Fairly new to the tank hobby.

[DanV]

Hi everyone, I first got my interest into RC tanks about 2 years ago when an RC tank video came up on my Facebook timeline.
I then decided I would look around and see what the tanks were all about.
I came across this website in my Google search, and cut a long story short, I started my new hobby.

Over the coming days I will post up the tanks I now have in this thread, but I'll start right now with how my little collection is now after two years.
It took me a while to figure out the best way how I wanted to display my tanks.....

Cheers, Dan.

[DanV]

I bought my first tank after searching around the internet. I settled on an all plastic v7.0 Tiger II after reading the reviews on this site (like I ended up doing with all of them) and chose one of these because I thought it was good value for money..... I was getting a nice large tank! :)
I got it off Toucan on Aussie Ebay, where they have some tanks in a warehouse in Australia.
Not long after it arrived and I ran it, the speaker blew up. I did some testing and then I contacted Toucan and I got a new speaker from China in a few days. I fitted that one, and it failed again within a few minutes. Well that was it, I went out to an electronics shop and bought a better speaker for about $6. It's been all good since.

[SoCalBobS]

Good on ya. Others have had the speaker die, usually when they set the volume to maximum.

[tank_me]

I've had the stock HL speakers die on the 7.x boards also. I just installed a new Dayton Audio 2.5" speaker in my Merkava when I switched it over to the 7.1 board and man is that an improvement in the sound quality and loudness. I put it in a small box, but I had to remove the smoker to fit it.

https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-PC68-4-2-1-2-Full-Range-Poly-Cone-Driver-295-150?quantity=1

[keilau]

If you have an Amazon Prime account, you can get the Dayton Audio 2.5" speaker much cheaper.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Dayton+Audio+PC68-4+2-1%2F2%22&crid=AH1GA0FJR6NO&sprefix=dayton+audio+pc 68-4+2-1%2F2+%2Caps%2C107&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

[tank_me]

If you have an Amazon Prime account, you can get the Dayton Audio 2.5" speaker much cheaper.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Dayton+Audio+PC68-4+2-1%2F2%22&crid=AH1GA0FJR6NO&sprefix=dayton+audio+pc 68-4+2-1%2F2+%2Caps%2C107&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

I bought 10 of them and even with $9.95 shipping from Parts Express they were $38 cheaper from Parts Express than buying 10 from Amazon.

[no tanks just lookin]

I've looked, but can't find any actual specs on the audio section for the HL controllers, but from the sound, I'd say low power plus inefficient speaker equals clipping, makes the voice coil heat up enough it can burn out or melt the adhesive and slips on the former. I'd suggest looking at an actual speaker module, you can find them in a size to fit, and they're engineered for efficiency.

https://www.parts-express.com/speaker-components/speaker-modules

[DanV]

I'm in Australia and parts are not easy to get..The new speaker I fitted is 5w where as I think I read that the factory Henglong speaker is something like 1w or less.

[DanV]

After getting my first tank to see if I liked the hobby, within 3 weeks I ordered a Tiger from another seller which I'm pretty sure is probably Toucan under another name.
I ran the Tiger for probably a couple of minutes, and yet again the speaker blew! Straight down to the electronics shop for another speaker.
I gave it a bit of a black hazy sort of paint, and a light coat of silver on the tracks. I'm not too worried whether it is right or wrong, but as long as I like it.
As usual the smoker isn't the best, and only works occasionally.

[DanV]

Well by now I was hooked, and I wanted one more tank, and that would be a Jagdpanther. No more after that!
There were none available anywhere, and being here in Australia, we just have to wait.
Then all of a sudden, a few sellers on Ebay Australia had them in stock.
I checked around and waited a few weeks until the discounts came along, so I snapped one up.
I gave the tracks and wheels a slight silvering and that's it. Speaker volume is not on full, and it has lasted, either that or Henglong have improved the speakers.

[keilau]

I bought 10 of them and even with $9.95 shipping from Parts Express they were $38 cheaper from Parts Express than buying 10 from Amazon.

Do you build the speaker enclosures or purchase them from DKLMRC?

https://www.dklmrc.com/product/dk-3dpfr7

[tank_me]

I either print, build or I bought some small plastic cases I mount them in. What mounting solution I use depends on the tank. The Daytons mount a lot deeper than the Viston speakers a lot of folks use.

[DanV]

After saying that I wasn't going to get any more, I couldn't help myself when the Panzer IVs started turning up on Ebay.
I gave the all plastic tank a bit of a quick paint with a white hazy finish with silver on the tracks.
I am now hooked on the tank hobby.

[DanV]

I bought this Tiger from a friend mainly because someone had spent a bit of time doing some weathering.
It's an old Henglong and nothing seemed to work at the time. There was no drive on the left side, but I got that working, turret turns, cannon sound and machine gun sound. I haven't figured out why the elevation isn't working yet.
One thing I very much do like on this old tank is the engine fire up and running sounds. So much better than on my v7.0 tanks.
I will use it just as a static model.

[DanV]

After watching the movie T-34, well, I just had to get myself a Panther.
This would be my last plastic tank. Time to get a bit more serious.
I painted the tracks and some of the small accessories in silver, but left it at that.
Weathering will come later on all these tanks.
I might be tempted to buy a T-34 next......

[SoCalBobS]

Get a T-34. Also watch "Tank!" and "Tankers" for a trip down the Russian armor rabbit hole! I assembled this in tribute to the first movie:


I had the 76 turret 3D printed.

[DanV]

Thanks Bob, I'll have to check out those two movies.
Yep I reckon that a T-34 will be on the list, but in case no one noticed, all my tanks so far are WW2 German.

[DanV]

I couldn't resist when some Stugs started appearing for sale on Ebay.
Because the Stug would be fairly light in weight, I opted for the Pro version, which has a steel gearbox, metal tracks, drive wheels, idler wheels and metal barrel.
I thought now that this is getting a little serious!

[DanV]

After getting my Stug Pro version, I showed a friend what the RC tanking is all about, and he went and ordered a King Tiger Pro version for himself.
I couldn't help myself, and the Tiger 1 being my favorite, I just had to get a Pro version of one of these!
When it arrived, I couldn't believe how heavy it was with the steel gearbox, metal tracks, drive wheels, idler wheels, road wheels and metal barrel with recoil.
So I thought since this thing is so tough, I will take it out in my back yard and go cross country. Two or so minutes later I lost any drive to the left side track.
Once I pulled it apart and tested, I found that the spline inside the last gear to the drive shaft had stripped. It's a weak point in the drive line for sure......

[tank_me]

Had it happen on one of my gearboxes. The final gear is only press fit on that semi-splined shaft. I fixed it by drilling and tapping a hole fixing it to the shaft with a grub(set) screw.