Newbie RC Tanker, looking for any advice and/or recommendations from the veterans.

[EagleSeven]

As the title says, I'm essentially brand new to this hobby and this forum but am really looking forward to getting into it and putting in the work and the time.

I've currently got the Professional edition M26 Pershing from Heng Long on order through MotionRC expected to arrive within a week or so along with the relevant suspension upgrades through Toucan (metal road wheels/idlers, rocker arms) and a longer more length-accurate barrel which should all be here in about a month's time. Figured I couldn't go wrong putting in an inquiry here ahead of arrival for any advice or upgrade suggestions for the Pershing as well as any general info and advice you all might have for someone first getting into the RC tank hobby itself. Tool recommendations, paint recommendations, tutorials, breakdowns, heck I wouldn't mind suggestions for other tanks to grow my skills with, anything like that would be massively appreciated.

I saw on a post similar to this one that the OP wrote out a list of things that they viewed as most important to them when it came to the RC tank hobby, that seems like a good idea so, my priorities (as I feel they are) are as follows:

- Big fan of details. I like accuracy, it doesn't have to be perfectly 1:1 every time but as close as it can be is always nice.
- Function over form (I think? this is the right phrase for this). For example, 360 degree turret rotation would definitely be preferred for me, I know the Pershing is only 320 degrees so any recommendations to solve that would be great.
- Modularity and upgradability. I'd like to be able to upgrade and customize most if not all of the platforms I eventually hope to get my hands on. Recommendations for relevant tool kits or even HobbySquawk posts or YouTube videos on that sort of topic? would be awesome.

Many of the Heng Long RTR features like the sounds and the IR battle features aren't really important to me, this is mostly something I intend to do for personal/private use. I've got my eyes on either the M5A1 from Coolbank or the Chaffee from Tongde to be my next grab after the Pershing barring any complications with it (fingers crossed). I'm big into scale modeling and although I don't do it myself, I follow a lot of scale modelers on YouTube, figured this could be a nice sort of middle-ground hobby for myself to get into if you know what I mean.

My main interests lie with World War II vehicles, with maybe some Cold War vehicles later down the line. I don't have the biggest budget but I do think it's big enough for this.

If you fine folks need any more info from me or have any questions I'm here, might take a minute to respond but I'll really appreciate anyone taking the time. I look forward to learning.

[761st]

To me you are hitting all the right boxes. I am primarily WWII aviation. Bought my first tank during covid. It was a HL Sherman followed by the HL Tiger 1. It has been a great new journey. I look for accuracy and authenticity. Yet I am not a slave to it. Hence the solid black Sherman 76W. "Field modification" is my umbrella of rationalizing my interpretations. As a newb to armor I have and continue to research every tank and aspect of said. It has introduced me to the ground generation that fought against fascism. Their legacy is what I try to honor in my renderings. YouTube has been a great resource. This forum has helped a great deal. Recently I picked up some accessories from Value Gear. Very satisfied with their product. I think if a tank is an inspiration, you will ultimately find TONS of material. All of which is embraceable and transferable. End of day I would say, play and have fun. I just picked up the M5 and M24. Both nice additions and allow room for improvement. It has been fun upgrading the appearance (guts later) of the M24. M5 is next on the block.

[tank_me]

A 360 turret sounds like a necessity, but in actuality I never sit and just spin my turret round and round. I know most of the popular vendors sell a 360 kit which is basically a turret ring that eliminates the blocking piece which stops it from rotating 360 and a slip ring with a bunch of wires sticking out of it. Keep in mind that most of them don't come with instructions if you go that route.

[EagleSeven]

A 360 turret sounds like a necessity, but in actuality I never sit and just spin my turret round and round. I know most of the popular vendors sell a 360 kit which is basically a turret ring that eliminates the blocking piece which stops it from rotating 360 and a slip ring with a bunch of wires sticking out of it. Keep in mind that most of them don't come with instructions if you go that route.

True enough, and that isn’t the plan for me either, I was moreso thinking for storage and travel purposes especially for the Pershing. Having the ability to lock the gun to the rear might be helpful for that. Pic related.

