RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

As many of you have seen I customized a 1/16 Matorro Jagdtiger and it has been on sale on eBay. It has a few people interested and some offers but nothing like what my usual work gets. I am new to the 1/16 world but the other custom 1/16 tank I did (the upgunned Sherman) was bid up off of eBay and sold for over $500. I have dropped the price down on this Jagdtiger to $399 now, consider these Matorro Jagdtigers were selling for $300+ out of the box without any custom work before this its hard to swallow

I would like peoples opinion about how badly the Torro Jagdtigers have effected the market for the Matorro version. To me they are night and day, One metal, one plastic, one the correct length and the other not, plus one is $550+...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jnewboy-Customs ... 2359167134

The new Imex/Torro Jagdtigers have pretty much killed the market for the old Matorro versions. I used to see those go on ebay for $400-$500 but not anymore. I almost bought a Matorro, but when Imex announced theirs I decided to wait and I should have my JT next week.

You may be right, Its crazy to think that people would rather have something that looks like a toy on their shelf rather than a model. I understand the metal factor but is metal even needed? it seems like over compensation for the fact that most people only actually have time to run their tanks a few times a month or even a year, the rest of the time what good is it? Do people usually put their tanks in boxes or display them?

Jnewboy wrote:You may be right, Its crazy to think that people would rather have something that looks like a toy on their shelf rather than a model. I understand the metal factor but is metal even needed? it seems like over compensation for the fact that most people only actually have time to run their tanks a few times a month or even a year, the rest of the time what good is it? Do people usually put their tanks in boxes or display them?

Please don't take this the wrong way but you seem to be making a lot of incorrect assumptions here. Firstly that's the imex Jagdtiger is incorrect; the folks that have it are happy they've got the shape and the chassis length correct, unlike yours which doesn't seem to have been stretched at the rear (gap to idler looks stock or too small). Secondly your trying to compare a well engineered tank with ball raced steel gearboxes, metal torsion bar chassis, metal wheels and tracks that'll take on all terrain (and look realistic doing it) with something that's mechanically worse (or at best on par) with a heng long. How a tank runs is very important for most of us, if we wanted a static we would buy one. Next off the red oxide colour scheme is well executed but I would imagine quite niche. I think your being unfair on the imex, the scheme is pretty good (obviously not as much as yours) but it's not toy like. It's also got 2.4 ghz set and the imex recoil is pretty good.

Where I can certainly understand your frustration in not being able to sell this finely crafted beast yes the metal bit are very important! The torsion bar suspension and all metal running gear makes them run, behave, and look more "original" then an all plastic tank. I've started with the basic all plastic tanks and I must say its just not the same thing when they're all metal. I run my tanks some times almost daily when I come home from work for like 20 to 30 min just to unwind from the day. I don't mean to come off harsh but I agree with Tom on the paint job, where it is fantastic and leaps and bounds ahead of the IMEX paint job selling an oxide red Jadgtiger that's built on a King Tiger lower is going to prove a tough one.

Sorry man and I do wish you luck with your new sale.

I like customizing my own tanks to the way I think they should look. You have limited yourself to people who like the front fenders cut off of their tanks. When I purchase a used tank I at least want the hulls to be in their original condition.

Jnewboy, the IMEX/Taigen release pretty well kill the after market for the Matorro JadgTiger as Max-U52 said. Matorro JT used to be the only game in town even with all its faults. I bought one at what was a reasonable price then (still high) of $250 and replaced the gearbox, sprockets/idlers, Impact tracks but at the end it is still not a great runner. I ended up selling at my total cost of $600. The inaccurate length and the wrong superstructure angle got to me at the end and I ended up doing a properly scale one with the combination of Juckerburg upper and a stretch Taigen KT metal lower. Of course all this is before the IMEX/Taigen release, and if I have to do it again I would have no problem putting down $600 or whatever it is they are charging for the IMEX/Taigen with metal chassis.

You are right though we don't run these tanks hard, and most of the time it is a static display model, but when we do run them they need to be up to snuff and that's where Tamiya's of the world and the upgraded metal chassis of Taigen's comes in to play.

Unfortunately I think your build is simply a case of really bad timing and has nothing to do with your very nicely put together model or people's preference.

Thanks for the kind words about my work. Its unfortunate but it is what it is. I started with the intention of stretching it but decided to make a guide for those who wanted a historical look but would not or could not chop the rear and superstructure. I never pick my schemes from "what will sell" or popular opinion but only off historical accuracy which has served me well in smaller scales as I have always been able to get top dollar for my work. I am learning that 1/16 collectors care as much or more about functionality than historical accuracy or even aesthetic appeal which is evident when looking at the "master class" forum. Which is surprising for me because these are such large tanks and they take up so much room to display. However I understand that one mans pride and joy could be another mans kids toy or worse. It comes down to what you are use to looking at and if your whole collection has factory paint jobs than I can see how a pro-modeler finish may not be desired or could even be harmful. I once sold a smaller scale tank to a man who already had a large collection but they were all factory paint jobs and my tank displayed next to them only detracted from their quality and in his words made them all look like in his words "cheap toys". It got so bad that he ended up selling all of his collection and got out of the hobby completely as he could not stand looking at them after that but could not afford to have me replace his collection with my work and I did not have time to make dozens of pieces for one customer.

If anyone is intrested I got the inspiration for this Jagdtiger from a friend and fellow modeler Jose. His build was published here: http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_su ... ?sort=DESC

Jnewboy,
I understand where you are coming from. I really enjoyed the factory finishes on my tanks from Heng Long and Taigen and Mato for a long while. Until I got into the 'rebuild them' stage, I never really thought about large scale paint and weathering. Every tank I touch now ( with the exception of the Taigen Panther G which for some reason had a better factory paint job than many customs ) gets a paint job. I've become a huge fan of Olive Drab and am looking forward to painting my Porsche King Tiger and doing my first zimmerit scheme as it gets rebuilt. The paint on your Jagdtiger is amazing and I know that it will sell to the right person.
regards,
Painless

P.S. I really like your work. ;o) I have one of your soldaten running along side the 'Crackerbox Palace' to this day.

I checked out Jose's thread and that's another excellent modeler. I also learned a good deal about JT production at war's end. Bonus. I'm not sure if my JT shipped today or not. I missed a call from Erik and haven't heard from him since, so I don't know if he called to tell me it shipped or to tell me it won't go out till Monday. Anyway, they are at Imex.



This is the one I ordered



Now I'm gonna go study FAQ and see if I can figure out how to properly post photos.