Taigen Advanced Metal Tanks - Any Good?

[big ned]

Hi Folks,

New member, so please be gentle with me!

I've just come across an ad for Taigen Advanced Metal Tanks and i wondered if anyone here could shed some light on their build quality, performance reliability, value for money etc. I have several HL'S and a WSN, but have never heard Taigen mentioned anywhere until now, so any help/advice would be much appreciated!

Cheers, Ned.

[Frayed Dave]

On ebay now,P1V.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Taigen-Advanc ... 4aa928fc43" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[forgebear]

hi have looked at this and my personal thoughts are..
Special paint job - it has been painted
Metal caterpillars - not standard, but easily available
Metal gearbox - not standard, i buy all my tanks with metal gears as worth having metal rather than plastic
Metal shock absorbers - might mean metal suspension, again i order my panzers from heng long with that as standard
Painted commander - easy job for anyone (the wife does mine!!)
Metal machine gun light - led machine gun not standard, usually comes with a plastic gun and a fibre optic light
Upgraded Ni-MH 2000Mah battery - most tanks now come with 2000 battery
Smoke effects simulator - standard unless you specifically buy a non smoke and sound one
Sound effects simulator - standard, again unless you buy a non smoke and sound one
Recoil action when it fires a bb - does he mean whole tank recolis or just the barrel. the usual is the whole tank recoils

hope this helps and i would always recommend you ask lots of questions before buying these tanks as i get a lot of people who come to me looking for bits they thought they would get (or had) when they purchased a tank.
feel free to drop me a pm if you want more info.
cheers
dave

[General Jumbo]

......is the missing jacking block an upgrade?

[forgebear]

no they look like its taken off to paint so i guess it in the box ??

[big ned]

Thanks for the replies so far chaps! Here's an ad for the Tiger that they also produce. It would appear that the mantlet is the correct way around but the barrel is still partially in the recoil position. It seems to be missing it's rear mudguards too, but i like the later model commanders hatch!

The track hangers on the turret are also a nice touch and it appears that it comes in two types of cammo. I guess it could be a 'Frankenstein' Chinese copy of the HL or even the original Tamiya, but there really is very little info out there regarding these babies at the mo.

As Dave says, the after sales availability of spares and add- ons is something to bear in mind regarding this maker, so i guess we'll have to wait until theres more 'gen available! Reliability and build quality are also points that interest me.

http://www.promodels.co.uk/taigen-advan ... -camo.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks again lads, Ned.

[forgebear]

the matlet has been put right on all heng long tigers now it still comes in the recoil position this is a heng long tank and i have been told when i asked if it had an rx18 in it the answer was yes it has so painted late cupol turret track holders zim kit rubber late wheels late tracks rear air filers removed it looks like they have aisatam bits on cant be sure

[philipat]

From what I've gathered from other forums, Taigen is associated with HL. A while back AsiaTam indicated that it was having problems with its supplier or manufacturer. Other folks have told me that the manufacturer didn't like the way AsiaTam priced the parts so high because they felt it was constricting the market. It would appear that Taigen is the manufacturer and is now selling the parts we're used to seeing on AsiaTam. Here's a sample of the part that you can buy separately. http://www.awesomehobbies.com.au/shop/p ... parts.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The PzIV probably has AsiaTam's metal suspension, road wheels and return rollers. Personally, I'm looking forward to the competition to bring the prices down a bit.

[LMN118]

I can't confirm for 100% as I have other purchases to make so I've not purchased one of these to check. From what I've found out and to expand on Dave's post:

Metal shock absorbers - might mean metal suspension, again i order my panzers from heng long with that as standard

I believe these have torsion bar suspension and a metal lower chassis. In all likely hood this also means metal suspension arms.

Recoil action when it fires a bb - does he mean whole tank recolis or just the barrel. the usual is the whole tank recoils

I am pretty sure, as Dave said this is the newer airsoft units Heng Long is putting out, as shown in a thread by Big Wheels they have a micro switch on them and are connected to the RX18 so that when it fires a BB the whole tank recoils. I may also make the firing sound but not 100% on that yet.

There is also a fairly large amount of mid/late production detail parts that are presumed to made from metal. The late production wheels could also be metal but without having one to check it is an unknown.

Looking at this way, an upgraded metal Tiger (pro version smoke and sound) retails at around £100-£120. For the extra money you are buying a lot of extra upgrades, plus Zimmerit that would cost you a great deal more in individual parts. Although quality wise nobody will know until they purchase one.

A lot of what people have said on the forums is pretty much conjecture about who Taigen are as the people I've asked don't know who they are. If they were associated with Heng Long, other than using their products, then the people who buy from Heng Long don't know about them.

They don't, as yet, have a web presence. The only thing I can think about is they brought their products to a toy fair.

I think due to the price of them no one is wanting to risk buying one! When I get one I will put up the info, I'm sure you are all as interested in what makes these things tick as much as I am!

[forgebear]

hi. one thing i have noticed is that every single advert for these tanks i have seen use exactly the same words. also, (although my grasp of german, spanish and dutch is a bit dodgy), even the over seas sellers seems to be using the same wording. this makes me think there isnt that much information about them. i have seen posts and comments on other websites suggesting that taigen is not a manufacturer, but an individual cusomsing tanks, but is thats the case, he is doing a hell of a lot! as there are a lot for sale when you look. dave