[Too Many Hobbies]

I have 6 tanks....I just detailed them a bit using photo references. Don't overthink, just have fun. Some suggestions though...

if shooting outside, consider biodegradable BBs. They sell all kinds of airsoft 6mm BB's. I have bottles of 20G biodegradable....beats littering plastic pellets everywhere.

When the exhaust stops smoking, turn it off until you refill so you don't burn out the smoke generator motor. Don't overfill, and TBH, I'm still fuzzy on how much you really add. Instructions say 2-3mm and 2-3 drops on the same damn page. 1 mm is like 20 drops, so got with just a few drops.

Don't run the tank through tall grass, you'll strain the components.

Keep a long wire handy in case a BB gets stuck. sometimes you have to fish it out. One Panther tank jams a lot for some reason..., but the others don't...go figure.

Get a lipo checker and keep tabs on voltage. Don't run tank until it stops. Learn storage voltage and proper charging. learn to time your runs so your run ends with the lipo at a good storage voltage. I hate the Li-ion batteries that come with the tanks....I just use my lipos with a Tamiya plug adapter.

Have fun!

[glocke12]

I got into this roughly a year ago, not knowing anything about these tanks or the RC world in general and started off with a HL King Tiger Pro Edition, and between now and then added a few Mato tanks as well as some Torros.

I'll also add in that I really had no experience with electronics, soldering, or painting and have now realized that those skills are unfortunately essential skills to have in this hobby. I'll be honest and say thats the one part of this I wasn't thrilled about mainly due to time constraints I have, but the reality is things can and will physically break on these or just fail and there are not a lot of people out there ( in my area anyway ) that work on these so I've ended up having to acquire those skills over the past year.

So, from my perspective at a minimum the things to keep on hand are:

CA Glue ( super glue ): Army Painter Super Glue is now my " go to " brand for this type of glue. Others recommend a gel type super glue which I have not yet tried.

Decent set of screw drivers geared towards the RC hobbyist:
-IMEX has some nice sets but they appear out of stock on their website but here is an eBay link for the Philips set: https://www.ebay.com/itm/233893942846
-IMEX link to the flathead set: https://www.imexrc.com/collections/t...driver-set-4pc
-Less expensive alternative: https://www.harborfreight.com/precis...ece-71000.html

Long Stemmed Needle Nose Pliers ( for pulling out those electronics connections without damaging the boards): I still need a set of these but looking for something like this that doesn't cost fifty bucks: https://www.amazon.ca/Knipex-28-71-2...01LTED70A?th=1

Smoke Oil: The smoke generators on these I've found to be hit or miss, but if you like seeing the smoke pouring out of these like I do, the Mega-Steam smoke oil seems to be the best thing out there ( Coal Fired Steamer is the one you want ): https://megasteam.com/page5.html

On the subject of smoke oil, I've tried a few different things to use to add this stuff and have found that needle oil bottles work great: https://www.brownells.com/tools-clea...oiler-bottles/
- Another method I've started using is utilizes a syringe that has a small diameter flexible tube at the dispensing end, and a plunger that does not contain a rubber stopper. See image below. I get these from work but I think they can be found in a pharmacy.
- As for the amount to add, generally I generally add about 2-4 ml if using a syringe, or roughly 4-5 drops from a dropper type dispenser


Those are all the things I wish I either had available to me or knew about going into this. Hope it helps. It's a great hobby, and it opened up a whole can of worms for me in terms acquiring new skillsets, spending more money I shouldn't spend, and last but not least renewed my interest in military history by doing some reading on the history of these vehicles.

As for the IR battle features, that was something I was also ignorant about going into this, but I really can't recommend the IR feature over the BB feature on tanks enough. Even though it's just me running these things in my house, setting up one tank as a target tank and blasting it with IR hits is a blast ( sadly no tank clubs in South East PA ).

Other things to consider later on are a good soldering station, and perhaps some Tamiya paints ( acrylic based ) and some brushes for touching up bumps and bruises that occur. That eventually led to getting an inexpensive airbrush setup off of amazon so that I could perform better touch up jobs on some of the metal tanks I have where they paint comes off if you look at them wrong.

