TONGDE TANKS

[dai phan]

Tongde did not pack the control stick and machine gun plastic bag in the cardboard parts box. It is hidden in a hole in the large packing foam. It took me a while to find it.

I turn the foam upside down, in and out and cannot find. In the ERA these are located in a separate bag but with all the detail parts.Dai

[Rubicon99]

Hi all,

I do not understand why the attachment holes are so oversized making the parts wobble and VERY un-scale !!! On HL tanks, parts fits precisely and you do not see these over scale holes. Hard to believe QC did not pick this up? Dai

You can thank Cool Banks for the oversized holes and "dumbed down" details. Fortunately he had less influence in the suspension. To expensive to change the M60 molds now. Fortunately moving forward TDs new products are getting more details and much better parts fitment.

Comparing TD to HL in parts fitment is like comparing HL to Tamiya in parts fitment. If you had ever built a 1/16 Tamiya tank you would not say HL has good part fitment.

[RichJohnson]

This is what you can do with a TD M60 with a little effort and skill.

[keilau]

Comparing TD to HL in parts fitment is like comparing HL to Tamiya in parts fitment. If you had ever built a 1/16 Tamiya tank you would not say HL has good part fitment.

Agree completely. Tamiya fit is good as is. Heng Long fit is OK with minor adjustment. I have only a single Tongde M60A1 from their early production. It needs major mechanical upgrade as outlined in my thread.

https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc-cars-tanks-trucks-and-more/rc-tanks/387060-metal-upgrade-for-a-tongde-m60a1-to-improve-reliability

dai phan is rediscovering what we know for a long time. The solution is already out there.

[SoCalBobS]

To echo Rich's comment about potential; here are two examples: the former is an early all-plastic model and the latter is a metal version, but substituted with plastic tracks. The first was pure stock with only repainting and a beacon. The second has a Heng Long 7.1 board, the searchlight, a beacon, barrrel recoil and a rotating commander's cupola. The HL 7.1 transmitter has an added function controlled by a trim tab that actually works. I used it to rotate the cupola. The 7.1 transmitter is otherwise identical and completely compatible with the 7.0.

[Rubicon99]

This is what you can do with a TD M60 with a little effort and skill.

And it looks even better now with some dirt and grime from being driven outdoors. Natural weathering just is hard to beat.

[dai phan]

Hi all,

Assembled the M60A3 tonight. A few things are missing. They are one B2, one B3, machine gun and the two round things on the turret. These 2 round things are not shown in the sprues so I have no idea what parts to label them. Rubicon 99 I see your has these 2 and where are they in the sprues? The square thing is not shown on the sprues/instruction so I have no idea where it goes to? Dai

[Rubicon99]

Hi all,

Assembled the M60A3 tonight. A few things are missing. They are one B2, one B3, machine gun and the two round things on the turret. These 2 round things are not shown in the sprues so I have no idea what parts to label them. The square thing is not shown on the sprues/instruction so I have no idea where it goes to? Dai

The sight ranging covers (round things) are usually packed with the TX control sticks. But sometimes they are also found in the parts box with the hub caps.

The square thing is a part for the USMC "RISE" M60. It's an armor "block" that goes on the front of the tank. You will not use it on the A3. The two tanks share a parts spur.

[dai phan]

The sight ranging covers (round things) are usually packed with the TX control sticks. But sometimes they are also found in the parts box with the hub caps.

The square thing is a part for the USMC "RISE" M60. It's an armor "block" that goes on the front of the tank. You will not use it on the A3. The two tanks share a parts spur.

Since I do not have the machine gun, the control sticks likely these round things were in that bag too. I have sent to MRC requesting replacement parts. If they are a hassle to deal with I just buy a new detail set. I hope they will come through. Dai

[dai phan]

I tentatively place some detail items on the tank and please let me know if they are in correct locations. Dai

[RichJohnson]

Since you asked, get rid of the crate on the turret. Move the satchel bags from the turret side to hanging on the handrails.
no stowage on the side fenders, get rid of the stuff on the sides in front.
Try to pile as much stuff into and stacked on top of the turret basket.
some stuff tied to the glacis (the front slope armor) is ok, but that is how the crew boards the tank so can’t have too much stuff there, also make sure the driver can see over it.
stuff on the back would have to be minimal, maybe some tarps but turret must spin all the way around without fouling. It’s not wwii, crews did not have massive piles of stuff on the backs of their tanks. Most everything was piled up in the basket, tarps tied to the rear of the basket, spare stuff tied to the basket, tarps and such tied to the side hand rails in the turret, and only that much was carried when they went out for long exercises like Reforger in Germany or for a few weeks at NTC in Southern California. Otherwise most of their stuff was left at a brigade TOC during training exercises.

