about to buy first tank . heng long sherman?

[will]

Hello.

Although I say first tank, several years ago I had a H.L Bulldog. All I did to that was paint it.
Compared to the Tamiya I found the sounds and operating toylike.

Having got Christmas and a string of birthdays out of the way, I am looking to buy a H.L Sherman.
I have seen one on EBay for £139 that has metal tracks and gear boxes. Is this a good starting point ?
Would I be better with a more basic version and upgrade as I go along ?
If I do start with this one what upgrades should I consider?

Also are there any members in the North Derbyshire South Yorkshire area?

Thanks everyone.

[ALPHA]

Greetings ....I have no idea of how prices go in the UK....But I would say that's pretty much on the money cost wise...Usually I would recommend you go with the premium model...but when it comes to the Sherman...maybe not...the Basic that comes with the 3rd gen 2.4 might be better....reason I say this is because the upgrades available just make the tank that much better....there are several different types of tracks ...tracks that will not work with the stock HL sprockets ...the variety of gearboxes available are better as well ...they go from medium 3.1 (stock) to 5.1 low ratio ...and there are a lot of metal accessories as well....you may want to browse Forgebear's EBAY storehttp://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/forgebear/m.h ... pg=&_from= or contact him here on the board..he is a member and a really good guy

Personally I like HL...But keep in mind there are two full metal Shermans ....one by Taigen ...the other by Mato....the drawback to full metal is you can't fiddle with it as much as the plastic HL ...so if you enjoy "modelling"...the HL would be the way to go...If you just want to plug the battery in and run...you might consider the other two

Good Luck

ALPHA

[tao]

You could do metal lower/tub and plastic upper?

[ALPHA]

You could do metal lower/tub and plastic upper?

Not without a lot of modification Tao... I have a Mato Metal hull I was going to put on one of my shermans...it's not an easy transfer...for one thing the gearboxes mount differently...and if I wanted to use the three piece transmission cover I have on it ...there is even more metal removal to be done ...not sure about the Taigen Hull...have seen it... but haven't put it under the microscope so to say

With that said though...all the running gear ...bogies ..suspension...idler...idler adjuster ...metal light guards etc...can be used with no problem

ALPHA

[RobW]

I'd look at getting the 2.4 GHz system Sherman, and then adding bits as you decide to upgrade. May not be as cheap, but much more fun!

I'm in Sheffield, but go to the Grantham club meets as it's actually easier than Manchester. viewtopic.php?f=178&t=14841 Good bunch & plenty of expertise to help out with various issues.

[will]

I'd look at getting the 2.4 GHz system Sherman, and then adding bits as you decide to upgrade. May not be as cheap, but much more fun!

I'm in Sheffield, but go to the Grantham club meets as it's actually easier than Manchester. viewtopic.php?f=178&t=14841 Good bunch & plenty of expertise to help out with various issues.

Thanks for your reply, and advice working to a budget I will probably follow your suggestion buy the 2.4 and add over time.

How long have you been into this hobby, are there any other members locally, as I am in Dronfield.

I have looked into the Grantham meets, my problem is that I'm now part of a large family that like to meet on a Sunday, however I will work on household management and see if I can get a pass on the occasional Sunday.

[will]

Thanks for all your advice guys.

Sadly metal hulls are out of my budget at the moment.

[RobW]

Thanks for your reply, and advice working to a budget I will probably follow your suggestion buy the 2.4 and add over time.

How long have you been into this hobby, are there any other members locally, as I am in Dronfield.

I have looked into the Grantham meets, my problem is that I'm now part of a large family that like to meet on a Sunday, however I will work on household management and see if I can get a pass on the occasional Sunday.

Bring them with you! There's a shopping centre (1 mile) & pub (50 yds) to keep those that don't want to join in entertained.

[deathrawt]

welcome aboard! the heng long Sherman is a good tank to start out with. The control and sounds however are not going to be any much better then the old bulldog that you had. Its an easy fix, an IBU or clark will solve that issue and there are lots of different ways to build and modify the Sherman so its a good base to start out with

[ALPHA]

Yup Heng Long makes a great Sherman
You can keep it stock or get fancy ...as it is a super user friendly foundation


These two are mine...and are probably my favorite tanks to run
They both have been pretty heavily modified from stock...mostly aesthetics ...The first one has a FOV metal hull...the second a Mato (cast version) plastic hull
Both are 2.4 gig...all internals had to be retrofit ...but that's the beauty of the Heng Long...don't think you can do these kind of Mods to a Taigen or metal Mato

ALPHA