Heng Long King Tiger TK 7.1 servo barrel recoil, smoke and flash

A quick video of some upgrades.
A couple of months ago I upgraded my Heng Long King Tiger from a 6.1 to 7.1 MFU, so I could install a servo recoil plus a servo barrel elevation. And to install a barrel smoke and flash module. I also took the opportunity to install a better exhaust smoke unit.
I like the result, though I wish the barrel smoker would produce a bit more smoke. Maybe I need better smoke oil.

[@bavariancarenthusiast2722]

Why do I watch this kind of videos in the middle of the night? It's my inner boyhood dream I guess. What a wonderful model and function. The firing action is the best I have seen so far. Great.

[@UltraVargenRC]

Thank you!

[@Onkelrico]

Love the barrel action with smoke and light. 👏👍

[@UltraVargenRC]

Thank you!

[@justinharvey1355]

0:32 FEUER!!! 💥

[@UltraVargenRC]

Kaboom! 😂

[@CoolCraig31]

Is it difficult to install the servo to make the gun recoil like that? Was thinking of getting one of these king tiger models.

[@UltraVargenRC]

It depends how handy you are, and how realistic you want to make the recoil. Heng Long makes an aluminium recoil unit to replace the bb-unit. It's not overly difficult if you're used to tinkering with mechanical and simple electronics.
I did find it quite fiddly and frustrating to install. But that's also because I modified it for a longer recoil motion. The unit as supplied by Heng Long has a too short motion for a King Tiger.
You'll also need to find a way to make the barrel elevation work, as the standard elevation motor doesn't interact with the smaller alu recoil unit. I ended up removing the whole elevation motor unit and rig a second servo motor on a 3D printed bracket to operate the barrel elevation.
Also, if you do this you'll need an MFU that supports servo's. My King Tiger had a 6.0 unit which doesn't support servo's. I replaced it with a 7.1 unit.
All in all it's a bit of a project. I've had this King Tiger for some years and am not up to speed with current Heng Long products. Might be that they already sell them with a servo recoil out of the box now?

[@CoolCraig31]

@@UltraVargenRC damn that sounds like a lot of work... Thinking of getting into rc models. For my first rc tank, do you think I should get heng longs king tiger model or their m1a2 abrams model? Love how both of these tanks look but I can't decide which one I should go with first. Which one do you think is more beginner friendly?

[@UltraVargenRC]

​​@@CoolCraig31 I have no experience with the Abrams, but Heng Long tanks are basically all the same technology-wise. They are ready to run out of the box, so you can just choose the one that appeals most to you.
A piece of advise to go with one that has a 7.0(of higher) MFU. The soundeffects are better quality than on the older MFU's.
Also, if budget allows I'd go for one that has metal tracks and wheels. The tanks are mostly plastic, so the metal tracks add quite some weight, which make the tank more realistic to drive.