Howdy from WA

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Mister Thrice
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Re: Howdy from WA

Post by Mister Thrice »

EAO - 5000 mAh, nice! Yeah, my biggest r/c truck is a 1/8 scale, and it uses between a 3s and a 6s lipo, typically I run it on 4s, or 2x 2s 5000mAh batteries in parallel and I can get maybe 40 minutes out of it. While I haven't actually clocked it yet, I've passed a couple cars on the freeway where I drive parallel to said freeway. I'm guessing it tops out around 80 m.p.h., on a max discharge (100C+) 6s 7500 lipo, but again, I cant really drive like that for long. At 50 m.p.h. steering a vehicle with enough power to balloon it's own wheels becomes impossible. I could switch to road slicks, or something else along those lines, but again, these are for forest bashing. Backflips off trees, big jumps, hill climbs, think Redneck idiot, but scaled down lolz. So just like in Monster Jam, smoking engines, ESC's turned into small, expensive BBQ's, and the tire traumas... So many tire traumas... I recently had a wonderfully scenic crash with my tiny terror, my 1/18 monster truck. Doing about 40 down a dirt road, lost the steering, went off-road with haste, and somewhere in the bushes, what I'm guessing happened was I hit a rock about the size of a boulder to the car, so a 1/18 scale boulder, if you will, and that hit lauched the car, snapped the rim right off the axle, and all I saw was my rc truck about 3 feet off the ground flying into bush at speed, and a few inches behind it (also in the air) is the 1/18 boulder, and another few inches behind that was the tire, independently sailing along after the other two. Once the trio entered the bush, and the cacophony died, all I saw after that was the wheel roll back out of the bushes, and do the dramatic little tire roll wobble to the ground thing. Gawds I wish I got that on camera! I want a drone with 'follow me' to record the insane crap I get my poor little bashers into... I laughed the whole way home. I need metal rims...

I live in Lacey, washington, which is part of Olympia, and Tumwater. Their boundaries look like an ink blot test, so I consider all three to be one city. I used to be a union carpenter, but got real tired of fighting the freeway for 4-8 hours a day for 8 hours of pay.

I respect that! "only" got one tank? But it's a bad frikkn tank! All metal, that's the dream! The weight? The looks? That odd little part of my brain that says "yeah, this thing is BB proof" and laughs maniacally for a bit.... Yeah, I can't WAIT to get an all metal!!

Scale speed sounds very fun, and ideal. Though I do like the idea of having a switch that allows for a 2nd gear. Not that I want it to haul or anything, but an extra 4 miles per hour could come in handy here and there. An overdrive button to attempt a launch out of a stuck situation for instance...

This first tank is just for joy. Im not a history buff, but I do get interested in a thing, and then research the thing, then all the things like it, and things that could be like it. I have O.C.D. which is a blessing and a bane. So tank 1 - scale realism is not as important as having fun in the forest. It's getting a nasty paint job, post-apocalyptic Tank-Girl themed (super white trash, my apologies to all this may offend) and I am tinkering with the idea of a 2nd functioning barrel at some point. And laser sights, in 3 colors. And a really good camera on/along the barrel line for excellent FPV footage.

Though I did notice that the secondary exhaust on the back right exhaust is how this particular Bulldog is represented, and I know that they moved the exhaust to the forward fender in later models to avoid that nasty overheating. So I will NOT put the additional exhaust component on. O.C.D. baby, knowledge is good and bad! Once I know, I cant un-know!!

Second tank? It's looking like it's going to be metal. That one will depend on what I can afford! Paypal got this pay in 4 thing I try not to think about... Paypal got this pay in 4 think I try not to think about... (not a typo or copy paste, ya feel?)

You all rock, and I've enjoyed this. After some mothers day shenanigans, I'm going to start my forum osmosis processes. I gots gray matter to wrinkle!

