Prospective new build.

[Meter rat]

Planning for a future build and doing a bit of research on base model. After reading about the Sherwood Rangers, who were at the vanguard for D-Day and right through Normandy and the end of the war. I have had my interest piqued by one of the incidents in the book involving a Tiger.
Where would the best starting point be for a late Tiger? What ever happens I will have to save my pocket/beer tokens so it will not be an immediate start. I am just booking for thoughts.
Thanks in advance Ian

[Son of a gun-ner]

Personally, I would look for a Taigen late tiger1 as a starting point, or a sturmtiger for the running chassis.

[Son of a gun-ner]

Just checked, and Dave and Julie at forgebear sell all the separate Taigen parts

[Herr Dr. Professor]

"Personally, I would look for a Taigen late tiger1 as a starting point." I second that, despite the initial price, especially since the Taigen V3 sound is better than what HengLong offers, even if the Taigen/Torro TX and MFU are not as flexible.

[MrChef]

I agree with Mick and Herr Dr. on Taigen as starting points based on what I'm doing right now with the Heng Long. That being said IF you can source a cheap Heng Long for 7.0 MFU and transmitter alone, Then source Taigen parts to fill in. Or even a cheap Taigen and a cheap 7.0-7.1 MFU. You can get a new HL Tiger I all plastic brand new from ToucanRC for $100.

My Taigen "Metal" runs stronger. EDIT, I just looked at Taigens website and the motors listed are 390's with V1 4:1 gearing so there Is a difference and it's noticeable. It's definitely torquier and more powerful for yard adventures. My Taigen is also 13 lbs. soaking wet, so performance is more scale and realistic. A current Late Version Metal is on sale for $554. which is about what I remember paying for my Early a few years ago.

A late model Plastic Taigen BB is $271.

You already know if you do a later Tiger you'll likely be into Zimmerit so theres Taigen already prepared with Zimmerit or the Zimmerit kits OR if you do a very late Tiger maybe no Zimmerit? And Metal Late wheels. And if you're a stickler the smaller rear idler wheel, And Even Late Tracks.

I have a plan for a mid and a late and would use Taigen. I have looked at the Torro unpainted kits. I have also looked at the Taigen "Plastic" version for my next S13 build (which are about $250.) All depends on what you want in the end. But as Many have said here before. You can start cheap with a Heng Long but by the time you're done upgrading parts and effort involved you'll be at or near a Taigen pricetag. I mean the HL plastic wheels are horrible, so you'd definitely be into metal wheels. So depending on what great deal you'll be able to find on a "Pro" model HL, you'd likely be near $225.-$250 for all metal. Which is what I'd do and definitely will upgrade to down the road.

Just food for thought.

[ColemanCollector]

A long while ago, I could never understand the premium price for Taigen, and then during some in-depth shopping realized they have a metal hull/chassis. You can hang all the metal running gear and tracks you want on a HL, but it's still a plastic hull and all of the flexing that brings. I don't run my tanks hard enough to really warrant metal running gear, but if I did my start point would be that Taigen metal chassis.

Mike.

[Meter rat]

Thanks folks.
You all have confirmed my suspicions that a Taigen is the way to go. I did the man sums last night, and using a HL as a base and upgrading and modifying things, it works out about £300 more than buying a Taigen. I will speak to Dave in the new year. The houses are taking priority at the moment.

Ian

[Panzermechaniker]

All these Tiger builds are good to see as the Tiger has been kind of out of vogue for a few years now. I'm in the midst of a late Tiger 1 build as I had a Taigen metal IR turret and a brand new upper hull sitting around doing nothing and so for the winter build i figured I'd get the Taigen hull and late Tiger wheels, idlers/drive sprockets and tracks and go from there on a Abt 506 1944 version. Was going to go crazy and grind everything off but I said to hell with it and just got rid of the left antenna storage tube. Since all my tanks are painted with Tamiya spray cans and camo putty I'm trialing a new technique to try and get the field airbrush effect. Taigen is definitely the way to go and their late Tiger tracks are impressive looking on a finished model

[MrChef]

Since all my tanks are painted with Tamiya spray cans and camo putty I'm trialing a new technique to try and get the field airbrush effect.

Well I'm definitely looking forward to your joining the Tiger I resurgence. And I'm interested in the technique since I'm still in the same rattle can boat.