New member from Bristol

[tankmad]

Welcome to the forum Sarah there is heng long or tamiya tigers coming up all the time on ebay I will try and keep an eye out for you.
Stevie

[Matdragon]

hi there sarah,

welcome to the forum! glad that that you joined after swindon!

Tamiya's are more expensive than Heng Longs, but the extra cost - is well worth the money, you can upgrade a HL to the point that its costing more than a tamiya, but it unfortunatly, will still not be as good

thanks, as the others say, we are a friendly lot, dont be afraid to ask questions

Matt

[Ex_Pat_Tanker]

Tamiya's are more expensive than Heng Longs, but the extra cost - is well worth the money, you can upgrade a HL to the point that its costing more than a tamiya, but it unfortunatly, will still not be as good

ok I'm calling BS on you right there! >:(

Tams aren't without there problems either, so just ignore him and get what ever your budget will stretch too

[Matdragon]

my jagdpanther is completely stock, and runs great. everything i needed to get it fully running for £580, and yes that includes radio gear and batteries. plus tigers are genurally cheaper than jagdpanthers.

one could very easily spend that much on a HL.

[Pcomm1]

my jagdpanther is completely stock, and runs great. everything i needed to get it fully running for £580, and yes that includes radio gear and batteries. plus tigers are genurally cheaper than jagdpanthers.

one could very easily spend that much on a HL.

Excuse me, but in support of young master Matdragon, he is being completely up front and correct. Let's look at this without emotion. 

The HL tanks that arrive with the metal upgrades plus smoke & sound are still Ready to Run toy tanks out of the box and are still a very hit or miss deal if they will even work once out of the box. Often the metal tracks and sprocket fit requires some tweaking to get them to run well and stay on the tank. Often electronic parts need to be swapped out: Daunting tasks for someone new to rc armor, perhaps, and fun for the DIY RC person. It is like building a kit, but not!

A Tamiya Tiger IE kit built stock to the letter of the instructions will provide years of enjoyment as is; or refine it for cut throat tank club combat; or turn it into a museum finish level; contest table; shelf queen.

Sarah, The HL toy armor product line has become a cult favorite for DIY (do it yourself) RC people with above average electronic skill sets, but perhaps less skill on the classic modeling skill set side of the coin: the build process, paint – weathering etc.

With rc experience, tools, soldering experience, some modeling kit building skill, one can turn a HL Tiger into a professional hobby grade model, if you invest the money into it and that is Matdragon's point.

Also the HL will demand that if you are to enjoy running it, you will need to learn how to rebuild it and rebuild it often.

But the "evolution" of an HL Tiger to the refinement level of the stock built Tamiya Tiger kit will get costly and quite easily exceed the cost of a stock built Tamiya kit, even including the need to buy radio gear and battery for the Tamiya Tiger I kit.

I know all this from build experience on both Tamiya and HL tanks and run the numbers yourselves people before getting all angry and debating these points.

The facts are the facts.

So, my recommendation is to plan your build based on your skill set; budget your build and decide if that investment is worth it to you; then choose a model type based upon all those factors  (HL or Tamiya).

And the other issue is that if you do buy one tank, you will end up owning several, this hobby is seriously addicting and that is an advance warning.



John

[STEINER]

my jagdpanther is completely stock, and runs great. everything i needed to get it fully running for £580, and yes that includes radio gear and batteries. plus tigers are genurally cheaper than jagdpanthers.

one could very easily spend that much on a HL.

Welcome to the forum Sarah. Matt, I couldn't agree with you more. What I spent on upgrading an early HL Tiger to a late model cost way over what you paid for your JP. Furthermore, the HL electrics ( RX-18 ) are garbage compared to Tamiyas units. I have built two Tamiya 1/12 scale Humvees. Now I know why people rave about the Tamiya Tanks.

Sarah, if you can afford a Tamiya, go for it. A lot less hassle than HL I think.

Cheers

STEINER.

[tankman]

Hello and welcome to the forum Sarah. Your very first question looks like starting a lively debate among the members  . In answer to your question there is no best tank to start with. It will depend on your budget and level of knowledge and or confidence in your modeling and electrical skills. Tamiya kits must be built like any model kit and you will need to add the cost of RC gear, batteries and a battle system on to the cost of the kit. As for Heng Long these will run out of the box but once you look at upgrading the cost soon starts to mount. Check out any of our vendors for prices also try ebay. The only 2 tanks that have upgrade metal hulls in the HL range are the Tiger 1 and Panzer III at the moment. But the Jagdpanther and KV 1have had a lot of positive feedback running out of the box and don't need much doing to them right off. Just make sure you get smoke and sound with an IR battle system ( the other style of HL's fire BB's ) , and if possible metal gearboxes with any HL tank you buy. I would check our recommended vendors list as these guys will steer you right. One last thing you will have to add the cost of a Tamiya compatible after market battle system to any HL tank as the one supplied is not compatible with the system used by most club members. One last thing to remember is anything you get stuck with somebody can help you with the site is full of usefull information. If this don't put you off you are already addicted
Alan

[wibblywobbly]

Dear Sarah, you have just managed to re-open one of the oldest debates going in your very first post!  Well done that girl!

It of course depends entirely on your budget, and whether you wish to make the tank 'your own' with a paint scheme and/or modifications.

Price wise, you could build a Tamiya compatible (thats the standard for infra red battle systems) tank for about £130. Without a battle system, it could be done for anywhere between £50-£100.

Tamiya Tigers appear on Ebay, I have a friend who has an almost unused one that he is thinking of selling.

My preference for a first tank, in the light of my experiences would not actually be a Tiger. I would go for a Heng Long Panzer III, or a Bulldog. Why? Well they seem to run without losing tracks or bits falling off. They are very reliable and quite cheap. At the end of the day you could buy half a dozen Heng Longs for the price of a Tamiya, plus the depreciation on a Heng Long tank is negligible by comparison.

Well that's my two pennyworth, and it's great to see that you reside in one of the better areas of the country. 

Rob G

[Ex_Pat_Tanker]

Will all due respect guys, you are viewing Sarah's needs based on what you think is a good tank...

I fully agree that if you want to build a Heng Long to the same standard as a Tamiya, you should buy the Tamiya as it works out cheaper. However that was not the question that was asked.

The question was "Is there any bits for the Heng Long Tiger which are really worth getting?" 580 quid is a lot of money and I have bought and upgraded reasonable running HL Tiger's for a lot less than that... ::)

I'm sorry but nothing annoys me more than people telling folks that are looking to get involved in the hobby that $$$$ has to be spent for them to be happy, because the person giving the advice would only be happy with an example of that value.

Perhaps the question should have been "what do you want to do with your tank?"
If the answer is "I'd like to be able let my friend's kids use it" then maybe a $600 Tamiya is not the most appropreate solution here...

[Ex_Pat_Tanker]

John,
While I dissagree with you statement that HL's need rebuilding every 5 mins, you have managed to capture the most important point of our hobby:

And the other issue is that if you do buy one tank, you will end up owning several, this hobby is seriously addicting and that is an advance warning.