Jee - Thanks a lot sir! Already on it!
“Don't slide down the rabbit hole. The way down is a breeze, but climbing back's a battle.” --Kate Morton
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jarndice
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Re: Howdy from WA

Post by jarndice »

To my everlasting sorrow an earlier member of the Forum a retired Marine and resident of the Hawiian islands the late Major General ALPHA :thumbup: was as out there as anyone in this Forum could ever be,
You would have loved his freewheeling attitude to our hobby,
He introduced Girls and Panzer to me and the rest of us :thumbup:
Not many heroes in this hobby but without a shadow of a doubt he was mine.
Have no fear this Forum has plenty of room for off the wall R/C Trucks and Armour and "Original" Paintwork won't faze us, So go to it and enjoy :clap: :clap:
I think I am about to upset someone :haha:
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Herr Dr. Professor
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Re: Howdy from WA

Post by Herr Dr. Professor »

Mr. Thrice: here's another choice to consider if you are not already familiar with Taigen Tanks and the US distributor/retailer: https://www.taigentanks.com/. (This retailer also sells modern HengLong main battle tanks.)

Consider starting with a Taigen tank. Taigen tanks initially cost more than HengLong tanks, but the lowest-priced Taigen tanks are already much upgraded from a base model HengLong. The choice can be less expensive in the long run, as Taigen may require fewer modifications.

I also like the new Taigen sound modules better than anything HengLong has to offer, although they certainly do not match the sound quality or programming flexibility available through more sophisticated boards and transmitters with which you may be familiar. The bad news is that neither Taigen nor, I think, even HengLong here in the US currently has a Walker Bulldog readily available. You could check eBay, and you can always check here about price, etc., before making the buy.

As to metal BBs: I am dubious. The 6 mm BBs for the "airsoft" tanks are most often shot by spring action and need to be light. Yet it is a
good idea get some better quality plastic BBs than come with a HengLong or Taigen tank. (For starters, check viewtopic.php?f=22&t=30971&p=305724&hil ... on#p305724.)

Others here on RCTW will disagree with me and "your mileage may vary." But it's worth a thought.
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jarndice
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Re: Howdy from WA

Post by jarndice »

A standard warning to all users of Heng Long/Taigen/Torro Airsoft Armour NEVER use the provided Pellets because they have a very nasty habit of jamming in the barrel and/or tearing the interior of the Airsoft mechanism,
Spend very little extra for hard seamless 6mm plastic pellets and fire without worry :thumbup:
I think I am about to upset someone :haha:
Mister Thrice
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Re: Howdy from WA

Post by Mister Thrice »

Jarndice - He sounds like a great fellow. I admire trailblazers, and myself have always been a black sheep. I have hundreds of hobbies and work through them seasonally, or in waves, whatever the waters dictate. I'm very much a unique thinker, and have a very different perspective than most I meet. I dont have much of an ego, as I dont have much use for one. I do what I do cuz I can and I want to, and Im certain nobody is in danger when I do it (unless it's just me hehe)
Thank you for the vote of confidence though, I'm terribly excited to get to the custom paint jobs, and with getting the girlfriend an airbrush set, she can teach me what the heck Im doing when it comes time.

I truly appreciate the intel about the BB's. I would have not done it when I got them and saw the seams though, one of my many hobbies is guns, all of them. I have a FIERCE lipo-upgraded NERF collection all the way up to guns, bows, crossbows, etc. I am big fan of the big bore blowguns. And archery. Old school archery. But I loaded .45 ACP's for many years, I prefer "hot & heavy" rounds, so more powder, heavier rounds. So I'm unfortunately particular about ammunitions of all kinds too, and this tank shooting mechanism takes up a LOT of space, so if I cant get it to shoot metal BB"s, it's going to have to be removed for my better, smaller systems! I want to fling a metal BB, not fire a nuke. I will find a way! Bwahahaha

