I think you missed the irony, Rad, of calling a Tamiya 'overpriced'..when the 1:6 (?) HL Tiger 1 has stratospheric pricing.
Be that as it may, on the plus side, it's great to see competition and innovation out there in the model tank world. Given the limited market (but growing, I'd hope), it must cost quite of bit of money to invest in projects such as these, with no guarantee of a return on the investment.
HL don't seem to possess an equivalent team of researchers to that which Tamiya dispatched, armed with tape measures, note books, and tape recorders, to garner the vital statistics of our beloved armour...
It appears that they (HL) have an almost invariable dimensional formula that they stick to, from plastic through to eye-popping mega-scale CNC, despite the evidence of their (and more importantly
our) eyes.
Corrections are rare. This is because the formulaic approach to tooling, and moulding, is driven by economics.
I'd happily have all of Tamiya's 1:16 catalogue, if the models were half the price. As for the HL monster, with the improved sound effects, impressive pulling power and suspension, a price tag of £1,500 would seem more reasonable.

Just a thought...
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.