INTRODUCTION

Unimax's entry into the 1/24 RC tank market created a lot of excitement within the hobby and their proportional control system has been much applauded, with many eagerly awaiting subsequent releases to add to their collections.

Following on from our first REVIEW of this new line of 1/24 RC tanks which initially comprised the Tiger 1 and Sherman, we now take a look at the third tank in the WW2 series, the King Tiger. Of course it's worth pointing out that Unimax are the first to offer an RTR King Tiger in this scale and, following on so quickly after the Tiger 1 and Sherman is indicative of Unimax's interest and ability to provide many more new tanks for the hobby. Also, Unimax have demonstrated
a willingness to incorporate improvements of which I will note a couple in the following review.

Forces of Valor 1/24 King Tiger Battle Beam RC Tank
FOV have produced a nice looking King Tiger with zimmerit anti-mine paste coating and a soft edged brown camo pattern..

F.O.V. Tanks are VERY EASY for anyone to control. There are two sticks on the controller, one for each track. There are ten speeds on each stick, five forward and five reverse speeds. I've demonstrated in the video how the King Tiger can manoeuvre through tight spaces between model dragon's teeth. With the twin stick control it's easy to memorise how to operate them so you can concentrate on looking at the tank instead of the controller. Each stick also has a trim control which should be kept set to neutral.
 

The transmitter also has buttons for left/right turret movement, main gun firing and one button that cycles the barrel up/down. The transmitter requires a 9 volt battery.
 

F.O.V. tanks are equipped with a safety clutch which operates when the track encounters too much resistance or hits a solid object like a wall. This is a safety measure to prevent damage to the gearboxes. Whilst in my previous review I felt the clutch slipped too easily, with the King Tiger the clutch tension is about right, allowing operation and turning on resistant surfaces like grass without slipping which you can see in the video.
 

The sound effects are impressive for this scale, all can be heard in the video.
The King Tiger has a range of sound effects consisting of:
*Engine starting sound.
*Engine running sound (both at rest and while moving)
*Engine shut down sound
*Incoming explosion sound
*Main weapon firing sound

Sound is single volume at a fairly low level. The sounds can be turned off/on by holding down both turret rotation buttons on the controller for five seconds.
 

The King Tiger has a working front headlight which only operates while the tank is moving forward.
 

If left unattended for two minutes, the tank's engine shut down noise will be heard, after that, there is a two minute window where any command on the controller will 'wake up' the tank and the engine starting sound will be heard, if not, then it will be necessary to reset the tank manually with the on/off switch underneath the tank. The controller will also go into power saving mode if unused after four minutes and then requires a manual reset.

 

It is possible to program F.O..V. tanks to form into up to three different teams. This means that members of the same team will not be able to inflict damage, 'friendly fire' on each other.
To join 'team 1' hold down both the 'fire' and gun elevation button on the controller for 5 seconds and a beeping sound will be heard, repeat to join 'team 2' and again to join 'team 3', the beeping noise indicates which team you've joined.
 

Each tank comes with an infra-red target which has a power indicator light that flashes when hit, accompanied by an explosion sound, this takes 2 AAA size batteries.

BATTLE BEAM COMBAT

The IR combat system can score hits at a distance of up to 5 or 6 metres (15-18 feet) indoors. The IR beam emitter is located in the tank's barrel whilst the receiver target is the clear lens on top of the turret

*The tanks can fire shots at 2 second intervals..

*After being hit a tank can move but is 'invulnerable' to being hit for 5 seconds.

*After being hit for the 4th time, the tank's power indicator light will flash as a

warning that next time you get hit, 'you're dead'.

*When 'killed' after 5 hits, the tank will shut down and automatically restart after 30

seconds.

The King Tiger's tracks consist of individual 'click together' links. I found them to be adequately strong and had no problems with them coming apart nor any instance of track 'throwing'. The roadwheel sets are connected to individually sprung suspension arms, you can see the suspension working in the video.

The King Tiger requires 6 AA sized batteries, rechargeable is best, and depending on the capacity of batteries used, run times of around an hour are possible.

Aside from the IR target, both tanks come with:
*Spare track links
*Spare IR target lens
*Turret mounted machine gun which is made from rigid plastic and not soft like the Tiger 1 and Sherman which is a good improvement.

Unimax aren't shooting for 100% scale accuracy, in favor of durability, having said that, most hobbyists will be happy with the level of detailing provided, anyway, you can make your own mind up about that from the photos.. Moreover, Unimax are continuing to lead the way with proportional control and innovative IR features like targets and team setting ability which put Unimax at the forefront in the development of IR tank combat gaming in any scale at the moment.