Herr Dr. Professor - A) I absolutely appreciate that title. It's amazing, and friggin' regal. 2) I will definitely be looking into Taigen tanks. Honestly, I've only seen them a bit here and there. I only chose the Walker Bulldog from Heng Long for 2 reasons, one was there is an ebay guy with 2 of the specific one I want available (so I hope they dont both sell out in the next 5 days), and the other reason is it is not an entry level bulldog. It comes upgraded with the 360 turret (something I will absolutely NOT budge on), all metal tracks, Idler wheels, road wheels, and metal return rollers ("if the model has them" and I'm ignorant, but I'm working on it, so not sure what ones those are yet, forgive me), and the metal gearbox (another component I would not budge on). It's the 7.0 system which is great for stuff I dont understand yet, and comes with the dinky 1800mAh battery I wont want or use because it's probably a NiMH and I dont like those (battery snob too, waow, I'm kind of a prick...). I vape, and build vapes, and coils, and make e-liquid, and make small rc car batteries with my old vape batteries, but use better batteries, so get better wee rc batteries out of the deal. I'm also going to have the ONLY tank to roll up to a war vaping boysenberry donuts out of his dual exhausts... (no nicotine though, I pay a lot for that stuff and my tank doesn't need another nervous habit...)

So, ranty tirade complete, that is why I've chose this specific model. It's $327 blah blah blah shipping blah blah blah right now. Which seems like a pretty spot-on deal at the now. Conversely, the 100% metal Tiger 1 Heng Long is $800 blah blah blah shipping blah blah blah right now, and that's the other one I'm doing my best not to gawk at.

So, should Taigen have some such thing along above mentioned lines, I will certainly pay it great attention. I still have time to consider, and figured it would be smart to get on the forum before I spent anything. My car$ are needy.

Again, all of you, I truly appreciate your feedbacks and support. Tis an odd thing these days anymore, to meet like minded individuals with a positive thing to say about a wild thought I just had... Let alone the civility that keeps going the ways of so many dinosaurs... You are all stand up humans, and I appreciate it.

Sorry to drop an essay and bounce, but I got this Taigen site loaded up and the dang tab wont stop flashing things at me so I'm going to take some advice and go further down this rabbit hole...

See ya'll down there
“Don't slide down the rabbit hole. The way down is a breeze, but climbing back's a battle.” --Kate Morton
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EAO
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Re: Howdy from WA

Post by EAO »

EAO wrote:Hello Mr. Thrice,
With my upgrades it weighs in excess of 15 pounds and pretty much rumbles around like a real one.
Check that. I just weighed "Miss Piggy", and with a few BB's in the hopper and a full load of smoke fluid she tops out at 17 lbs. on the head! She's a bit porcine! :haha:

Cheers,
Eric.
"You can always tell a German, you just can't tell him much." Anonymous.

German cars, German girls, German beer, German firearms, German Shepherds, German motorcycles... Not necessarily in that order though!

UP THE IRONS!
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jarndice
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Re: Howdy from WA

Post by jarndice »

EAO wrote:
EAO wrote:Hello Mr. Thrice,
With my upgrades it weighs in excess of 15 pounds and pretty much rumbles around like a real one.
Check that. I just weighed "Miss Piggy", and with a few BB's in the hopper and a full load of smoke fluid she tops out at 17 lbs. on the head! She's a bit porcine! :haha:

Cheers,
Eric.
And that is an illustration of the "Law of diminishing returns", If you intend fighting your Tank then it's plastic everything and hang realism, It's light but it fights,
But if you are searching for "If it looks right it is right" then it is going to be all metal ie-- Plastic tracks on a Tiger 1 it looks like a toy, metal tracks on a Tiger 1 and it look great although you have to buy and fit Metal Wheels,Metal Gearboxes,Metal Sprockets,Metal Idlers and a Metal Hull, Lots of extra weight and a lot of extra load including on battery life and lots more money,
Still we don't care about the money do we? It's all about authenticity :crazy: :lolno:
I think I am about to upset someone :haha:
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Son of a gun-ner
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Re: Howdy from WA

