New and clueless

[silversurfer1947]

Could I just point out that in his first post the OP said he wanted to build a tank, not but a complete tank rtr.

[Rad_Schuhart]

Could I just point out that in his first post the OP said he wanted to build a tank, not but a complete tank rtr.

Well, if our new friend wants to build it, and wants it to be radio controlled, Tamiya is the way to go, unless he is able to scratchbuild one, of course.

Answering your previous post, I loved to assemble the kits, but in honor to the truth is a job that can be done in a weekend and the parts count is very low (of course not counting the bolts and screws), with massive parts, but everything fits like a dream and nothing needs to be drilled, sanded and so on.

But what I pointed on my previous message is not just my experience. Just make an experiment and go to google and write "Tamiya king tiger idler" and see how many people has problems with it, and how many aftermarket parts are for trying to fix that horrible flawed design.
Google the rest of my list and you will find more, except for the damaged transmisions that just stopped working and people does not even know why. Here is why:
http://www.customrcmodels.com/files/RCP ... PGRADE.pdf

That text is not written by me, but by the famous Daryl Turner who is repairing tanks and IR battling for more than 20 years.
Check also how many people are looking for another set of gears for the rotation units.
Just take a look at the plastic tracks with open pins in most of the kits. (Tamiya sherman tracks are great, but not the panzer iv, tiger, tiger 2, kv1) Even the cheapo WSN tracks are better!

I have been given another tamiya king tiger by a friend, believe or not he found it on the bin. He loves RC stuff, but after seing the problems it has, he just gave it to me. He also pointed all of what I stated above. (I will post pics once repainted, now is horrible, lol)

I dont want to discourage our new friend, I am just saying there is no such a reliabilty and quality in the tamiya tanks. At least not according with those prices. Have you considered with the price of one of those tanks you can buy a 1/1 scale moped and you can drive around the world with it? Lol

[Jimster]

Another aspect of decision making is what you plan to do with your tank. Some folks want to participate in IR tank battles and others, like myself, just enjoy driving on backyard “maneuvers” and try to drive it realistically at slow speeds with awesome sound effects. However I knew none of this at first so I bought a Heng Long Tiger 1 and never looked back. This hobby is certainly immersive

[Tiger6]

http://www.customrcmodels.com/files/RCP ... PGRADE.pdf

You do realise that holding up Willy and Daryl's work as examples of how Tamiya is somehow bad, is like pointing to an F1 driver thrashing an ordinary family car to the point of destruction as some kind of proof that the car must be junk, right?

All tanks on the market have their issues. The guy doing the shopping needs to decide which of those issues he wants to live with, and which he wants to avoid.
Making sweeping generalisations, and selecting random examples without context, don't help anyone make an informed choice.

[Rad_Schuhart]

http://www.customrcmodels.com/files/RCP ... PGRADE.pdf

You do realise that holding up Willy and Daryl's work as examples of how Tamiya is somehow bad, is like pointing to an F1 driver thrashing an ordinary family car to the point of destruction as some kind of proof that the car must be junk, right?

That might be right, yep... But I drive my tanks like an old half-blind grandma and I had a gearbox failure. When I talked with him he told me to take them away and to take a look at that part. I did it and those sprockets were worn on that place, so it proofed he was right.

The rest of things I wrote in that list and in my website is my personal experience that I can document with pictures... And sadly with my paypal account buying spares and parts here and there. Not what I expect when I paid such a big money for one of those super high quality kits. Makes me cry.

I

[Tiger6]

[quote="Rad_Schuhart" in my website is my personal experience that I can document with pictures... [/quote]

And on there you also detail pouring money into a Heng Long Panzer III, until you gave up on it

ALL tanks have their issues.

You can start with an expensive tank and it will break.

You can start with a cheap tank, decide that it ain't quite good enough for what you want, pour money into it to the point that it rivals the cost of the expensive tank, and it will still break.

ALL tanks have their issues.

Perhaps the best advice I can offer the OP (assuming he is still reading this nonsense ) is to decide on a budget, then decide on what features he wants, and then ask questions on how to mesh the 2 requirements. There is no fixed right or wrong answer that we can give.

[Rad_Schuhart]

What I wrote about my Panzer III was after years of abuse and literally hundreds of kilometers, including my oldest son sinking it in the sea, my daughter sinking it in a pond, my smallest playing with it in the long grass and tons of abuse over grass, mud and sand in the beach. Ill try to post a pic later.

Meanwhile my sherman broke on the first run at the backyard. All return rollers half mooned in minutes and more.

I am not defending my Panzer III or heng long but it lasted way, way more than all my tamiya tanks. Meanwhile my tamiyas run between cottons and fail

EDIT: Two pics attached.

Those are old pics, my son, who was 4, was driving it over mud and I took the pics. That was some of the use and abuse of that Panzer and it lasted quite good for years. It could last longer with bearings in the wheels, but anyway, it was a 60 euros free shipping tank. With tamiya I am reluctant to drive it outside home.

[43rdRecceReg]

I've built five Tamiya tanks. No other manufacturer comes close in terms of precision parts, and accurate fitment. Their suspension systems are simply the best.
That said, it's possible to grouse about inflated prices; strength sacrificed for detail (on occasion- e.g. the Tiger 1's overly bendy hull roof); and dated electronics (one of the larger worms in Rad's prodigious Tamiya can ). All in all, though, I'd maintain that every serious collection of Rc armour would be incomplete without at least one example. Tamiya get so much right- especially on the Pz IV (my favourite).

[PershingLover]

Wow, this is actually pretty heated..

Rad, how do you drive in mud like the first pic without water getting in?

[X82d Pathfinder]

Tamiya is hands down probably the best operating as far as reliability and without a doubt the most full-proof. The engineering is also unmatched.
I have a couple of builds that are Tamiya/Heng Long and bastardized.
Yes, the outlay more initially, but you'll be glad you did. As you become more accomplished and understand the operation you could try a Heng Long.
The Heng Long electronics and mechanical operation will always have you fixing something.