Best buy advice

[byron185]

Thinking about getting a tank need some advice

What's the best I can buy on a budget upto

[Noj]

What are your ultimate plans for it Byron?

250 should net a decent Taigen pro with the black steel gearboxes and metal tracks, likely to be a BB version though. Essentially, avoid using the BB's and convert to an led....

Have a look at rctank.de as they are excellent. Torroshop.de is also worth a comparison on.

Be careful in your choice, there are brass, white and black metal boxes fitted across the range, the black steel are durable.

All ideally need a board, speaker, smoker and radio gear upgrade for proper realism....which is where the costs rise.... I guesstimate my Panther has easily had a couple of hundred spent on brass etch detail parts and a new smoker, new board is yet to be purchased

HTH. The man from Derby and AJ know a fair bit so hopefully will add their comments

[johninderby]

As above Taigen or Toro can be had for that price. There are some on eBay as well. Forgebear is a really good eBay seller who specialises in parts but does sell some Taigen tanks as well.

The key bit to look out for are tanks withi the metal lower hull. Particularily on eBay you'll see Taigen and Torro Tanks advertised as full metal when they aren't and just have some metal parts, not the metal lower hull. Actullay the so called full metal Taigen and Torro still have plastic outer hulls but metal inner hulls and metal turrets.

John

Edited April 2, 2015 by johninderby

[Tamiyacowboy]

i got a heng long battle tank, BB version. 

 

 

if i had the money i would have got a taigen or a torro machine, as they are more upgradable by far,

but alas im budget wise, so my whole kit cost

Edited April 3, 2015 by Tamiyacowboy

[byron185]

thanks for the advice

 

i prefer to buy something RTR as i just don't get the time to build 

 

what about the below

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RC-Tank-Taigen-Panzer-IV-1-16-Hand-Painted-Full-Metal-2-4GHz-/121601854992?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c50090e10

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RC-Tank-Taigen-King-Tiger-Tank-1-16-METAL-UPGRADE-hand-painted/121605766518?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D29952%26meid%3D22db553e5c5e495e94a4303bc81ad59c%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D121601854992&rt=nc

[Noj]

http://www.rctank.de/24-GHz-KING-TIGER-SPECIAL-EDITION-AIRBRUSH-Gun-action-recoil-Battle-system-IR-Smoke-and-sound

Haven't done the conversion, however, that is a better Koenigstiger....

I think the panzer IV is OK, trying to find more info re the 'boxes and running gear. The battery install from the bottom, rather than by removing the hull puts me off....

[johninderby]

The first one is OK but isn't a full metal version. It has plastic road wheels and a plastic lower hull and plastic turret. It doies have metal tracks but I think it has the cast white metal gears and not the steel gears.

The King Tiger does not have the metal lower hull either but the description is more honest. Just says metal upgrades.

Unfortunately the good Taigens start at about

[Tamiyacowboy]

not bad but i never been a fan of ebay myself 

am sure the guys will pop in and have a look to and offer better opinions. 
that one is a BB version  but you can also get IR versions so you can battle other tanks ( they take a hit register and the tank fails- ie a track fails to run, the turret turns slower or jams etc etc )

but a bb version is just that shoot a pellet without much aiming , the ir system  has that feature of hit register and damage effects.

 

Edit, 

 

maybe do this and get a cheap tank to test the water with. if you have a son or a younger family member it can be handed down or even used in battle against you.

you could pick up a used heng long for like 60 quid , have a play a tinker, shove a larger battery in etc etc and fire BB if you wish.

then if Armor takes your fancy you know what a cheapy is like and your more open to the more expensive models 

Edited April 3, 2015 by Tamiyacowboy

[shepp75]

Heng Long and Taigen are basically the same company, like Toyota and Lexus, they just add all the upgrades to a standard Heng Long and then charge an arm and a leg for them, don't get me wrong depending on what you use them for they can be a good choice, but buy used they are not worth the new price imo.

 

Metal upgrades may sound like a good thing but it adds a lot of weight and will put extra strain on the gearboxes and struggle to run well on grass, I am a member of a club who meet up for IR Battles at various shows around the UK, most of us use Tamiya Tanks or Heng Long with after market electronics like El-Mod or DBC, we all use plastic tracks for better manoeuvrability which helps a lot after taking a couple of hits and the tank starts to slow down.

 

For your

[raff113]

Im also looking to buy my first rc tank to use in garden  , couple of questions before i buy , how well do they hold up do they break easily , should i buy a cheap heng long or put the extra for taigen , why do tamiya kits cost so much , is there a waterproof tank for mud /wet grass 

[johninderby]

The Taigen "full metal" tanks are the ones to go for and are pretty durable and will stand up to being driven outside. Although they're called full metal they're not. It's the inner hull, and running gear (the important bits) that are all metal. The upper hull is plastic but often the turret and gun are metal as well. 

 

The cheaper heng long being all plastic are fine indoors but prone to breakages if used on rough terrain. Some heng long do have metal parts but you have to check the desciptions carefully to see exactly what parts are metal. Also go for a tank with 2.4ghz radio system. 

 

The Tamiya are more detailed (the newer ones particularily) but generaly not as tough as the Taigen.

 

You won't find waterproof scale tanks but they generally can stand up to wet grass OK but mud will clog up the moving parts pretty quickly. 

           John

[turok007]

 

[mond]

18 hours ago, johninderby said:

The Taigen "full metal" tanks are the ones to go for and are pretty durable and will stand up to being driven outside. Although they're called full metal they're not. It's the inner hull, and running gear (the important bits) that are all metal. The upper hull is plastic but often the turret and gun are metal as well. 

 

The cheaper heng long being all plastic are fine indoors but prone to breakages if used on rough terrain. Some heng long do have metal parts but you have to check the desciptions carefully to see exactly what parts are metal. Also go for a tank with 2.4ghz radio system. 

 

The Tamiya are more detailed (the newer ones particularily) but generaly not as tough as the Taigen.

 

You won't find waterproof scale tanks but they generally can stand up to wet grass OK but mud will clog up the moving parts pretty quickly. 

           John

I've got and had most 1:16 tanks by most manufacturers and Taigan in general are no tougher than Tamiya. They all have issues here and there but the best runner by far is the Tamiya Leopard 2A6. That's entirely plastic but high quality and a really sound, strong design. The all metal fad is just making up for poor design and a pain to work on. Metal hulls, tracks, drive sprockets and idlers are fine but metal turrets are a pain to work on and cause the hull top to sag. I wouldn't get another. It's also more strain on gear boxes and the idler mounts.

 

The Taigan Tiger is OK but when it comes to the Tiger the Tamiya is by far the best of the lot. Ive had the HL, Taigan and Tamiya versions. The King Tiger and Panther not so much, Taigans Panther and King Tiger are probably the better versions but have some cosmetic issues.