Are Taigen/Torro going to kill the build market.

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ronnie42
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Are Taigen/Torro going to kill the build market.

Post by ronnie42 »

Soon Taigen/Torro will be the same price as a Tamiya or a high end kit . Thats if you upgrade to a new radio ,board ,servos and perhaps a track tensioner. Have a Taigen Panther F waiting to paint , just the bare hull and top. Done the servos for Turret, made a rain guard and installed an Elmod board, just can't be bothered now as its almost spot on . Had more fun with a Heng long panther , totally gutted. It was so bad only the swing arms and rear hull plate have not been fixed/altered. Beginning to think Hl and Tamiya are better value if you count time spent against build cost. Just thinking of all parts the HL needs to run properly .
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Son of a gun-ner
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Re: Is Taigen/Torro going to kill the build market.

Post by Son of a gun-ner »

Heng Long are like Marmite, you either love it or hate it.
The pros of Heng Long is the fun in getting it right, and you should end up with a more solid model at the end of it.
As for Taigen/Mato/Torro, they mostly run well to start with, and most of them have track tensioners. Yes, they will benefit from an aftermarket board and better controller. And that pushes the price right up, but they're still a viable and less expensive purchase than Tamiya.
Our most expensive tank so far is the Taigen Sherman, but it runs like a dream, and has no servos, and is the reason I've changed my mind about after market boards, this Sherman was going to be the only one with an after market board, but since seeing the difference, I've now got five more for planned builds.
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Re: Are Taigen/Torro going to kill the build market.

Post by Son of a gun-ner »

Sorry, I should have added.
When I joined this forum I was content to just purchase ready to run tanks, Taigen and Heng Long.
But seeing what people do with their tanks has changed my outlook, and I've been purchasing like mad stuff for many builds.
I think building, whether it be kits or scratch is down to the individual and what they want to get from the hobby, and their budget. But ready to run tanks are necessary for those that can't or won't do builds, or can't afford the higher costs.
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Re: Are Taigen/Torro going to kill the build market.

Post by dgsselkirk »

Template I do to HL's that I have done on at least 10 or 12 tanks. (forgotten as I have sold a few) Thought I would show one of my old boys and a tried and true battler... :D

Basic HL plastic model Sherman M4A3 BB purchase price $112 or less
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Upgraded-Heng- ... ctupt=true

Gut electronics, smoker and replace with TK22 Clark board and Tarr smoker and upgraded speaker and high power emitter $160. You can keep either the BB system intact or convert to IR which is what I do.
Gut battery box housing and put in styrene bracing and pour a resin base for rigidity of lower hull $15
Replace battery with nice 4200 MAH lipo that will run continuously for 4 or 5 hours $20
Use the BB system and gut out motor and replace with side mounted servo $5.00 (retain existing elevation system)
Replace plastic sprockets, idlers (Mato adjustable $25 or less), tracks with metal $100
Run plastic gearboxes until they break and replace with black steel gearboxes $40

Sell 2.4 system -$60

TOTAL: $392

This exact Sherman has been running and killing Tigers for over 5 years. NOW if you just want to make a runner and keep it shooting BB's obviously remove Clark board cost $95 bucks making it even cheaper.

Now, you will need a hobby grade radio to run the Clark board. You can spend as little as like 30 bucks for a 4 channel or grab a Turnigy 9X for like $60 bucks and have all the bells and whistles. You probably will want a Clark remote too to program the Clark board for changes. But this cost is spread over several tanks since a Turnigy can run up to 18 different tanks. I also add a Clark TBU base $15 that accepts Tamiya IR apple as that is the standard on the field but the apple travels between tanks so that cost is really spread out over years and number of tanks.

So really for around $500 bucks you can have a very good tank and radio and IR battle ready that can keep up with the best of them... :D
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General Jumbo01
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Re: Are Taigen/Torro going to kill the build market.

Post by General Jumbo01 »

That's a good summary of what its all about. As expensive or as cheap as you want to go, plenty of building / modding opportunities, respray etc, as personalised as you want. Heng Long and Taigen / Torro are just the same but Taigen / Torro offer their range with various levels of upgrading done already done for you.

