Tamiya Static kits. Are only going to be good for parts

[John Glover]

Hi my fellow tankers. I shop on more than a few sites and have noticed how Tamiya spare parts are drying up and no longer available. Model seidel,Axels, Tamico and AAF tank museum are sites I shop at. AAF when browsing their parts site not only tell you if they don't have stock but also if the part has been discontinued. Example. If you wanted to build Tamiya Tiger 1 36201 static kit to a RC full option using Tamiya parts you can no longer do this. A part that is critical for RC conversion is the Turret stay parts bag. Not available and discontinued. Looking at converting a Tamiya King Tiger static kit 36204.The barrel recoil unit used in the RC full option has now been discontinued. Other parts have been discontinued along with replacement decks for Tiger 1 AND King Tiger. If you are thinking of buying one of these kits and convert it later it will probably be to late to find the parts. I have seen sellers on E bay asking a lot of money for these kits and I think that RC conversion will not be practical because of lack of parts. Parts are the only thing they will be good for so don't pay a lot. Grab what you need now.

[B_Man]

I think buying a static kit and then purchasing additional Tamiya parts to convert it would be a very expensive way to build a tank. It only takes a bit of thought and some styrene or a 3D printer to fabricate a recoil using servos or modify parts from other manufacturers to fit a Tamiya. I'm working on a static Jagpanther conversion at the moment and won't be using any additional Tamiya bits. The gearbox is a PDSGB, the gun recoil and traverse will be done using servos and 3D printed brackets and the electronics will be Beier. Tamiya make great models but I personally don't think their internal parts are anything special and they are certainly not cheap.

That said, Tamiya seems to go through cycles with their RC tanks and I've seen a few discontinued in the past only to be re-issued a few years later. Unless you know something I don't (which is very possible), I would expect these parts to appear again in the future when production on those kits starts again.

[Rad_Schuhart]

I agree and disagree with you, Herr B_Man.
It is true that all the electronic components are easily replaceable with much better quality ones, but what pisses me to death is the mechanical components, I mean, all the other parts. As a recent example I have wear in my Panzer IV suspension and there is no way to replace it. I will be having an expensive shelf queen very soon, and that is not acceptable.

Anyway I also guess (just guess) that Tamiya will re-release their kits with better electronic components like they did many times along the years.

[jarndice]

One of the reasons I use nuts and bolts instead of Glue (Super or otherwise) Is so I can strip down any of my builds and fix anything needing repair,
I do use "Loctite 243 thread lock" to retain the fixings and some structural parts will need Glue but nowhere near as much as the makers do.

[Kaczor]

It always puzzled me, they would probably earn as much on spare parts as on models (vide: Taigen).

[John Glover]

Interesting Mr B_Man that you think they will release these kits again. That would be great but of what I can gather it comes down to business economics. Heng Long and Taigen being a major problem for Tamiya. You only have to to the pricing of these products versus the Tamiya item plus Heng Longs quality keeps on improving with the tanks and its electronics. I will try to get some clarification on what Tamiya does not produce any more and what they no intention of making again. A good example is of what I was trying to get at is Tamiya 36203 Tiger 1 static display kit. This kit comes with the sought after K sprue with has a early mantlet and early twin can feiful air filters which allows you to create a Tunisian Tiger. A lot of members would probably prefer to use genuine parts to build this model from static to RC as I have and the parts have all been available up to now. More members will probably have to look at 3D printing as you have for parts but some will have no interest in 3D printing. This subject is to hopefully help out new members to the forum who might see one of Tamiya's static kits ,thinks its a cheap buy and realizes later that the Tamiya parts to make this RC are not available. I agree with you as to their electronics. Regards John.

[tankme]

A lot of us think Tamiya will release the kits again because that is exactly what they have done in the past. The Tiger 1 and Sherman kits have been discontinued several times since the 1980s and Tamiya brings them back under a new part number. Every time Tamiya is questioned about the future of 1/16th scale tanks they always reply with intentions to keep producing 1/16 scale tanks.