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RC Tank Brands?

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 5:41 am
by foxtrotraptor
Hello guys me again

Question regarding brands.

So far its read about Heng Long, Taigen, Tamiya and Torro tank branks. Seems that HL is the entry level when it comes to RC Tanks while Tamiya is top of the line and very expensive. Like most of you have said HL they come with problmes which I personaly dealt with already with my HL Tiger 1. I also just recently purchaced a Taigen King Tiger (waiting for it to be shipped). Now I got it at a sale price of 229 USD, but according to the site regular price is 400 so my question is compared to HL which is about 120 (after the problems I had ebay seller refunded me 25 USD so my HL Tiger one ended up being 95 USD) for a upgraded version, what is the qulaity diffrence between the two Heng Long and Taigen? I belive i read on one post that Taigen are Heng Longs with upgraded parts? Is this true? and if so what exatcly are the diffrences to justify the huge price diffrence?

Thank you

Re: RC Tank Brands?

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 8:20 am
by Tiggr
Two main differences :

1. Build quality
2. Lots of parts in metal.

Re: RC Tank Brands?

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 2:20 pm
by c.rainford73
I agree with Mr Tiggr... By the time you buy bits to bring a standard Heng Long to Taigen specs you would have outspent the best Taigen prices. I know I've done it many times. If you look at the king tiger you just ordered the metal road wheels kit alone would cost about $90.00 US plus the other metal bits.

Re: RC Tank Brands?

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 2:58 pm
by jarndice
I like to build Tanks ,
That way I get a Tank that is closer to my idea of which Tank in any particular part of its service it looks like,
So whenever possible I start with a Metal Hull,
This can have its downside >:<
With a Tiger 1 I buy a Taigen Metal Hull BUT the Body and Turret will always be Heng Long,
It annoys the very devil out of me that years after Heng Long stopped moulding tools and fittings into their Tank's and instead allows them to be "POPPED OFF" Whilst the supposedly "Better" Quality and more expensive Taigen and Torro Tanks are still fobbing us off with a Tank body that requires hours of painstaking attention to detail removing the moulded on tools and fittings,
I always change the control board but everyone with a new Heng Long Tank has high praise for its Electronics and vastly improved sound quality.
If you want a Tank that will run out of the box and you have no desire to upgrade or alter it by all means get a Taigen or a Torro BUT if you do want to "Improve" your Tank then the Heng Long body with the Taigen metal hull is a no brainer.
Yet again it is horses for courses.
Shaun.

Re: RC Tank Brands?

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 10:21 pm
by foxtrotraptor
Tiggr wrote:Two main differences :

1. Build quality
2. Lots of parts in metal.

That I could tell about the metal parts. I cant wait for it to arrive to compare side by side

Re: RC Tank Brands?

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 10:28 pm
by foxtrotraptor
c.rainford73 wrote:I agree with Mr Tiggr... By the time you buy bits to bring a standard Heng Long to Taigen specs you would have outspent the best Taigen prices. I know I've done it many times. If you look at the king tiger you just ordered the metal road wheels kit alone would cost about $90.00 US plus the other metal bits. Image

I did notice that. I was crunching some quick numbers before I made the order for the Taigen. To get a henglong KT with all the metal parts and upgrades im looking at almost 400 USD maybe even more depending on taxes and shipping , thats assuming all goes well and all my orders arrive in one pice and in working order. That still isnt including the time it takes to install said parts thats IF I am able to install them correctly, AND still would not get a great paint job. From what ive seen the paint job on the Taigen KT is very nice compared to the HL KT

Re: RC Tank Brands?

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 10:43 pm
by foxtrotraptor
jarndice wrote:I like to build Tanks ,
That way I get a Tank that is closer to my idea of which Tank in any particular part of its service it looks like,
So whenever possible I start with a Metal Hull,
This can have its downside >:<
With a Tiger 1 I buy a Taigen Metal Hull BUT the Body and Turret will always be Heng Long,
It annoys the very devil out of me that years after Heng Long stopped moulding tools and fittings into their Tank's and instead allows them to be "POPPED OFF" Whilst the supposedly "Better" Quality and more expensive Taigen and Torro Tanks are still fobbing us off with a Tank body that requires hours of painstaking attention to detail removing the moulded on tools and fittings,
I always change the control board but everyone with a new Heng Long Tank has high praise for its Electronics and vastly improved sound quality.
If you want a Tank that will run out of the box and you have no desire to upgrade or alter it by all means get a Taigen or a Torro BUT if you do want to "Improve" your Tank then the Heng Long body with the Taigen metal hull is a no brainer.
Yet again it is horses for courses.
Shaun.
I thought about that when I first considered getting into RC tanks, but as soon as I saw the price tag and the large amount of parts that I would have to put together I knew that I would be in over my head lol :wtf: but the idea does sound cool to build it yourself. Maybe later on down the line If i get a promotion at work :lolno:

Re: RC Tank Brands?

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 10:48 pm
by foxtrotraptor
Son of a gun-ner wrote:Originally taigen were upgraded Heng-Long, then they made their own upgrade parts, their own electrics, their own IR system, and their own chassis, but now they're making their own hulls and turrets etc, etc. They still haven't got it fully right, but they are slowly getting there.
I guess taigen sit nicely in the middle between Heng-Long and Tamiya, there is still things one can do to improve taigen, just not as much as needed for a heng long.
For me, I buy taigen for ready to run fun, but heng long have more build fun potential, and one certainly gets to learn/understand how the tanks tick when one has to get a Heng-Long running correctly.

Mick.

Ah ok I see. Well then I guess Im at a good spot with my HL and Taigen, from the looks of it seems that my HL will be my run around beat up mod and paint rig, while my taigen will be my more cared for tank. :thumbup:

Re: RC Tank Brands?

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 10:56 pm
by foxtrotraptor
Thank you all for your input, I just needed to know where I was in the RC Tank world ladder. ANOTHER quick thing I noticed on YouTube while I was tryoing to find in deph reviews on RC Tanks.....I didnt really find any with the exception of one really good one from Australia. Most are just people running their tanks around the yard and so on. Not so much about the features quality of build, company history and so on. Once I get a hang of this new hobbie maybe Ill post a review of my two tanks, from a newbie fresh eye perspective :think:

Re: RC Tank Brands?

Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 11:25 pm
by 43rdRecceReg
I was going to say that the difference between Taigen and Heng Long is quality; but of late Heng Long have improved their inventory appreciably. The most obvious difference though, and one you'll notice immediately if you get involved in
enhancing the tank, is that most Taigen models have a quick release option that allows the upper and lower hulls to be separated in seconds. HL tanks require time and a screwdriver. As Jarndice (Shaun) has intimated, marrying a (separable) Taigen
lower hull up with a Mato or Heng Long upper makes good sense; especially for the upgrading dabbler. :D
Building your own tank from Taigen and Heng Long parts is much easier if the lower hull comes away in an instant...