[dai phan]

Since you asked, get rid of the crate on the turret. Move the satchel bags from the turret side to hanging on the handrails.
no stowage on the side fenders, get rid of the stuff on the sides in front.
Try to pile as much stuff into and stacked on top of the turret basket.
some stuff tied to the glacis (the front slope armor) is ok, but that is how the crew boards the tank so can’t have too much stuff there, also make sure the driver can see over it.
stuff on the back would have to be minimal, maybe some tarps but turret must spin all the way around without fouling. It’s not wwii, crews did not have massive piles of stuff on the backs of their tanks. Most everything was piled up in the basket, tarps tied to the rear of the basket, spare stuff tied to the basket, tarps and such tied to the side hand rails in the turret, and only that much was carried when they went out for long exercises like Reforger in Germany or for a few weeks at NTC in Southern California. Otherwise most of their stuff was left at a brigade TOC during training exercises.

Thank you for your guidance. As a model airplane guy I am clueless on tank's arrangements. Dai

[Rubicon99]

I tentatively place some detail items on the tank and please let me know if they are in correct locations. Dai

Nothing on the forward upper hull glances. The kit you have there would block the drivers view.

The M60 crews would "usually" pack the bustle rack and top of rear turret section full of kit and gear, sometimes they even used the forward portion of the turret top as long as it did not block any gun sights. . They used the side of the turret most often for things like large tarps/camo netting or spare tracks sections. Other than that there is no real right or wrong.

Some of how I did mine. Not to much as to hide the "lines" of the turret but enough to say heading out into the field for more then a day of practice.

[dai phan]

How about now? I follow Rubicon advise and place the items as logically as I could. But the box on the right of tank may block the view vision so move down below? Dai

[dai phan]

Like these positions? How about sand bags placement? Dai

[dai phan]

Hi all,

I found out that if you push the 2 lower buttons together, it will power off the tank w/o you touching the on/off button! Dai

[Rubicon99]

Like these positions? How about sand bags placement? Dai

Try to use more time period correct kit or kit that is not so recognizable. You have WW1 infantry helmets hanging on a 1980s era tank. Otherwise it's starting to take shape.

[dai phan]

Try to use more time period correct kit or kit that is not so recognizable. You have WW1 infantry helmets hanging on a 1980s era tank. Otherwise it's starting to take shape.

That is so true and I did wonder about the helmet style. I have ordered almost 200 dollar of resin accessories and will correct when they arrive. Dai

[dai phan]

A few things I notice about the TD tanks with the 2 samples I have. The holes are oversized making the part fit very poor and un-scale like. The TX although does its job looks very poor in quality and cheaply toyish. The smoke system is much better than my HL 6.0 tanks and puts out more smoke. The sounds appear to be better than HL. The recoil is extreme. i think if that would happen in real life, the crews would have serious whiplash, concussion and spinal injuries. Dai

[Rubicon99]

A few things I notice about the TD tanks with the 2 samples I have. The holes are oversized making the part fit very poor and un-scale like. The TX although does its job looks very poor in quality and cheaply toyish. The smoke system is much better than my HL 6.0 tanks and puts out more smoke. The sounds appear to be better than HL. The recoil is extreme. i think if that would happen in real life, the crews would have serious whiplash, concussion and spinal injuries. Dai

You were warned early on in this thread you would not like the stock looks of the tank. Repeating the same negatives over and over is not accomplishing anything. Best to just move on and work though the issues and make something special of your tanks.

To look good you have to paint the TD tanks, doing so completely change them from cheap looking toy tank to hobby grade looking tank. This has been shown by a number of forum members. Same things is true of HL tanks. Tamiya tanks at $1200 don't even come painted or assembled. It's just what has to be done to have nice looking tanks. Trust me tanks are easy to paint vs planes.

As a few of us have said already the TX is very basic and changing it out for at least a HL 7.0 is recommended.

The smoke system is a HL 7.0 system so it preforms like a 7.0 should.

Recoil can be easy adjusted similar to how HL does it. It comes set to maximum. Read the manual it will explain how to do this