New and clueless

[Rodacademy]

Hi everyone
I am looking for advice. I wish to build a WW2 1/16 tank and I believe Tamiya kits are slightly better.
Is this true? If it is, which kit is most involved. I make models but never an RC tank. Also is it possible to fit a smoke module for exhausts!
Am I better with a four ch or 6 transmitter if I wanted to add smoke and lights.
What transmitter do you recommend.
Sorry if these are very basic questions but keen to learn.
Stay safe
Rod

[spongehoobtank82]

Hi Rod wel ome to the forum, tamiya kits can be more involved and are better detailed but also considerably more expensive! Heng long and taigen etc are available as fully built or kits from some vendors and it's in the detail of all the above where you can get really involved in scratch building and research, as for transmiters and channels it all depends on how far you want to go and what control board you use in the tank, and yes smokers are available such as the Tarr from rctankelectronics (I highly recommend it and the site, great service ) hope that helps some

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[Kaczor]

If you have money Tamiya will not dissapoint you. RC kits are as nice to build as their static kits.

[HERMAN BIX]

Welcome along Mr Academy ,from the Gold Coast of Australia out of New Zealand.

The general consensus is that Tamiya is still the gold standard of the hobby, but, with the meteoric progress made by several other manufacturers including the much maligned but stalwart Heng Long, the very good Torro and fantastic Taigen , I feel the game is wide open like never before.
Upfront cost, limited access to parts, and lack of ongoing range expansion is one set of criticisms on the "big T" brand, but the quality and reliability of them is set in stone.

Great to have you along regardless of the brand you choose! & be sure to avail us of pictures when you can

[Rad_Schuhart]

I dont want to open any can of worms, but I really wonder if all of you who praise Tamiya have one or drive it more than once from the kitchen to the bedroom where it stays forever.

Really, I am seriously shocked. I do have three Tamiya tanks and in the three of them I experienced among other things:
Weak and unusefull track tensioners.
Super fragile plastic tracks with open pins.
Weak and unprecise barrel elevation with a plastic arm that breaks too.
Weak turret rotation unit that jams.
Bad designed gearboxes with a soft brass bearing that fails.
Hull flex that needs reinforcement.
In some tanks super thin an weak upper plastic hull.
Hilarious lack of detail with no opening hatches, no welds no nothing.
Lack of bearings or bushings in critic parts like the sherman idler wheel.
Flash units and electric units fried (never happened to me, mainly because I never use tamiya electronics I guess)
Outdated electronics and with poor functions. Not even being able to switch lights in most of ww2 tanks.
Soft pot metal that wears. For my horrir I am beginning to suffer that in my panzer IV suspension, which is a horrible problem because of the:
Lack of replacement parts, which are very expensive.

And more.

So seriously, I dont see any quality and specialy any reliability AT ALL.

At least the kits are a pleasure to build and I enjoy it a lot, but I wont be buying any tamiya kit again. If I wanted another tank would get any of the other alternatives.

[Tiger6]

I dont want to open any can of worms

Proceeds to open a can of Worms...



In fairness Rad, your list of criticisms have also been levelled every other brand over the years as well.
I'll agree that you can make the argument that maybe Tamiya kits aren't worth the eye watering price of some of the newer ones, and yes, certain kits have had their issues - but they are no where near as bad as that list makes out.


Anybody would think you were talking about Hooben

[Jimster]

Rodacademy, you asked for advice so here’s my 2 cents worth. Get a Heng Long or Taigen tank that appeals to you and drive the crap out of it. Then, after browsing hundreds of YouTube videos you will see and hear what you might want your tank to do and how it sounds and the level of detail you want. Upgrade detail parts and electronics as you go. Enjoy the research aspect of building the tank you want. Don’t spend too much up front until you discover which aspects of the hobby most attract you. Good luck and have fun!

[Rad_Schuhart]

I dont want to open any can of worms

Proceeds to open a can of Worms...



In fairness Rad, your list of criticisms have also been levelled every other brand over the years as well.
I'll agree that you can make the argument that maybe Tamiya kits aren't worth the eye watering price of some of the newer ones, and yes, certain kits have had their issues - but they are no where near as bad as that list makes out.


Anybody would think you were talking about Hooben

LOL I could write a book about Hooben.

But yeah, what I stated is true and correct, proof of it is there are a lot of people selling their parts to fix all of those tamiya flaws I mentioned. The henntec tensioners, the dklm elevation arms, the Eto geaboxes, a nice bunch of aftermarket electronics... I am afraid all that I wrote is true.

If the tamiya kits had a price of... Lets say around 250 euros, then it would be way more reasonable.

I also agree with Jimster, Id start with a heng long and then lets see what the body wants, lol.

[silversurfer1947]

It does not matter what you buy, there is a huge range of aftermarket parts and electronic for all the makes. My first tank was the Tamiya Tiger, which I bought four and a half years ago. The building of it gave me huge pleasure and satisfaction, much more than modifying rtr tanks. I can only speak from personal experience and say that the only problems I have had with it have been of my own making, not failings with the tank. It has probably been run for as long if not longer than all my other tanks put together. It is still my favourite and if I could go back and start again, I would do the same thing. Rad's experience is obviously different, but so are people. Each to their own.

[john1970]

Rodacademy, you asked for advice so here’s my 2 cents worth. Get a Heng Long or Taigen tank that appeals to you and drive the crap out of it. Then, after browsing hundreds of YouTube videos you will see and hear what you might want your tank to do and how it sounds and the level of detail you want. Upgrade detail parts and electronics as you go. Enjoy the research aspect of building the tank you want. Don’t spend too much up front until you discover which aspects of the hobby most attract you. Good luck and have fun!

I agree with this, A Heng Long version 6 or a Taigen version 3 will come with a remote, battery and give you a smoke unit already fitted to the tank. There's more choice of tanks and a lot more upgrades available for a lot less money.