newbie

[jtwirecloth]

hi, I am a keen modeller, not much I havnt built over the years, tried planes (not for me), would like to build a boat at some point, I have r/c cars electric & nitro. train sets in 00 & n gauge, (I like building the scenery).so whats next, tanks of course, as a 52 year old kid I realise research is the key before I spend my hard earned cash.
my local hobby shop sells the heng long, but i did notice they have a lot of returns, question whats the best way forward, dont have bottomless wallet, but try to buy the best value for money items where possible, I love tamiya kits, but they can get real expensive with hop ups.
so is there a starting point for me. what do I look for.
I will scour the forum and take in as much info as possible.
nice to meet you all.
Tony.

[sparks]

Hi Tony,
Welcome to the forum
Like Eastern Front, I have a lot of Tamiya tanks, and wouldn't want anything else, but Heng Longs are a good starting point and as stated can be made into a good model.
sparks

[Ace Rimmer]

Hi Tony,

Welcome mate, I would agree with sparks and eastern front, tamiya's are best. I have two, one KT and a tiger, i also have a HL tiger,panzerIII and a Torro T34. The tamiya tanks are excellent straight out of the box and upgradeable, where as the HL needs the upgrades to bring them up to scratch. Tamiya spares can be expensive where as HL spares are much cheaper so have a good look around and think before you make a decision.

Cheers,

Ace

[jtwirecloth]

thanks guys, did some research and more or less came up with same answers you gave me, however i did buy a HL tiger pro for £100, also picked up a faulty tiger for £35 as spare, I got that home and there was a broken spring in the battery housing (transmitter), forced on a bit of copper and got it running, although that only has nylon gears and tracks its great for my wood floor indoors. the spare will be stripped and painted in camo colours, and I will do the same to the pro once the warranty has run out. (3 months). great you have endorsed tamiya, i will get one,take my time building it, and play with the HL s in the meantime, dont consider the £135 as wasted because I will enjoy them indoors. I have extra batt packs from my cars, but aa rechargable batteries are becoming a nightmare, 8 in each transmitter, plus the cars i have, constantly recharging them. also on the spare, i just paid £30 for a 1/35 scale model tiger, and that will just sit in my display cabinet. puts it into prospective.

[Ace Rimmer]

Hey Tony,

As long as you have fun mate that's all that matters. And you'll probably end up with quite a few!

Cheers,
Ace

[Reaper332]

Welcome to the forum Tony.
Cheers Ken

[streetfighterjeff]

welcome to the forun bud,
jeff

[mt 1]

Welcome to the forum Tony

[ruben2005]

hello mate and welcome i started with hl and ended up with tamiya kt % tiger 1 its all about learning along the way most of my builds are from ideas on this site i dont think it really matters what tank you have its that joy of seeing your own tank move and fire like when you were a child watching the war films, now you are in the tank enjoy every bit mate

[jtwirecloth]

fixed transmitter properly, the smoke doesnt work on the faulty model. (i can live with that). me and my daughter had a battle of the front room, well i can say already the non upgrade was faster around the floor (less weight). it also seemed to outgun me, but that could be the battery state.
took the heavier model outside in the garden, did struggle in the longer grass. is it me or did the electronics became a little unresponsive at times. problem now is i gotta have a tamiya because this is fun, and if the tamiya are that much better....well