Heng Long 3958-1 IDF Merkava IV basic version to metal upgrade

[keilau]

The Heng Long IDF Merkava IV and all the metal upgrade parts arrived on November 26 by Fedex. It took only 3 calendar days and delivered on a Sunday. It is super 5 stars service.

On the package, it identify only as 3958-1 and (TK-)7.0.

I ordered the basic version. On the packaging, Heng Long clearly states the definition of standard Edition, 2 tiers of upgrade edition and the professional version.

The manual hinds that there will be a Metal Driving Axle Bearing to be sold separately.

The unboxing is uneventful. The package was delivered in very good condition. The tank works directly out of the box. No hicap whatsoever.

I have only one pack of 2S 18650 LiIon. I tested it at 2300 mAh which should give decent run time. The 2S 26650 packs are too big for the Merkava battery compartment.


When I first took the Merkava out of its foam packing, I was dismayed to see the tail light boxes missing and the red LED were hanging loosely. The soldering of the LED's looks unprofesssionally done. I corrected the problem and put some insulation around the bare wires. There is no mention of installing the tail light boxes in the instruction manual.

When I tried to put on the tail light boxes, but couldn't. It became obvious why the factory did not install the boxes. They were molded incorrectly in the 3958-1 version Merkava. The mistake was minor and easily corrected by some cutting and gridding. Once the excessive ridge was cut out, the box slides in easily and securely.

The next step will be installing the Heng Xin gearbox, metal sprocket and idler, and roadwheel ball bearings.

[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 open pin design of the HL Merkava track which seems to be the only game in town.

https://twin-horse.com

I got an email from twin-horse.com to send the Paypal for the nylon track to a third party. It sounds like a sister business of them and legit. I sent the payment yesterday and am waiting to hear from them. The Hooben nylon track is priced at $85 and does not have the HL track's open pin problem. From my experience with the Tamiya nylon track for German Leopard 2A6, I like nylon the best as track material, strong and medium in weight. From RichJohnson experience with the Hooben track, I feel that it has a good chance working with the HL metal sprocket. I am crossing my figure for that.

[keilau]

The Merkava is a large MBT, making the metal upgrade very easy. The extra space allows the Heng Xin gearbox to drop into position easily. The metal sprocket is an easy drop-in replacement.

The plastic idler wheel has a brass insert. The brass to nickel alloy sleeve makes smooth rotation. The 2 ball bearings of the metal idler makes it even smoother.

No bearing are needed in the suspension. They are nice to have in the wheels though for longevity.

To my disappointment, there is no provision to add bearings to the plastic road wheels. It is plastic sleeve over metal spindle, not a good combination. If you want bearings on road wheel, you need to get the metal road wheel set.

[RichJohnson]

Henglong has never to my knowledge, had a provision or ability to install bearings in plastic wheels.
the metal upgrades have always been the route for bearings and longevity.
plastic wheels running in plastic axles do and always wear in each other and eat themselves till they fall off. Many newer HL tanks have a brass tube in some of the wheels to prevent this but not all of them.

[keilau]

Henglong has never to my knowledge, had a provision or ability to install bearings in plastic wheels.
the metal upgrades have always been the route for bearings and longevity.
plastic wheels running in plastic axles do and always wear in each other and eat themselves till they fall off. Many newer HL tanks have a brass tube in some of the wheels to prevent this but not all of them.

I installed ball bearings on the TongDe M60A1 plastic wheels. It works very well. All they did was to make a small recess to accommodate the standard size ball bearing on both ends of the wheel axle. It is very easy to do to include that in the mold of the plastic wheel. But the diameter precision required is beyond the ability of most home workshop.

It is very interesting that Heng Long Merkava has a brass insert in the idler wheels, but did not do it for the road wheels. I paid twice as much for the Heng Long Merkava vs. other HL tanks so I expect a little more.

[Rubicon99]

I installed ball bearings on the TongDe M60A1 plastic wheels. It works very well. All they did was to make a small recess to accommodate the standard size ball bearing on both ends of the wheel axle. It is very easy to do to include that in the mold of the plastic wheel. But the diameter precision required is beyond the ability of most home workshop.

