Small Scale Military Headquarters

Probably been covered in previous threads, but a few questions for those who have this tank:


Do both turret hatches open?

Does the commander figure come out?

How out of whack with 1:18 does it look?

Is it fairly easy to paint those silver drive sprockets?


On on the fence about getting one. Thanks!

Since the m26 was bigger than the Sherman to begin with, they look fine together. The commander figure supplied with the snow leopard is a half guy-no legs. The commander hatch opens and has a shallow floor. The figure is held in with double sided tape. The other hatch does open as that is where you load the airsoft gun magazine. I brush painted my sprockets and then gave the whole tank a coat of flat OD. I ended up removing the rc stuff from my M26. I took out all the drive gear, gun mechanisms and the filler plate so the gunners hatch would acccept a whole 21st Tank figure. My tracks now free wheel and I can turn the turret and elevate the gun freely. I am not much of an RC person so it was just a matter of time. I did the same to my RC Panzer IV. I like it much better now. If you can get it for around $40, grab it. Even if you gut it like I did, it is still worth having as a neat model.

TJ

I got this tank too,...w/ "smoke & sound effect",...but save your money, and get a Tamiya ! ....Like I did,..w/ Full-Blown Option and metal treads. Metal-Treads sold seperately. "Next best, to the real thing".

"but save your money, and get a Tamiya"--MG-42

I take it you did not like it?

HAHAHAHA !! ...I did'nt say I did'nt like it,...I'm just saying I think Tamiya's better overall,..IMHO. It's really a matter of quality and or,..versus affordability.

Moth wrote:"but save your money, and get a Tamiya"--MG-42

I take it you did not like it?

He meant to say that this RC tank is from the same HenLong company that gave us the 1/16th Tiger I of questionable quality, and their abortion-of-a-Panther. The HenLong M26 Pershing/Snow Leopards are a rat's whisker better than their Tiger I. (The HenLong Tigers were discussed quite a bit a few months ago - basically caveat emptor. They need work even for a static, gut-less display tank.)

If you want 1/16th and can't/wont go Tamiya, the "best" of the 1/16th RC tanks coming out of the PRC are the T-34/85's.

These are actually the Trumpeter T-34 kits re-mfg'd as R/C - same quality and attention to detail as the Trump T-34 kits sold with the full interiors.
The R/C T-34s do not have the airsoft pellet shooting actions as you get with HenLong, and obviously since they're R/C; none of the realistic interior parts as you get in the static model.
HTH

My opinion is that the Hen Long M26 is worth the $40.00- $75.00 investment. It's a copy of the Tamiya molds so the detail is not as crisp. Tamiya's version is a model and has individual parts that you add to the hull and turret. Hen Long has them molded on in place already. I purchased mine with R/C in mind but that came to a screeching stop when it wouldn't work at all( even with a new battery). I have removed the internal guts and now it's a static model. Of course it took alot of doing to make this model up to Tamiya standards. A total repaint was done along with weathering and decaling. Periscope guards were scratch built with round stock and added. The red sensor lights were removed along with all the ammo boxes, helmets and crates. They were relocated and some were replaced by Build a Rama items. The barrel is the biggest disapointment being a good inch or so short and not well tapered like a real one. This was solved by calling Tamiya direct and ordering theirs which is aluminuim for $11.50 plus $6.00 S/H. This make a big and noticable difference. When all this is done, then you can fix the commander by filling the seams with green putty and sanding after it dries. Repainting the figure makes a great upgrade and to top it all off, the 1/18 Dragon figures go well with the 1/16 stuff. The Dragon figures in my opinion were always a little big in porportion to 1/18 and look great with 1/16. With some elbow grease, time and money, a nice looking Hen Long M26 can be had for under $100.00. I still think it's a better value than spending $300- $500 on a Tamiya R/C version unless you're really into the R/C feature, which I'm not(yet).

Hi Bill. Dropped you an email. The barrel from Tamiya is an excellent idea. What would the phone numer there happen to be?

TJ

billgiff wrote:My opinion is that the Hen Long M26 is worth the $40.00- $75.00 investment. It's a copy of the Tamiya molds so the detail is not as crisp. Tamiya's version is a model and has individual parts that you add to the hull and turret. Hen Long has them molded on in place already. I purchased mine with R/C in mind but that came to a screeching stop when it wouldn't work at all( even with a new battery). I have removed the internal guts and now it's a static model. Of course it took alot of doing to make this model up to Tamiya standards. A total repaint was done along with weathering and decaling. Periscope guards were scratch built with round stock and added. The red sensor lights were removed along with all the ammo boxes, helmets and crates. They were relocated and some were replaced by Build a Rama items. The barrel is the biggest disapointment being a good inch or so short and not well tapered like a real one. This was solved by calling Tamiya direct and ordering theirs which is aluminuim for $11.50 plus $6.00 S/H. This make a big and noticable difference. When all this is done, then you can fix the commander by filling the seams with green putty and sanding after it dries. Repainting the figure makes a great upgrade and to top it all off, the 1/18 Dragon figures go well with the 1/16 stuff. The Dragon figures in my opinion were always a little big in porportion to 1/18 and look great with 1/16. With some elbow grease, time and money, a nice looking Hen Long M26 can be had for under $100.00. I still think it's a better value than spending $300- $500 on a Tamiya R/C version unless you're really into the R/C feature, which I'm not(yet).

Agree on the M26, it's the nicest of H-L's offerings. The Tiger I bbl is also "short", shown in a recoiled position FWIW.

Thank you all for your input!