Their latest MFUs have great sound and offer the ability to use hobby level radio gear (and even provide the conversion cables) so a 10+ channel system can be installed leaving spare channels for more custom features.

Building a Tamiya to the same level of a top level Taigen/Torro would require a second mortgage. BUT....

We have the choice. HL and Taigen won't kill Tamiya. Tamiya's pricing policy is doing a jolly good job of that all on its own.

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Ad Lav
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Re: Are Taigen/Torro going to kill the build market.

Post by Ad Lav »

LOL at the second mortgage comment for a Tamiya :D

Anyone with more than one Tamiya must have about ten mortgages :crazy:
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tomhugill
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Re: Are Taigen/Torro going to kill the build market.

Post by tomhugill »

General Jumbo01 wrote:That's a good summary of what its all about. As expensive or as cheap as you want to go, plenty of building / modding opportunities, respray etc, as personalised as you want. Heng Long and Taigen / Torro are just the same but Taigen / Torro offer their range with various levels of upgrading done already done for you.

Their latest MFUs have great sound and offer the ability to use hobby level radio gear (and even provide the conversion cables) so a 10+ channel system can be installed leaving spare channels for more custom features.

Building a Tamiya to the same level of a top level Taigen/Torro would require a second mortgage. BUT....

We have the choice. HL and Taigen won't kill Tamiya. Tamiya's pricing policy is doing a jolly good job of that all on its own.

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Only if you completely ignore all the european and overseas vendors and buy at MSRP from a UK stockist. Or fail to buy second hand from eBay or one of these fine forums!
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General Jumbo01
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Re: Are Taigen/Torro going to kill the build market.

Post by General Jumbo01 »

Not sure Tom. I'm sure Tamiya isn't basing its pricing policy on 2nd hand sales and l probably buy at least 50% of my gear from overseas and the same % savings can be made on HL/T-T as well. I'm not knocking Tamiya - l spend a fortune on their RC cars and trucks because l like what they produce but they are missing out on the swelling tank market.

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Re: Are Taigen/Torro going to kill the build market.

Post by ronnie42 »

Hi You can build / upgrade for any price range. Most have said you can build for say up to £500, thats fine. Everyone has missed the extra hidden cost books, tools, paint, weathering products etc.
With Taigen doing a paint job with a little weathering and reliable mechanics? why bother. If you look at Forgebears site and others lots of out of stock and low stock flags. OK you can put a request in for parts, but if you are new to the hobby and just searching for bits it can put you off.
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Re: Are Taigen/Torro going to kill the build market.

Post by dgsselkirk »

I was talking U.S. dollars not pounds so to convert my formula you are talking maybe 350 to 400 pounds for a nice combat ready model.

first, these are just my opinions of course... @)

Second, you think Taigen's paint jobs are remotely accurate and look good??? Certainly not if you are a builder.

Third, sorry, but their electronics leave a lot to be desired. For IR, their system is bad. The apples are by far the worst on the market. Sounds? meh, smoker? meh, radio? meh...

Fourth, we builders like books and like paint, and add on bits and pieces, and weathering, and stowage, etc.... We like bigger sounds, smoke, drivability, lights, cameras, smoother gearboxes, etc... That's the point, building a better researched tank all round from mechanical to aesthetic. There is not one Taigen tank I would buy out of the box for their prices and be satisfied with, sorry.

Fifth, you have to expect low inventories in such a small market of course. But really, I and lots of others here have many, many, sources so if one is out, move on to the next. The run of the mill models that are in production, the parts are generally easy to find and in fact make sure you really price shop because I find stupid things like turret motor that someone sells for like $35 bucks sells from someone else for $8 bucks. .And as always many of the guys on this site or others are more than willing to help you find that elusive piece or part for some rare beast you want to build.

Sixth, Taigen isn't stupid, they want to appeal to us builders too and I'm sure Eric will tell you how much influence we builders have had on some of the products they have recently put out. Why do you think they have a whole section devoted to selling the parts?

Seventh, if you are new to the hobby you probably aren't a builder right off the bat anyway.

The question was are they going to kill the builders market which is a niche of a niche of a niche the answer is not a chance.
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