One other thing to add also when it comes to painting and repairs, I brushed up on those skill sets by getting a couple of Tamiya plastic models to assemble. They are inexpensive enough to practice your painting and gluing skills on without having to practice on your tank.

[glocke12]

I got into this roughly a year ago, not knowing anything about these tanks or the RC world in general and started off with a HL King Tiger Pro Edition, and between now and then added a few Mato tanks as well as some Torros.

I'll also add in that I really had no experience with electronics, soldering, or painting and have now realized that those skills are unfortunately essential skills to have in this hobby. I'll be honest and say thats the one part of this I wasn't thrilled about mainly due to time constraints I have, but the reality is things can and will physically break on these or just fail and there are not a lot of people out there ( in my area anyway ) that work on these so I've ended up having to acquire those skills over the past year.

So, from my perspective at a minimum the things to keep on hand are:

CA Glue ( super glue ): Army Painter Super Glue is now my " go to " brand for this type of glue. Others recommend a gel type super glue which I have not yet tried.

Decent set of screw drivers geared towards the RC hobbyist:
-IMEX has some nice sets but they appear out of stock on their website but here is an eBay link for the Philips set: https://www.ebay.com/itm/233893942846
-IMEX link to the flathead set: https://www.imexrc.com/collections/t...driver-set-4pc
-Less expensive alternative: https://www.harborfreight.com/precis...ece-71000.html

Long Stemmed Needle Nose Pliers ( for pulling out those electronics connections without damaging the boards): I still need a set of these but looking for something like this that doesn't cost fifty bucks: https://www.amazon.ca/Knipex-28-71-2...01LTED70A?th=1

Smoke Oil: The smoke generators on these I've found to be hit or miss, but if you like seeing the smoke pouring out of these like I do, the Mega-Steam smoke oil seems to be the best thing out there ( Coal Fired Steamer is the one you want ): https://megasteam.com/page5.html

On the subject of smoke oil, I've tried a few different things to use to add this stuff and have found that needle oil bottles work great: https://www.brownells.com/tools-clea...oiler-bottles/
- Another method I've started using is utilizes a syringe that has a small diameter flexible tube at the dispensing end, and a plunger that does not contain a rubber stopper. See image below. I get these from work but I think they can be found in a pharmacy.
- As for the amount to add, generally I generally add about 2-4 ml if using a syringe, or roughly 4-5 drops from a dropper type dispenser


Those are all the things I wish I either had available to me or knew about going into this. Hope it helps. It's a great hobby, and it opened up a whole can of worms for me in terms acquiring new skillsets, spending more money I shouldn't spend, and last but not least renewed my interest in military history by doing some reading on the history of these vehicles.

As for the IR battle features, that was something I was also ignorant about going into this, but I really can't recommend the IR feature over the BB feature on tanks enough. Even though it's just me running these things in my house, setting up one tank as a target tank and blasting it with IR hits is a blast ( sadly no tank clubs in South East PA ).

Other things to consider later on are a good soldering station, and perhaps some Tamiya paints ( acrylic based ) and some brushes for touching up bumps and bruises that occur. That eventually led to getting an inexpensive airbrush setup off of amazon so that I could perform better touch up jobs on some of the metal tanks I have where they paint comes off if you look at them wrong.

One other thing to add also when it comes to painting and repairs, I brushed up on those skill sets by getting a couple of Tamiya plastic models to assemble. They are inexpensive enough to practice your painting and gluing skills on without having to practice on your tank.

[Meter Rat]

Firstly, a lot of on line tutorials are relevant whether the model is static or RC. I, like you build to stand off scale. If it looks plausible from 3mtrs then that is good enough. To many fine details only get knocked off.
Tools:- Rule, square, Stanley type knife, small and medium scalpels, with a good stock of blades, Philips type screwdrivers, good quality allen drives (hex drives in the US, I think), flat blade screwdriver, long nose pliers, side cutters, small pliers, vice if you have space, soldering iron, emery boards, 300 from finger nail suppliers for £3 dirt cheep or amazon, fine toothed razor saw. I’m sure others will add to this list. Tank-me gives good advice regarding 360 turret spin. A lot of the guys who battle on here have that facility, but I have never found it necessary. I did fit it to one tank, and it was APITA. Now I just cut two extra teeth in the turret ring, which allows the turret to spin far enough for the barrel to sit over the deck, for storage or transport. Most of my tanks are modern so this is definitely an advantage, as they are a lot larger that WW2 tanks.
I fit barrel smoke, flash, and gun recoil, in mine so remove the BB mechanism, I also remove the exhaust smoke, as personally I find it unrealistic.

