Tiger 1 Early - HL or Taigen

[87lc2]

I finally received my first RC tank last week, a HL Abrams M1A2. I like it a lot more that I thought I would and it looks like I'll be diving head first into the RC tank world

I plan on doing some serious upgrading to the Abrams and don't want to be without a tank while it's down. After looking at everything available, I really like the look of the Tiger 1 Early Version. I was just about to buy a HL version on Ebay because of the low price, but curiosity got the best of me and I wondered if I would be smarter to start off with a Taigen plastic version of the Tiger 1. The price difference between the HL & basic plastic Taigen is about $150, wondering if it's worth it in the long run. I don't know all of the details, but it looks like the main difference is that the Taigen comes with a metal chassis. Does it also include an idler adjuster for the tracks?

If anyone has had both or can offer any advice I would greatly appreciate it. The Tiger will be my runner for a while while the Abrams is down, so I want something that I can run right out of the box without the need to upgrade right away. Any advice is appreciated.

[Dusty Steppes]

The Taigen comes with a metal tub to reinforce the lower hull, torsion bar suspension, idler adjustments, and a quick release upper hull. The drive sprockets and idler wheels are plastic. I would recommend replacing those with metal and upgrading the transmissions to 4 shaft black steel if it doesn't come with them. You may also have to add 1 link to each track to get the proper slack. I picked up a scratch and dent early tiger 1 from Imex, made those changes to it plus dropped in a Clark Tk22 and it has turned out to be my best runner. I have had it for two years now and have not had one issue with it.

[87lc2]

Thanks for the replies guys, I'm glad I didnt go and buy the HL right away. It sounds like just having the metal chassis, idler adjustment, and quick release hull is worth the cost difference to get the Taigen.

That's an interesting point about avoiding the HL early versions. The tank I was looking at did have the 2.4G system and dual sounds so it must have been the latest version, but it still sounds like Taigen is the way to go. I guess I got lucky when buying the Abrams as I had no clue what I was doing. Luckily it came with the 2.4G, smoke, and dual sounds. It's a pretty decent tank but definitely needs some upgrades.

The plan for the Tiger is to make it a strong runner. At some point I will definitely upgrade the Tiger as well, I just wanted something that would run good out of the box for a month or so while my other tank is apart for upgrades.

Last question - Tiger 1 Early vs Late version; I have read a few topics on this and people seem to like the later version better, but I couldn't really discern why? I just happen to like the looks of the early Tiger with the air intake system, is there actually any benefit to the late version as far as running the tank?

[87lc2]

Got it, thank you Mick. I will be sure I confirm it has the quick release before purchasing. I did confirm with Taigen that it has the metal hull & idler setup so hopefully it has the quick release as well. The only thing that bothers me about the Taigen are the metal idler wheels & drive wheels being bare metal. At some point I will be painting the entire tank anyway, but it really takes away from the look having those bare metal wheels right out of the box. I'll have to do something with them right away.

That makes sense about the Abrams, I was really impressed with it when considering what I paid for it. It will soon be fully upgraded, but it's a really nice tank out of the box for the money.

[87lc2]

Yes, that is true. The reason I wasn't interested in the full metal Tiger is I'm not crazy about the paint job Taigen put on the tank so I would most likely repaint it anyway. I figured their plastic version would let me upgrade as necessary and at some point give the tank a new paint job.

Here is the version I'm looking at, as you can see it has the bare metal drive & idler wheels:

http://www.taigentanks.com/taigen/tiger ... ic-early-g

[Roboticus_Prime]

Taigen does sell unpainted kits.

http://www.taigentanks.com/taigenkits/

[Dusty Steppes]

Yes, that is true. The reason I wasn't interested in the full metal Tiger is I'm not crazy about the paint job Taigen put on the tank so I would most likely repaint it anyway. I figured their plastic version would let me upgrade as necessary and at some point give the tank a new paint job.

Here is the version I'm looking at, as you can see it has the bare metal drive & idler wheels:

http://www.taigentanks.com/taigen/tiger ... ic-early-g

The scratch and dent special I picked up was the desert yellow version. It has the exact same description. The metal colored drive sprockets and idler wheels are plastic. Upgrade those with metal ones, some gray paint and replace the 3:1 zinc gearboxes with 4:1 steel 48mm shaft gearboxes and you will have a solid runner. The plastic tracks are closed pin and work well with the metal drive sprockets. I have run mine both inside and outside. It handles dirt, grass, and carpet without any problems. The plastic version, IMHO, is much better than the metal version as it has a plastic turret that is easier to modify than the metal turret without the added weight, friction and stress on the plastic upper hull. I have the late model metal version Tiger 1 and have found that the metal tracks add stress to the drive train and the metal turret just adds weight to the top of the tank and causes some stress to the upper hull.

[87lc2]

It sounds like I'm making the right choice with the plastic version. I guess I was so hung up on the color of the drive/idler wheels that I assumed they were metal. Odd that they would not just paint the plastic wheels the same color as the road wheels. Oh well, no big deal to paint them. I definitely plan on upgrading the gearboxes & wheels, thanks for the suggestion. I was going to put metal tracks on, but maybe I'll run it with the plastic tracks for a while and see how she does. From the research I've done it seems like not many people upgrade the road wheels to metal, is that not really necessary?

Does anyone have an opinion on differences between the early/late versions as far as operation goes? I'm pretty set on the early version simply because I like the way it looks, but would like to hear opinions just in case I'm missing something.

Also, thanks for the tip on the kits Roboticus. That may be something to consider given the fact that I'm going to repaint the tank anyway.

[Raminator]

There's not going to be an appreciable difference in the way an early, mid or late Tiger run at this scale. If anything, an early/mid might run a tiny bit better because of the rubber tyres, but really it's all going to come down to preference. If you want Feifels, don't let anyone stop you.

[87lc2]

Well it looks like my decision was made for me. Found a HL Tiger 1 with metal gearbox, drive/idler wheels, and tracks for $79 shipped. Tank is new in the box, couldn't pass that up. Even adding the Taigen metal lower hull for around $80 I'll still be way ahead of the game. Will still need to paint the tank and possibly make some other upgrades, looking forward to getting started.