Upgrading a plastic Torro Panther G

[Chelios]

Hey guys, I have a small question about my Panther G. I recently bought two Torro tanks for a pretty good price (200 EUR for both together). One is a Torro Tiger Pro version (metal tracks, sprockets, lower hull, barrel). The other one is a plastic Torro Panther G (it does have metal gears).

I feel I've gotten a really good price for these (especially the Tiger), but I am slightly underwhelmed by the Panther, being all plastic and less detailed. I've looked around and I could upgrade the Panther with a metal/plastic chasis, metal tracks/roadwheels/sprocket/drivewheels and a new upper hull with photo-etched parts and a metal turret/barrel for slightly over 300€.

Once done I would be at slightly over 400€ for a Panther with mostly metal parts with no upgrades to the electronics or speaker. I'm still fairly new to this, but would this be a sensible upgrade?

Pic of the haul (the 2 on the right are the new ones):

[PainlessWolf]

Good morning,
That's a definite deal on those two tanks. As far as the Panther goes, you can do a great detail job on it yourself by simply casting around for Tamiya Panther parts sprues online. Add in a touch of ABER brass detailing and paint all details to match along with some quality markings and you'll have a great tank as is. If you still feel the add-on bug's bite ( as so many of us do ) add some better gearboxes and metal tracks and sprockets\idlers. The tank should then keep you happy for some time to come. Full on metal lowers and bespoke electronics can come at a later date. ( The best way to rationalize spending money on this Hobby is to spread out the costs over time ;o) Whatever you decide to do, Have Fun!
regards,
Painless

[Soeren]

If the Panther upper hull you are talking of is the Taigen upper, then leave it like it is and follow the Painless recommendation.

The Taigen lower is a good upgrade though. For some ideas by a regular guy, you can have a look at this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=23958

Aber Offers a lot high qulaity stuff, Voyager on the other hand can be acquired rather cheap and still is a great upgrade over Torro/Taigen/HengLong.

EDIT: Dont go for the metal turret. You can easily modify the plastic turret to even better looks without the sacrifice of spending so much money.

[Chelios]

Thanks for the advice and you are definitely right, better slow down a bit and enjoy it

I'll start of with the Taigen lower hull in any case, as I don't quite trust the suspension on the all plastic lower hull that it has now.

Soeren, your Panther looks awesome. It's a goal for me to achieve something similar as well. I'll look into the Aber sets.