I got one of these Ripmax Tigers a few years ago in my post-HL Tiger "Buy anything Tiger" frenzy. They are superb performers for their size (and the price you paid! Mine was ~£20 all-in if I remember rightly). And they do run for a very short time on the battery. BUT, it's due to the very simple charger base. If you have a 'proper' NiMH delta-peak battery charger you can get a lot more juice in and get a much longer run!
I've also got a Dragon 1/72 RC Tiger which is very basic, but superbly detailed for its size. That too was bought in my "Buy anything Tiger" frenzy several years ago.
nigelderenglander....... how did you use the battery charger to get it to run longer? i have had it apart and the battery is tiny, looks like 3 capacitors soldered together.......i dont want to blow it up.....LOL
I have a 'proper' charger which can cycle (charge/discharge) NiCds/NiMH etc and it tells you how much current it puts in or takes out. So I charged it using the base, then discharged it with the 'proper' charger. I then charged it with the 'proper' charger and ~3 times more current went in. Hence ~3 times longer run!
Sorry, I didn't do it with the charging base supplied.
i have two of these both of witch the charging bases are goosed >:( so i pulled out the rc gear and am currentley fitting it to a 1/35 scale
river patrol boat. it runs on 4 aa batteries and is great