Newbie in need of advice

[robbieandshea]

Hi All

I am completely new to the world of RC tanks and looking for advice before I spend a fortune, having been nosing on here for a couple of weeks I thought I should perhaps introduce myself and actually ask!

I have been into building scale models most of my life and enjoy the hobby very much, however, I have a 5 year son who gets very irritated by the fact that the models he watches daddy build don't do anything and worse still he can't even touch them! This has actually led me towards getting quite bored with the hobby and I'm now wanting to build things that actually move.

So far I have spent a long time looking at the Heng Long range (mostly because it's the only range that seems to fit my budget). I'm attracted to the Tiger 1 because there seems to be a lot of aftermarket detailing parts and upgrades available that would allow me to create a good scale model for display, at the same time the Heng Long models seem to be good for 'playing with' in the garden by myself and my son.
My thoughts so far are that I can purchase a Heng Long RTR model and then potentially purchase a spare body so that we can have the tank running whilst I work on detailing and adding all the extras to what will become the permanent body of the model once finished, that way I get to model without being constantly asked when will it be finished.

Does this sound like a sensible idea or crazy plan?
Also, what 'none cosmetic' upgrades are likely to be needed I've read about swapping the hull for a metal one, upgrading gears, and so on, do my requirements of having a good scale model that can run in the garden need any of this?
I've also considered the 1/35 Tamiya RC kits, mainly because the scale allows for so many conversion opportunities in the long run but also because it allows me to model trucks, jeeps and other items in the same scale. Has anyone had experience with these kits?

All help and advice is much appreciated
Thanks
Robbie

[971wright]

Hi Welcome to the forum, If you are going to let your son play with them, May I suggest that you buy the I.R. version of the Heng Long tanks. Reason is safety the BB versions fire 6mm balls that could hit your son some of them do hurt and if they hit in the face could do damage to his eyes. The I R versions only fire a Infra red beam (just the same as you T.V.) so no chance of doing any harm, I you have 2 of them you can battle them against each other. The I.R. versions tanks are the Stug III ,Panther G (make sure it says Panther g there is a very old model out still on sale of the Panther not a good model),Jagdpanther and Sherman. I have not seen a ready to run Tiger.

hope this helps

regards pete

[Teo64]

Hi Robbie, welcome to the forum.
Your story seems my story some year ago.. . I toke my first HL 1/16 tank to play with my son. It was a BB tank. In a short time I bought another HL tank, It was a IR tank with recoil system. And at the end I added the function IR on my BB tank to play IR battle with my son.

The firts tank is a Tiger I the second is a Panther G ( a real Panther G as explained by 971wright).

If you want to play in the garden I suggest to you a RTR 1/16 tank. The most common mechanical and simple upgrades (but not mandatory for a normal use) are a low ratio gear box, more rigid suspensions and metal tracks ( by this upgrades you will have a more realistic tank, ready to go everywhere ) .

And more costs of course... . To buy an addition body could be an idea. But in this case you will have less possibility to choose between the different tanks and I'm not shure that to find a complete body will be cheap.

For that reason the suggestion of 971wright to have 2 tanks could be an idea... .

Notice, the new generation of 1/16 HL tanks and of other brands is based on a 2.4 ghz transmitter and receiver. But there are on the market a lot of tanks 1/16 based on crystal transmitter and receiver.

[robbieandshea]

Hi Both
Thanks for the replies I appreciate the info so far. Agree about the IR version being the best option (my wife has actually TOLD me NO to a BB version anyway, for health and safety reasons ha). The Heng Long tanks with the metal tracks and gears were what I was looking at so glad to hear your suggestions regarding the upgrade and perhaps good advise regarding the body as well, I'll certainly take that into consideration.
I have noticed several Tamiya Shermans coming up on ebay as well and as 2nd hand kits they're not that much more expensive than the Heng Long models, I've built many Tamiya kits so know the accuracy and engineering is good, how do they compare with the Heng Long and WSN models?
I also keeping thinking about the 1/35 scale option for some reason as well, from what I've discovered about this hobby so far its a mine field!
One other thing if anyone can help, I'm looking for suppliers on the internet and the one that keeps popping up and has the biggest selection is Tankzone, I noticed that it was blacklisted under venders on here and has some bad feedback. Is it best avoided and if so what other venders are around with a similar selection?
Thanks again

[jarndice]