Post by Son of a gun-ner »

Mister Thrice wrote:Son of a gun-ner - Do you think that the added weight of the metal tracks, idler wheels, a 7500mAh battery, and maybe some additional dead weight would help the tracks 'actuate' a bit more on their respective terrains? Been curious about that too, and weight placement within the chassis
Extra weight low down in a Sherman chassis won't hurt.
I have a few Sherman's, and the best runner is my grandsons Taigen M4A3 76, the whole bottom tub is metal. But it does need the upgraded stronger suspension that comes with it. Although the turret is mostly metal apart from the bottom plate, it has a plastic hull to help reduce the centre of gravity. Here are a couple of pictures of an unpainted one.
taigen-76-sherman-2_orig.jpg
taigen-76-sherman-13_orig.jpg
I'm extending a couple of Heng Long Sherman chassis for a couple of M4A4's, I am going to line the bottom with a minimum 1mm steel plate for rigidity and strength at the joins, which will also give some extra weight low down. Something I think I'll do to all my plastic Sherman's.

As for BB's, sadly the metal ones are too heavy for the standard airsoft mechanisms. I get best results with the polished bulldog ones.
10000-20g-bulldog-bb-at-just-bb-guns-aiesoft-shop-1-768x768.jpg
10000-20g-bulldog-bb-at-just-bb-guns-aiesoft-shop-1-768x768.jpg (71.72 KiB) Viewed 1071 times
However, I would be very interested in your solution for using steel balls :D
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tankme
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Re: Howdy from WA

Post by tankme »

I'm adding the metal VVSS suspension to a Heng Long based Firefly. I do actually prefer the weight of metal wheels and tracks - battery life be damned and I think the extra weight down low is a benefit for driving. A heavier tank just looks better driving IMO. I've seen those vids of battles at Danville and yeah the tanks are darting around everywhere. Not very realistic, but for them it's about the battle and not so much realistic driving.
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Mister Thrice
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Re: Howdy from WA

Post by Mister Thrice »

EAO - What a beast!! 17 pounds is impressive!! My 1/8 scale monster truck weighs 19 with her 4S lipo's in, and she is still mostly plastic!!

Jarndice - I wont be competing with anyone for quite a while. I'm terrible at finding groups of people for this sort of thing, and already have zero rc friends here, so I'm working on creating my own circle of rc nerds. My girlfriend has two daughters, and I love 'em, but got one of them hooked, and still working on the other... Moms thinking about it, and the kids dad could easily be persuaded, as he's a child at heart too. So, give me time, I will figure something out there!! But for now, it's looks and fun for me, that's all I'm after right now! I didn't mind paying more than double for this tank to already have the metal upgrades I could find, and they dont have a hull or the top plate/turret/barrel for the bulldog yet as far as I see, so I got what was available.

Son-of-a-gunner - Thank you for the info on those bb's, and for the pics on the custom! I love the concept, and also like the idea of interchangeable parts, so will be curious what kind of parts are compatible with the bulldog! This is going to be quite fun, and I can't want to be able to get the Hemtt truck & trailer to haul this tank around with... Too much fun!!

tankme - i'm going to agree 100% hombre, keep weight low for performance, and batteries can be upgraded. The looks of the mechanisms doing what they are supposed to do is one of the coolest parts about a scale anything, in my thoughts. I like the micro-articulations, they bring me quite a grin!!

Well, tomorrow's the alleged day gents. After a 3 day hold in Portland, and now 2 days past delivery due date, the thing should be here tomorrow. I cant believe how excited I am. I will be back soon, as I'll have things to say, and questions to annoy you all with!

Thanks again all, you're a stand up group!!
“Don't slide down the rabbit hole. The way down is a breeze, but climbing back's a battle.” --Kate Morton
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