It is very interesting that Heng Long Merkava has a brass insert in the idler wheels, but did not do it for the road wheels. I paid twice as much for the Heng Long Merkava vs. other HL tanks so I expect a little more.

I agree and I think most other would too that HL should design their plastic wheels to accept bearings. The only reason not to is to force people to buy the more expensive (profitable) metal wheels upgrades.

The brass inserts on the plastic idlers has always been there and works amazingly well. Again if they put these in all the road wheels there would be almost no reason to upgrade to metal wheels.

Our Chinese suppliers have learned capitalism well.

As far as the Merkavas price point, given it has torsion bars vs the more simple spring design of prior HL tanks and vast improvement in the models detailing and accessories, the price is really not bad when compared to other modern full sized tanks from HL like the Abrams, Leopard 2 and Challenger. Given that all the others are similar in "spec offerings".

I can say without a doubt that the Merkava is by far the best running tank of HLs modern offerings. It's so good we had FIVE of the at the last LA Tank Clubs battle day. People are really loving it.

[keilau]

I agree and I think most other would too that HL should design their plastic wheels to accept bearings. The only reason not to is to force people to buy the more expensive (profitable) metal wheels upgrades.

The brass inserts on the plastic idlers has always been there and works amazingly well. Again if they put these in all the road wheels there would be almost no reason to upgrade to metal wheels.

Our Chinese suppliers have learned capitalism well.

Heng Long deserves the credit for keeping up the RTR tank quality and compatibility over a 20 years period. Now, they reached the critical market mass volume, they crash the competition in both tank performance and price at the low end.

The Merkava metal road wheel set is $72 at Toucan US Store. It comes with the 24 ball bearings making it a very good deal.

I am thinking about lining the plastic road wheel sleeve with extra thin wall brass tubing. It is not for saving money. Doing hobby mod the hard way just makes it more fun. I expect that most tanker will go the HL metal road wheel set route.

[Rubicon99]

Heng Long deserves the credit for keeping up the RTR tank quality and compatibility over a 20 years period. Now, they reached the critical market mass volume, they crash the competition in both tank performance and price at the low end.

The Merkava metal road wheel set is $72 at Toucan US Store. It comes with the 24 ball bearings making it a very good deal.

I am thinking about lining the plastic road wheel sleeve with extra thin wall brass tubing. It is not for saving money. Doing hobby mod the hard way just makes it more fun. I expect that most tanker will go the HL metal road wheel set route.

I have done similar with various HL road wheels with some success. It a hobby so have at it. It's going to work and should last a very long time.

[keilau]

The HL Merkava has a very open chassis. I purchased the basic version with the plastic gearbox.

The Heng Xin gearbox is my favorite metal gearbox upgrade. It is smooth, quiet and feels very heavy. As in previous installation, I open the gearbox to check its lubrication. To my surprise, there is no grease inside the box. The gears look like metal powder formed and very precise. Is it dry lubricated? Without knowing for sure, I applied a small amount of Teflon lubricant to be sure.

With 4 screws and 2 locating pins each, the mounting plates are very accurately located. The nylon axle supports bushings provide excellent guide for the gearbox orientation. You must put the nylon bushings in place first. Insert the motor axle carefully through the bushing until the locking nut stops. Then tighten the final gearbox screw. I found the motor alignment as good as with the motor axle bearing kit. It feels wonderful.

Hanging the track is NOT as simple as other US Army tank. The sprocket teeth go into holes on the track. Assemble the 2 half of the sprocket and feed the teeth through the track holes before mounting the sprocket to the motor axle. It is not a difficult process, just needs a little patience to line up the sprocket and the D-shaped motor axle. The drive is much improved as you would have expected upgrading from a HL grey 380 to a red 390 motor.

My metal upgrade is essentially done except waiting for the Hooben nylon track. This work journal of my simple upgrade using commercially available parts can be easily duplicated. I share it as a mutual encouragement for each other. It also allows the more experienced tankers on this forum to point out my mistakes for improvement.

[keilau]

I am having problem matching the metal part painting to the original Heng Long color of the Merkava. Any suggestions?

