The point of change

[Mister Thrice]

I wrecked my 1/8 rc again tonight. Went out for a little jaunt at a local school, saw and chased a rabbit, did not see the concrete footing for the portable. Lost my right hub carrier, the steering turnbuckle bar snapped in half, and the right spindle bit it too. Technically that's only like $75 in damage, but you have to buy everything in pairs, so $150 for the damage, and another $50 for the rest of the metal upgrade parts I dont already have, and my car will be ready to drive again. ETA: 1 month.

So that's on hold, my 1/12 buggy project is on hold ($200 for the final step on that guy too), and all that's left is my 1/18th monster truck, which, I wrecked a rim last week with, and am back to stock tires (which are trash). Having difficulty finding 1/16th monster truck tires or rims for such tires made of aluminum or steel. Looking for 75mm x 45-55mm overall tire dimensions, monster truck tread or something akin to the Pro Line Badlands, with solid rims. That's going to be a few purchases and theories and testing from what I can tell shopping so far...

It really seals the deal though. I want an rc I can drive for a lot longer than 10-40 minutes, something not designed to break the sound barrier, and something for light cruising, crawling, and indoor as well as outdoor fun. Year round. That I wont break every time I take it out.

So definitely going to follow through with the heng long walker bulldog with all the metal bits and the 7.0 system and bb/IR systems in one purchase. It's only a bit more than finishing one of my 2 bigger rc's, and I feel as though I will get much more play time and much less shop time out of the deal. I am looking forward to shop time, but a couple hundred bucks and waiting for shipping and shop time to drive every time is getting... Expensive in a few ways.

I've looked into Taigen, and I must say that the Panzer IV Ausf G Winter Metal edition is absolutely stunning, but also just a bit far off of the price of the bulldog, and the metal Tiger 1 from HL is much more (obviously). For the money I have to burn, the things I want it to already have and do, I think the HL Bulldog will be best. I like the beginner friendly aspect, as well as the higher ground clearance than most of the other HL tanks (very 3d environment out here), and honestly, the 76mm barrels on those things just look cool.

If you have any pointers about known issues with the model, or tips or tricks or suggestions, they would be much appreciated. I am aware of the stock BB's they come with being garbage with seams that jam the gun, so that's fun, and I'm aware that it's one of their least scale-accurate models, which I'm quite alright with, and some kind of water proofing to the computer board is going to be beneficial, but other than that, total noob here, and totally stoked to get playing with something that's not gunna snap on me each time I play with it. I get it, the rabbit was my fault, but man, I was sooo close! 3 feet from it!! I know I could never actually get it, but 3 feet, man, that's a personal best for me at least!! Worth it.

Also, weight distribution, I'm curious, would anybody know or recommend that the weight be more forward of the hull for 'climbing' purposes? I'm aware this thing is not meant to climb up mountains, but seeing them crest over even obstacles, I gotta wonder...

Thanks for reading my rabbit saga. I must admit, I feel a bit like Elmer Fudd. Girlfriend thinks it's hilarious.

Happy Mothers Day to all those applicable...

[Rad_Schuhart]

Beware, even when they are tanks, are still toy tanks, so driving them outside causes breakdowns too.

If you like super scale driving at crawling speeds, it can be OK, but grass, mud, sand, stones, sticks and all of that are serious issues for the tanks.

Many things will fail, you will start throwing or breaking tracks, suspension arms wear and many things more quite fast, but at least heng long replacement parts are easy to find and affordable.

I ended running my tanks indoors only, or at least over clean surfaces outdoors because I got tired of fixing things.

At least about running time, with a propper battery you will be able to run it for about 5 hours non stop. You will get bored of it before the battery is flat.

[Mister Thrice]

5 hours... Amazing! I've never been able to run any rc for 5 hours straight before, so that alone is going to be a new experience for me! I understand the maintenance and repairs of the parts that suffer the wear and tear, I suppose I'm curious to see how it compares to my monster trucks...

Crawling at scale speeds sounds like a fun, new switch for me. I watched a few dozen tank upgrade videos, including several going to brushless, upgraded motors (the primary upgrade for rc guys like me at least) and was quite unimpressed with the results. Speed does not seem to help much, nor does the prospect or shorter battery life impress me. So as far as 'upgrades' go, I must say, that's where your comment intrigued and inspired me.

I clicked your radindustries link to see your website. I found your page about the Beier SFR-1-D and printed it out. I will be reading this a few times, and downloading the manual very soon. That kind of customization is unrealistically appealing to me, and honestly, lights, sounds, and paint jobs, being able to drive indoors (none of my rc's are slow enough to drive indoors, I can feather the trigger, but slow for them is 5-10 mph bursts, and I'm still learning to adjust throttle and punch, mostly because I swap out motors or ESC's too often to dial anything in. But I think i'm dialed in now, so I can start learning the art of fine tuning) these are all aspects of the rc hobby I've not been able to enjoy yet. Honestly, my decision to get a tank was in comparison to an indoor rc rock crawler style rc truck (preferably with rear wheel steering already a feature). After heavy considerations, and seeing what the actual price tag would be (rc trucks are a beginning point, the upgrades can usually cost 3x what the rc truck did, easily) the tank came out on top in several categories.

I appreciate your advice, website, tips, and personal experiences. I've already learned more, faster, here, than a couple of months on youtube and asking all the wrong search questions in other rc tank (plus other vehicles) style forums. Looking forward to absorbing the rest of your website! Thanks again!

[HERMAN BIX]

Mr Rad knows what he's on about and is good at what he does.
Like any hobby, its as mad or as relaxed as you choose it to be, and that will be reflected in the final forms of your chosen machine's finished look & build spec.
Tanks by historical fact and design are not fast relative to other battlefield vehicles, but good luck using a converted Toyota Hilux('Technical') as a primary Battlefield Dominance Platform
No matter what you end up with, its your Tank done your way, and if thats a happy place for you, then thats the entire point.

[Rad_Schuhart]

Thank you guys, your words motivate me a lot!