Hello from Solihull
Hello from Solihull
Hi, I am a newbie about to buy my first tank. I have collected WWII memorabilia for a while and my wife's German granddad drove tanks during the war so feeling inspired to move from model railways to RC tanks. I will probably start with a Tiger 1 but will ask many questions I'm sure before my first purchase!
Currently stuck on the couch as broke my hip recently giving me plenty of time to research!
Currently stuck on the couch as broke my hip recently giving me plenty of time to research!
- jarndice
- Colonel
- Posts: 8327
- Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:27 am
- Location: the mountains of hertfordshire
Re: Hello from Solihull
Hi, Welcome to the Forum,
A Tiger 1 is a good place to start, lots of dealers and a mountain of upgrades and the Hull is big enough to work in !!
Do make sure you get a 2.4 Ghz model rather than old stock 27Mhz which are fitted with Crystals.
Have you checked the BLACKLIST ?
There are in this hobby some real crooks and some of them are listed here,
AVOID,
These names are here because too many of us have been ripped off in the past,
Go to the RECOMMENDED Vendors list where we shop.
As you are in Britain here are some of my own favourites,
http://www.welshdragonmodels.co.uk
Howes of Kidlington in Oxfordshire , A genuine Toy & Hobby shop.
and Dave at Forgebear also at
theallertons@fsmail.net
Both HOWES and FORGEBEAR have sites on E-BAY
You can trust these people and you will get a fair deal.
Ask all the questions you like we will try to give you a complete answer.
Shaun.



A Tiger 1 is a good place to start, lots of dealers and a mountain of upgrades and the Hull is big enough to work in !!
Do make sure you get a 2.4 Ghz model rather than old stock 27Mhz which are fitted with Crystals.
Have you checked the BLACKLIST ?
There are in this hobby some real crooks and some of them are listed here,
AVOID,
These names are here because too many of us have been ripped off in the past,
Go to the RECOMMENDED Vendors list where we shop.
As you are in Britain here are some of my own favourites,
http://www.welshdragonmodels.co.uk
Howes of Kidlington in Oxfordshire , A genuine Toy & Hobby shop.
and Dave at Forgebear also at
theallertons@fsmail.net
Both HOWES and FORGEBEAR have sites on E-BAY
You can trust these people and you will get a fair deal.
Ask all the questions you like we will try to give you a complete answer.
Shaun.
I think I am about to upset someone 

- jarndice
- Colonel
- Posts: 8327
- Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:27 am
- Location: the mountains of hertfordshire
Re: Hello from Solihull
If you are serious about researching the Tiger if you have not checked these out they are a good starting point,
WOLFGANG SCHNEIDER-TIGERS IN COMBAT, Volumes 1 and 2, quite pricey but a good list of Abteilung and individual Tank detail including where known turret numbers, and a lot of Photographs, I got mine from "AMAZON"
and a good Website for Armour is -
www.alanhamby.com
Make sure you have plenty of paper in your printer for the Alan Hamby website,
Shaun.
WOLFGANG SCHNEIDER-TIGERS IN COMBAT, Volumes 1 and 2, quite pricey but a good list of Abteilung and individual Tank detail including where known turret numbers, and a lot of Photographs, I got mine from "AMAZON"
and a good Website for Armour is -
www.alanhamby.com
Make sure you have plenty of paper in your printer for the Alan Hamby website,

Shaun.
I think I am about to upset someone 

Re: Hello from Solihull
Wow, such great responses already! I was going to buy the Heynes Toger 1 book, is that any good as a starting point for research? I will check out the other books and sites, thank you.
Thank you for the recommended retailers, that would have been one of my questions! I will look into the blacklist, I haven't seen it yet.
Shortly I'll post some of the possible options. They will typical beginner tanks but I still need advice. One thing I am keen on is proportional control and I am finding it very hard to know if a tank has that or not!
Thank you for the recommended retailers, that would have been one of my questions! I will look into the blacklist, I haven't seen it yet.
Shortly I'll post some of the possible options. They will typical beginner tanks but I still need advice. One thing I am keen on is proportional control and I am finding it very hard to know if a tank has that or not!
- jarndice
- Colonel
- Posts: 8327
- Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:27 am
- Location: the mountains of hertfordshire
Re: Hello from Solihull
I have a copy of the HAYNES book and it is well worth owning especially if your interest is in the early TIGER 1 but I figured that if you are going to be spending money on 3 or 4 1/16 RC Tanks (AT LEAST 3 or 4 ) (OH yes you will
) you might want to save money for the essentials.
Shaun.

Shaun.
I think I am about to upset someone 

Re: Hello from Solihull
I won't show this to my wife! I am obsessive so it wouldn't surprise me!jarndice wrote:I have a copy of the HAYNES book and it is well worth owning especially if your interest is in the early TIGER 1 but I figured that if you are going to be spending money on 3 or 4 1/16 RC Tanks (AT LEAST 3 or 4 ) (OH yes you will) you might want to save money for the essentials.
Shaun.
- jarndice
- Colonel
- Posts: 8327
- Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:27 am
- Location: the mountains of hertfordshire
Re: Hello from Solihull
Call me nosy if you like but is ZEFFER from the Ford Zephyr
or the KAWASAKI Zephyr 500/750/1100
Or some mystical semi shakesperian /weather related entity,
Please say it's the Kawasaki and was that the cause of the Hip?
Shaun.

or the KAWASAKI Zephyr 500/750/1100

Or some mystical semi shakesperian /weather related entity,

Please say it's the Kawasaki and was that the cause of the Hip?

Shaun.
I think I am about to upset someone 

Re: Hello from Solihull
I wish I was that cool!jarndice wrote:Call me nosy if you like but is ZEFFER from the Ford Zephyr![]()
or the KAWASAKI Zephyr 500/750/1100![]()
Or some mystical semi shakesperian /weather related entity,
Please say it's the Kawasaki and was that the cause of the Hip?![]()
Shaun.
I was the school photographer (26 years ago!) and the deputy head nicknamed me Zeffer after Franco Zeffirelli. I didn't know how to spell it so my version stuck!
The broken hip was from a bicycle. Very keen cyclist and was on my carbon fibre bike ten miles into a 65 mile bike ride when I hit black ice. In a split second I went from extremely fit to needing months of physio. Dynamic Hip Screw and lots of pain!
Re: Hello from Solihull
Welcome along!
You're in safe hands here.
There used to be a very good model shop in Nottingham that stocked both cheaper and more expensive tanks.
Probably he best idea is to buy a cheaper tank, see if you like it and then upgrade it.
Use it as a stepping stone to better models.
Some of us that are tanks nuts (myself included) go straight for Tamiya, but it's not everyone's cup of tea or price point. They ain't cheap lol
You're in safe hands here.
There used to be a very good model shop in Nottingham that stocked both cheaper and more expensive tanks.
Probably he best idea is to buy a cheaper tank, see if you like it and then upgrade it.
Use it as a stepping stone to better models.
Some of us that are tanks nuts (myself included) go straight for Tamiya, but it's not everyone's cup of tea or price point. They ain't cheap lol
- Panther Ausf G
- Corporal
- Posts: 457
- Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2011 1:18 pm
- Location: Bournemouth, Dorset. UK.
Re: Hello from Solihull
Hi Zeffer
Interesting intro.
Welcome
Hoping your health rapidly improves, modelling helps a lot. Especially Rc Tanks.
Very best of luck.

Interesting intro.
Welcome

Hoping your health rapidly improves, modelling helps a lot. Especially Rc Tanks.
Very best of luck.


We do not stop playing because we grow old.
We grow old because we stop playing.
We grow old because we stop playing.