RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Metal gearboxes and plastic tracks. Metal tracks put strain on everything else.

Interesting opinions above.

My first Tiger was the all plastic HL version (long gone now).
In action it was far too fast, no resemblance to the real thing at all.

Even the metal versions I have now look completely ridiculous when you put them in a "power spin" (Except the HL "pro" King Tiger which can't t even do a power spin unless it is on a smooth surface such as the kitchen floor).

If I watched a battle of 1:16 tanks would I be disappointed ?

Tiggr wrote:Interesting opinions above.

My first Tiger was the all plastic HL version (long gone now).
In action it was far too fast, no resemblance to the real thing at all.

Even the metal versions I have now look completely ridiculous when you put them in a "power spin" (Except the HL "pro" King Tiger which can't t even do a power spin unless it is on a smooth surface such as the kitchen floor).

If I watched a battle of 1:16 tanks would I be disappointed ?

Yes.

Tiggr wrote:Interesting opinions

If I watched a battle of 1:16 tanks would I be disappointed ?

All the tank battles I have seen on youtube are so fake and toy like that makes me lose interest on batling.

People seems to be more concerned on winning than playing realisticly... So it has no sense to me.

Answering your questions, for me, metal tracks are a must in some models like the tamiya king tiger (worst tracks I have ever seen) but some of them like the tamiya sherman are more than enough.

IR battling isn't realistic however it's great fun to partake in!

Son of a gun-ner wrote:I've read that these new tamiya gearboxes are more controllable, as well as the aftermarket tamiya ones that sell for over £200, but they also say they're 50 to 1 gear ratio, shame there isn't a limiter built into the electronics. It's little wonder our tanks get track problems, especially Heng-Long with their just under 40 to 1 gear ratios.
For me, although stock HL motors can struggle a bit with metal tracks, noticeable by how long a full charge lasts against running plastic, I feel the extra weight gives more of a realistic run over rough ground, the tank doesn't wobble about so much like a toy, especially when going slowly.

Mick.

Which new and after market Tamiya gearboxes? Do you have any details?

The best performer I have for running on grass is a plastic Taigen early Tiger I. The drive sprockets and idlers were upgraded to metal, it has the four shaft steel gears, and the electronics were upgraded with a Clark Tk22. The tracks and roadwheels are plastic and it works flawlessly on grass. I use a Turnigy 9x to control it and I have the radio programmed so that when you make a hard turn the inside track reverses just enough too act as a brake to lock the track and the tank pivots. The radio is also programmed to give a realistic turret rotation speed. The only thing the sticks on the radio are used for are driving, steering, and turret rotation. All the other functions are controlled by switches.

Thanks for all the replies. Without wishing to insult anyone, but for me being realistic or scale isn't really a worry, as it's just something I can spend the summer in the garden playing around with, with my kids. Purely looking for something that will make these better for the abuse they get. The snow leopard (though everywhere I look for spares calls it a Pershing?), is now looking more like 3 years old rather than 1 week! Unfortunately the only place I can find metal drive wheels for it is on eBay, but only with the metal tracks at £75. Thanks to whoever mentioned Forgebear, as the gearboxes are a lot cheaper from there.

Needing to find everything as cheap as possible now as it looks like my car needs another new rear wheel bearing, 3rd in the last few years...

My thoughts on the subject is make your toy tank as tough as a real tank! Metal tracks, metal gearboxes, metal drive sprockets, metal road wheels, metal idler wheels, metal lower hull!

My King Tiger weights in at 29lbs/13kg.
My Jagdtiger weights in at 31lbs/14kg.
My 2 Tiger I's are 26lbs/11kg and 27lbs/12kg.

All can go ANYWHERE, through ANYTHING and keep on going!

tomhugill wrote:

Tiggr wrote:Interesting opinions above.

My first Tiger was the all plastic HL version (long gone now).
In action it was far too fast, no resemblance to the real thing at all.

Even the metal versions I have now look completely ridiculous when you put them in a "power spin" (Except the HL "pro" King Tiger which can't t even do a power spin unless it is on a smooth surface such as the kitchen floor).

If I watched a battle of 1:16 tanks would I be disappointed ?

Yes.

That's a shame.
It spoils the realistic scale model if it is run at a scale speed of 80/90 mph.
Similar to my other hobby - garden railways - some folk run their locos at the scale speed of a scalded cat.....

Models of any type and scale should be run/operated at a scale speed

Toys on the other hand - it doesn't matter.