Newbie looking to get into the hobby

[shinryu]

Hey everyone, I'm primarily a RC Heli guy, but as repairs have left me...er...temporarily grounded, I decided to try indulging in my love for tanks, which combined with RCs make for a nice change of pace. Honestly I didn't even know they made neat little RCs like this that can shoot airsofts and such until a few months ago, it's pretty dang neat I must say

As such, I'm trying to look for a solid starting point, roughly with a budget of $100 or so. In particular, this little guy has my attention so far: http://www.raidentech.com/1um4waburaco.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Would this be a decent starting point, perhaps with the upgraded metal trends? Or perhaps there is a better manufacturer out there for as much/slightly higher of a price? I'm pretty much lost in the dark when it comes to manufacturers; I could list off the better heli ones, but yeah, right now I'm trying to learn to pick around and figure out the "junk" from the better quality stuff here before making an investment. Doesn't help everything comes from China it seems; nothing against China itself, but there's quite a few shoddy products that come from there.

So, if anyone perhaps has some ideas/suggestions as to what I should be looking for, I'm all ears! Thanks!

[raven]

wecome to the forum shinryu everybody i know and myself started off with heng long tiger 1 theres so much you can do with this tank loads of upgrades its a good one to get you started hope this helps

chris

[Johnf]

I agree with Chris. So many upgrades available with the Tiger 1 your head will spin. These things get addictive.

[shinryu]

Mkay, so another question I guess would be, where's a reliable supplier? I live out in the USA, so preferably something that either ships there or doesn't have insane shipping rates/prices would be good.

For that matter, how do you tell say if something is made by these heng long people? I mean, their stuff looks just about the same as whatever knockoffs there might be out there, heck anyone on Amazon can list their stuff as being made by them when it's actually not and such. Any sorta advice in that regard?

[raven]

there should be plenty on the us-ebay

chris

[Abo]

I think that Heng Long Walker bulldog that you show is a great tank to start off with depending on what you intend to do with it. If you intend to have some fun, run it into the ground then I can recommend the Bulldog, it was one of the best moving tanks that I first bought although the later models, Panzer III, Panther, KV1 and suchlike are very good now.

If however you fancy doing a fair bit of rebuilding, then as the other lads state, you can't go wrong with a tiger, so many spares and so many versions to build you could have a whole regiment of tigers and not one would be the same!

As regards Raidentech, best check with your countrymen as I don't think it has a very good reputation, prices may seem good but there are sometimes hidden extras and if things go tits up they're a bugger to deal with. Dunno what the postage to the US is like but http://www.Matomart.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; in Canada are pretty good and reasonably priced with a fair after sales service, sometimes with freebe's!

One you get set up, you're soul then belongs to us and there's no escape.....

[tankmad]

Hi there welcome to the forum the tank in the advert does not have smoke and sound you are better going for one with smoke and sound and make sure it has a Rx 18 board in it good luck.
Stevie

[[ICE]monkey]

hi , over your side of the pond youve got phil ( the blitz) at http://rctankwars.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; , great bloke and very reliable
regards, ice

[shinryu]

So for ones that do like the sound and smoke, are they necessarily any better like performance-wise? Honestly, I'm more of the guy that would like to shoot stuff with an airsoft gun on the tank, so for me the added sounds and smoke don't really add much I would think.

But yeah, I'm probably not going to get super big into customization for now, heck I still have trouble taking apart and fixing my heli, wouldn't have a clue with what to do with a tank lol. I will be looking for one with metal upgrades though, sounds like they would fair a lot better than just standard plastic.

[Saxondog]

I live in the US,your best buy is with Phil. He test every tank he sells. He is very knowledgeable and a great guy to work with. He knows the tanks in and out. He just posted a video of a new sound device that Yellow shaker made the sound card on and it's amazing.The real Maybach V12 cranking and running sounds clearly this is some fine work.

But as you have said the airsoft is more appealing and their are some of us on this side working on Paintball systems and higher powered guns. If you want an airsoft Bulldog with metal tracks that will run straight from the box buy from Phil. If you want to save a few,and I mean few dollars and risk an untested tank pulled from stock go with Raidentech.

Saxondog