Taigen T34 Metal chassis

[Jake79]

You probably already know this, the Taigen T34 metal chassis is now for sale at WDM, so if you don't already know, this might prove helpful as I'm sure a few of you guys were waiting on one...

[mcevoyi]

Hi jake

I did notice the tiagen T-34 metal chassis ,...then you need ...all sold separately suspension arms ...roadwheels ,...idelers ...drive sprocket ...and tracks ...

Add it all up ....i rather 2 standard out the box hl T-34 or ..8 1/16 hobby boss kits !

Hmmm lets see ? .......

[Jake79]

Hey Mcevoyi

Not me either fella, I remember people asking after it..thought I might give them a heads up if they hadn't seen it.....

[tomhugill]

Comes with suspension arms and gearboxes. Not bad in my book for £75!

[Jake79]

I think it's a good deal if that's what your looking for, works out your getting a set of 3/1 b/steel gears for about £20 plus the normal price of the chassis....

[MichaelC]

Comes with suspension arms and gearboxes. Not bad in my book for £75!

I was surprised that it came with gearbox and motors since none of the other Taigen ones do (Tiger I, Panther and KT). I got mine from Freaky Dude and it even comes with black gears and somewhat upgraded motors than what is shown on WDM.

I thought it was a pretty good deal myself. My SU-100 is getting the Taigen upgrade (new hull/wheels and sprockets).

MichaelC.

[KTRob]

I bought a white full metal T34 from RCTank DE. The gearboxes I believe are special to the chassis as they have been made to give the correct appearance at the rear of the tank.

Its a really nice tank, but I would make these observations:

The tracks to me seem tight from the factory. On mine the tensioner (which is a simple peg into a hole setup, like the HL), cannot be set slacker. If I put the included spare links in, even at full tension they are too loose. Not a huge problem but something to be aware of.

On the IR version the loaders hatch is solid, with the hole for the IR apple cut into it. I believe the BB version has an opening hatch. I assume the reason for this is there was insufficient space in the turret to recess the IR socket and fit in the asiatam style recoil unit.

The only other thing of note is that the suspension arms screw into the plastic part of the hull, which can cause the plastic part to splay out from the metal inner, I was a bit concerned about this, but then noted that Battle Armor RC posting as YHR on another forum had come up with a simple fix involving a drop of epoxy: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-tank ... ved-2.html

I haven't done the fix on mine yet, but in spite of thrashing it round the garden and other improvised obstacles, it hasn't broken.

Other than these points I was well pleased with mine. The details good and the quality of the tracks, wheels, etc. is very good.

Will post some pics tomorrow.

Rob

[PainlessWolf]

Good evening,
Looking forward to pics. Like the Pershing redo I am undergoing now I have promised another old friend an eventual redo. That tank is an early WSN T-34\85. It is a beautiful tank with many model parts to add to it's finished appearance. It suffers mainly from electronics that are Stop\Full Speed and some really silly sound effects for it's recoiling main gun. The plastic suspension arms have benefited from the tank being display blocked but any appreciable time in use and they get a little bowlegged. I was really excited to see the all metal Taigen T-34\85 come out because I knew that a slew of separate to purchase parts would be available as well. Now, I am thinking how much of a beating I will go through to swap out the electronics and gun LED and the lower hull and running gear for one of Taigen's excellent offerings?
regards,
Painless

[KTRob]

Hi Painless, I don't think you will have two much trouble with the WSN onto this hull, it fits quite well (I have an old WSN converted to HL electrics). It will of course be the electrical conversion that's the difficult part.

Pics:



The gap may be because mine had the front fenders chopped off by the guy that made it.



Theres a piece of plasticard in the corner with the gap with a magnet in it so as standard it should fit.



Looks Ok, I imagine you would need to make some attachment points in the WSN hull for the taigen latch system.

Pics of the T34:



Side View



360 Turret like Tamiya



Turret showing IR Port drilled direct into solid hatch



Runs well off road



Rear View



Underside of Hull



Inside Hull, note smaller battery. It is still possible to use a standard battery but you have to rearrange the speaker and MFU



Christie suspension is reproduced. Arms screw into plastic, not the metal hull wall, but seem OK .



Slip ring on 360 Turret



Turret MG LED

As I said quite pleased with mine. Might at some point engineer something so the suspension arms are attached to metal, but seems ok at the moment.

[PainlessWolf]

KTRob,
Thank you very much for the pics. They offer some solid assurance that with a little elbow grease applied, I can pull off the WSN upgrade I have in mind. ;o) Despite the trifling oddities like the solid hatch mount for the Battle Unit, I think Taigen has a complete winner on their hands with this tank. It is beautiful to the eye and from reports has performance to match.
regards,
Painless