
paint it to what you like not what others like.

[Quakinking1]

Please keep In mind that this is the only hobby grade tank I’m going to purchase for a while. I would prefer to maximize its capabilities.

[Quakinking1]

I’m looking for my first entry level hobby grade tank, I have decided on the henglong Tiger 1 plastic version tank. I want to upgrade its durability, and performance. What are some recommendations? I intend to convert all of the ground wheels, drive sprockets, gearboxes, and tracks to metal.