[SoCalBobS]

Echoing Meter Rat;

I classify my tanks in two categories. One is for battlers, one is for mostly show. The battlers lose much of their small detail in operation, so my battlers are pretty basic. The display tanks have better detail, and the small parts stay attached.

I too cut the turret ring gears to eliminate the "stop" and add gear notches. A dremel style tool works fine for this. The slip rings are really not necessary if you only spin the turret 180 degrees for transport, and spin it back in the corresponding direction.

I remove the bb launcher, or in cases just cut it down, to install recoil, smoke and flash mechanisms. Many IR battlers place the IR emitter bulb in the barrel. It feels easier to aim using it.

However, I do leave the smoker in place unless I need the space. It's fun to turn it on when showing the tank to people. Otherwise, I just leave it turned off.

[EagleSeven]

I have 6 tanks....I just detailed them a bit using photo references. Don't overthink, just have fun. Some suggestions though...

if shooting outside, consider biodegradable BBs. They sell all kinds of airsoft 6mm BB's. I have bottles of 20G biodegradable....beats littering plastic pellets everywhere.

When the exhaust stops smoking, turn it off until you refill so you don't burn out the smoke generator motor. Don't overfill, and TBH, I'm still fuzzy on how much you really add. Instructions say 2-3mm and 2-3 drops on the same damn page. 1 mm is like 20 drops, so got with just a few drops.

Don't run the tank through tall grass, you'll strain the components.

Keep a long wire handy in case a BB gets stuck. sometimes you have to fish it out. One Panther tank jams a lot for some reason..., but the others don't...go figure.

Get a lipo checker and keep tabs on voltage. Don't run tank until it stops. Learn storage voltage and proper charging. learn to time your runs so your run ends with the lipo at a good storage voltage. I hate the Li-ion batteries that come with the tanks....I just use my lipos with a Tamiya plug adapter.

Have fun!

Biodegradable BB's definitely sounds like a great idea, will look into that. Do you think a hobby shop would carry them or is it more of a niche thing that I'd have to find and order online?

What is a lipo? Is that an alternative to the Li-Ion batteries?

[EagleSeven]

I got into this roughly a year ago, not knowing anything about these tanks or the RC world in general and started off with a HL King Tiger Pro Edition, and between now and then added a few Mato tanks as well as some Torros.

I'll also add in that I really had no experience with electronics, soldering, or painting and have now realized that those skills are unfortunately essential skills to have in this hobby. I'll be honest and say thats the one part of this I wasn't thrilled about mainly due to time constraints I have, but the reality is things can and will physically break on these or just fail and there are not a lot of people out there ( in my area anyway ) that work on these so I've ended up having to acquire those skills over the past year.

So, from my perspective at a minimum the things to keep on hand are:

CA Glue ( super glue ): Army Painter Super Glue is now my " go to " brand for this type of glue. Others recommend a gel type super glue which I have not yet tried.

Decent set of screw drivers geared towards the RC hobbyist:
-IMEX has some nice sets but they appear out of stock on their website but here is an eBay link for the Philips set: https://www.ebay.com/itm/233893942846
-IMEX link to the flathead set: https://www.imexrc.com/collections/t...driver-set-4pc
-Less expensive alternative: https://www.harborfreight.com/precis...ece-71000.html

Long Stemmed Needle Nose Pliers ( for pulling out those electronics connections without damaging the boards): I still need a set of these but looking for something like this that doesn't cost fifty bucks: https://www.amazon.ca/Knipex-28-71-2...01LTED70A?th=1

Smoke Oil: The smoke generators on these I've found to be hit or miss, but if you like seeing the smoke pouring out of these like I do, the Mega-Steam smoke oil seems to be the best thing out there ( Coal Fired Steamer is the one you want ): https://megasteam.com/page5.html