Robbie, Hi and welcome to the Forum, First take the advise of someone who has been ripped off by TANKZONE, AVOID as though they had the black death. there are a lot of top dealers out there, two who will be pleased to provide you with a Heng Long, Taigen (recommended) Torro (recommended) Tamiya ( only if you are extraordinarily wealthy) Tiger 1, or any other Tank in 1/16 R/C are www.welshdragonmodels.com or Dave Forgebear on E-BAY or theallertons@fsmail.net the service that both Steve at WDM and Dave provide are the watchword in good business practice, I know nothing about other scales but plenty of other people here will help, as to buying two Tanks, oh yeah, after a couple of years in this lunacy you will wish you had taken on something cheaper and less habit forming like mainlining heroin, I would pay a lot of attention to the HENG LONG BUILD section on the Forum if you intend fitting upgrades to your Tank as what fits a Heng Long Tank will usually fit any other in the same scale, electronics excluded. There is a lot more to say but everyone else will fill you in, You want to know stuff ASK and if you know stuff TELL us. Enjoy, shaun

[Horses45]

Hi Robbie and welcome to the forum,this is a mine field to what you want ,I have torro ,heng long and tamiya tanks and the prices can change for the upgrade parts that you want. But for service I have never had any bad service from forgebear and great advice if your not sure but I won't say tankzone ripped me off but there after service left a lot to be desired but again a lot of different people have different budgets as to what they can do,in the end only you can decide on your budget and which models you will be able to do.but the advice on here should help out which ever you choose and I look forward to seeing which you pick

[billpe]

I've built many Tamiya kits so know the accuracy and engineering is good, how do they compare with the Heng Long and WSN models?

You get what you pay for. The HL kits are ready to run but you can spend a fortune on them to bring them up to Tamiya spec but you'll always have to contend with the cheaper and often brittle ABS they use. Cheap and cheerful. For your purpose, I'd get a couple of stock HL tanks and see how it goes. They're fun and quality is getting better all the time.

Also Tamiya's are not as expensive as you'd think. The Tamiya King Tiger now goes for £400 plus postage, even with a £100 TX/RX its probably a better option then bringing any pre-built KT tank up to spec. To give an example, I have a Taigen Tiger, with all the standard metal options, black steel gears, lots of additional fittings like metal road wheels and stock electronics and it cost me about £100 less than my Tamiya Tiger 1. To bring its electronics up to near Tamiya spec would cost me another £100+ meaning it would be more expensive in the end.

[PainlessWolf]

Good Afternoon,
Robbie and Shea, welcome to the Forum. Lot of good guys here with knowledge to help out. Once you decide what you want and have them running, please post pictures. We like to chat and kick the virtual road wheels around here. ;o)
regards,
Painless

[Marc780]

I built many 1/35 scale and 1/24 scale tank models, starting in the '70's. For a tank that drives, there are several good reasons to skip them completely and go straight to the heng long tanks: first, there is no room inside for the hard ware! And they are priced the same as the heng long 1/16 scale tanks! Also the parts to mod them are scarce. I don't bother with these smaller scales anymore.

As far as buying a tiger 1- at hobbygasm.com if you buy now they have a promo code for 20% off or something close, I don't have the code (its for Father's Day so only good a few more days) you can find the code with google..If I find it later today I'll edit the comment and put it here but I can't find it at the moment I am on my phone. I got a tiger 1 for $65 shipped price.

Comparing tamiya to heng long is like comparing a rolls Royce to a toyota. Both have the same type of 4 wheels touching the ground and both will get you exactly where you want to go.

Youve probably seen tamiya prices, if i were spending that much I'd simply get a full metal hull taigen tank, to me a much better value! The parts don't interchange with HL and not sure they are much better anyway- I bought some tamiya zimmerit sheets and they were pathetic...

A Good place to buy parts for HL is Ali express. Jack Wang is a good reliable vendor there. You cannot trust every vendor there however there is a heng long store and a mato store there and they are reliable also.

The first upgrade I recommend is the heng long 2.4ghz radio system. At $80 the price is a bit steep. But if you find the performance of your new tank is erratic, and this bothers you, don't bother spending (wasting) money and time trying to fix it, I'd go ahead and get the 2.4ghz system -it is very easy to install.

[ALPHA]

I built many 1/35 scale and 1/24 scale tank models, starting in the '70's. For a tank that drives, there are several good reasons to skip them completely and go straight to the heng long tanks: first, there is no room inside for the hard ware! And they are priced the same as the heng long 1/16 scale tanks! Also the parts to mod them are scarce. I don't bother with these smaller scales anymore.

As far as buying a tiger 1- at hobbygasm.com if you buy now they have a promo code for 20% off or something close, I don't have the code (its for Father's Day so only good a few more days) you can find the code with google..If I find it later today I'll edit the comment and put it here but I can't find it at the moment I am on my phone. I got a tiger 1 for $65 shipped price.

Hey Mark... here's your code FATHERLOVE15...it's only 10% off...but free ship for orders over 49.00
http://hobbygasm.com/blogs/hobby-blogge ... promo-code

Man .... why was the Mothers day code worth more ..............

ALPHA