[Rubicon99]

Given the stock color is totally wrong, just repaint the entire tank with a more correct color. That way you will have matching road wheels and a more accurate colored Merkava.

[keilau]

Given the stock color is totally wrong, just repaint the entire tank with a more correct color. That way you will have matching road wheels and a more accurate colored Merkava.

Is IDF Sinai Grey the right color for Merkava Mk4?

[keilau]

Latest update on the Hooben nylon tracks for the HL Merkava Mk4.

Your order is shipped out today, tracking number is xxxxxxxxxxxxx, we use YANWEN, delivery time is around 7-15 days. You can fill in the tracking number and search the logistics information through this link:

https://track.yw56.com.cn/en/querydel

---

Sofia Fang
Sales Manager
Twin-horse Technology GmbH
WhatsApp: +86 17767278592

[Rubicon99]

Is IDF Sinai Grey the right color for Merkava Mk4?

No definitely not. SG is the second color from right. Below is a helpful chart.

Funny thing is the preproduction models (show below) were finished in a more correct green color, but since the real tanks looked tan in photos HL changed to a tan color.

[RichJohnson]

Merkava 4 tanks were painted a green color that the IDF used during the period they were introduced.
sometime around 2015 the color seems to have changed to a khaki green color.

one thing to note about that chart which I have and have shared as well, The dates are off a bit and in the 90s there was a dark khaki tan that was used, the green came after that, AK markets this dark tan as modern “since 1990” which only applies to the period before the green was adopted.

And all the colors are named siani grey since the 80s so trying to match the color for the era you want will literally drive you crazy. Rubicon can attest to my color color disphoria over this issue. I painted my hooben merk 3 times trying to get the current modern color correct.

I you want the early periods green a dark green is good not nato green, and then get it dirty with thick dust. I literally shoveled thin dirt in my tank after the last paint job and it looked perfect.

For the current color, a dark khaki mixed with 10-20% green gets you in the ballpark. Then get it dirty as there are no clean markavas lol.
I believe the brightness of the real merk in the photo below is a bit over saturataed which brightens the green a bit.

[keilau]

Rubicon99 and RichJohnson , thank you so much for taking the time to write the detail explanation to enlighten me. I am sure many other tankers will be helped too.

Where does the Vallejo IDF Sinai Grey 82 fit in the above color chart?
Amazon.com: Vallejo IDF Sinai Grey Model Air Paint Set : Arts, Crafts & Sewing

For the current color, a dark khaki mixed with 10-20% green gets you in the ballpark. Then get it dirty as there are no clean markavas lol.
I believe the brightness of the real merk in the photo below is a bit over saturated which brightens the green a bit.

This is the simple receipt that I can easily follow.

[Rubicon99]

Rubicon99 and RichJohnson , thank you so much for taking the time to write the detail explanation to enlighten me. I am sure many other tankers will be helped too.

Where does the Vallejo IDF Sinai Grey 82 fit in the above color chart?
Amazon.com: Vallejo IDF Sinai Grey Model Air Paint Set : Arts, Crafts & Sewing


This is the simple receipt that I can easily follow.

The Vallejo SG fails into the range of the second color from the right on the chart above.

[keilau]

The Vallejo SG falls into the range of the second color from the right on the chart above.

If I understand correctly, the Vallejo Sinai Grey 82 fits the color when IDF Merkava 4 was first introduced. RichJohnson receipt is for recent service color.

The HL painted color on 3958 is good for nothing.

[Rubicon99]

If I understand correctly, the Vallejo Sinai Grey 82 fits the color when IDF Merkava 4 was first introduced. RichJohnson receipt is for recent service color.

The HL painted color on 3958 is good for nothing.

Really any desert tan is a better overall look then what HL did. Whatever color you pick it will look much nicer then stock.

[keilau]

I decided NOT to magnetize the upper and lower halfs of the Merkava. It has only 4 attachment points.

By comparison, the Pershing has 7 attachment points and the Abrams 8. I magnetized the TongDe M60A1 which also has 4 attachment screws. It does not work too well.