On the subject of smoke oil, I've tried a few different things to use to add this stuff and have found that needle oil bottles work great: https://www.brownells.com/tools-clea...oiler-bottles/
- Another method I've started using is utilizes a syringe that has a small diameter flexible tube at the dispensing end, and a plunger that does not contain a rubber stopper. See image below. I get these from work but I think they can be found in a pharmacy.
- As for the amount to add, generally I generally add about 2-4 ml if using a syringe, or roughly 4-5 drops from a dropper type dispenser


Those are all the things I wish I either had available to me or knew about going into this. Hope it helps. It's a great hobby, and it opened up a whole can of worms for me in terms acquiring new skillsets, spending more money I shouldn't spend, and last but not least renewed my interest in military history by doing some reading on the history of these vehicles.

As for the IR battle features, that was something I was also ignorant about going into this, but I really can't recommend the IR feature over the BB feature on tanks enough. Even though it's just me running these things in my house, setting up one tank as a target tank and blasting it with IR hits is a blast ( sadly no tank clubs in South East PA ).

Other things to consider later on are a good soldering station, and perhaps some Tamiya paints ( acrylic based ) and some brushes for touching up bumps and bruises that occur. That eventually led to getting an inexpensive airbrush setup off of amazon so that I could perform better touch up jobs on some of the metal tanks I have where they paint comes off if you look at them wrong.

One other thing to add also when it comes to painting and repairs, I brushed up on those skill sets by getting a couple of Tamiya plastic models to assemble. They are inexpensive enough to practice your painting and gluing skills on without having to practice on your tank.

Will definitely stock up on precision toolsets, I'll check local stores and if necessary order online. Might have some already in the small toolbox of model equipment in my closet, will check.

I have a 1/35 scale Hellcat that's been rotting on a shelf for the last year or so, I'll practice assembly on that for sure. Wouldn't of even thought of that, thanks for that one.

[Meter Rat]

Echoing Meter Rat;


However, I do leave the smoker in place unless I need the space. It's fun to turn it on when showing the tank to people. Otherwise, I just leave it turned off.

So many solutions, and differences. This is why forums like this are so important. I have taken so much inspiration from this, and other sites, which gives the confidence to take on a project you otherwise might shy away from.

[Rubicon99]

Biodegradable BB's definitely sounds like a great idea, will look into that. Do you think a hobby shop would carry them or is it more of a niche thing that I'd have to find and order online?

What is a lipo? Is that an alternative to the Li-Ion batteries?

If you don't know what a Lipo is then absolutely do not buy one. They are batteries better left for those with a bit of experience and high end chargers.

Lipos (Li Polymer) are unforgiving and require a proper handling, storage and charging to be safe. Countless incidents of them being handled incorrectly and the battery starting fires.

Stick with NiMH or Li Ion as these two are much more stable and forgiving if miss handled.

[EagleSeven]

If you don't know what a Lipo is then absolutely do not buy one. They are batteries better left for those with a bit of experience and high end chargers.

Lipos (Li Polymer) are unforgiving and require a proper handling, storage and charging to be safe. Countless incidents of them being handled incorrectly and the battery starting fires.

Stick with NiMH or Li Ion as these two are much more stable and forgiving if miss handled.

Heard, I appreciate the heads up.

[SoCalBobS]

I use li-ions exclusively in my tanks. Motion RC sells Admiral brand li-ions; a 3500mah capacity which gives twice the run time as the stock half size 1800mah packs but are the same size. They also sell a 7200mah pack which is the same as the full size packs that fit in the larger Heng Long tank battery compartments, but twice the capacity as the latter.

I use lipo's in my r/c planes, and yes, they require knowledgeable handling. It's like carrying a can of gasoline while smoking a cigarette.

[Too Many Hobbies]

I got my biodegradable BB's from Amazon.

I've had Nimh disappoint me too many times...not taking a charge after sitting in storage.. I don't like Li-ions for reasons I don't know.

A lipo can sit for years at storage charge and do exactly what I want it to. They do require knowledge, care and lots of respect...so if unfamiliar, stick to the other 2 types of batteries.