cavman888

I was just wondering what people could say about the Tiger 1 ? does it have bearings in the road wheels/ gear boxes? I am trying to pick between the t34, tiger 1, and the Bulldog? any opinions or info would help.

Strato50

Hey and welcome to RCU, you'll find that this is a center of knowledge, wisdom and plenty o'bickering over tanks. But really it's a good time

The answer to your question is.. complicated :P This has been gone over many many times before, don't worry, it's good to ask questions. First off let me ask this: what's your budget? Where do you want to drive your tank? Are you interested in club battles? Are you cool sticking with out-of-the-box components or are you a tinkerer?




Anyhooo... basically for the under $500 range you can get a really nice Taigen Tiger 1, their new T-34 with the awesome metal hull & bearings. The Bulldog still lingers in the abyss of HengLong tanks that have never gotten much attention or many upgrades... oh well.

If you want to build a great quality kit and get to know a well built tank, consider Tamiya.

Don't get too caught up in the brand arguing that will follow

Max-U52

Yes, Welcome!

I own the Taigen Bulldog (great little tank) and four Taigen Tiger Ones. I don't have the T-34. Like Strato50 said, it's complicated. Can you give more details? If you just want out of the box and low price the bulldog would be my choice, but if you're going to make this a hobby then a Tiger One is a great platform to start with. Imex has several different T1s, so budget and what you want to do with it are important. I have both the top of the line full metal Tigers and the lowest price plastic version as well. If you want out of the box and money is no object then the T-34 is the way I'd go, and if money isn't an issue and you're OK with putting it together then DEFINITELY get the Tamiya.

cavman888

Price i would like to keep under the 500 dollar mark, I am mainly looking for something to drive around my house, back yard, ( I like the tiger because it has a metal bottom with no openings) , no tank battles.. I am not afraid to tinker and do enjoy the hobby aspect, i have build and worked on many rc cars ( newer to tanks) ...

I like the bulldog but i don't see a lot of metal upgrades, so that's why I was looking between a Tiger and a t34, I like the torsion bar suspension in the tiger but I like that the t34 has bearings through-out.

thank you guys for the quick responses, great form.. very accepting of the new guy that ask dumb questions :P

welchgc

Get the Taigen Metal Later Tiger I. Best all around tank, and the BB version you can get for under $400 (you in Canada or US?). It is my fav backyard runner. Nice and heavy, looks cool with the camo/zimmeri paint, and goes anywhere, just a beast. Just be sure to upgrade the gear boxes, mine runs so much better with the Steel boxes.

cavman888

i am in the US I found a website "the motor pool" that has it for 450 but right now they are offering 15% off so i could get the t34 or the metal tiger 1 for around 400 .... however if anyone know a better deal :P

Imex-Erik

Hey,
Usually I would of responded much quicker but I am out sick for the day so I am doing this from home
The Tiger 1 does not come with any bearings on it, it is still a very solid runner as most have agreed here today. It is one of our older models but upgrades are not out of the question later down the road such as bearings in road wheels and such. Right now the Tiger 1 is also our heaviest tank as well coming in at around 17 pounds. The M41 Bulldog is one of our starter tanks, it does not have a metal chassis or running gear. The T34 however is our new premium model. It comes with 4:1 steel gearboxes with bearings, metal chassis, metal turret (with roller bearings), metal tracks, metal drive wheels, metal idler wheels with bearings, metal road wheels with bearings and rubber tires, easy open hull, 360 unlimited turret rotation with slip ring, available in airsoft or infrared in both soviet green and winter paint schemes.
The T34 really is QUITE the tank. It is our newest tank we have released and a lot of time and effort went into this one. I actually had a lot of input myself on it. You also get the great customer support IMEX/Taigen offers to all their customers as many here can agree we DO care. I frequent RCU almost every day (even on my sick days it seems) as well as our FB and I take care of almost everything Taigen. Please feel free to email/PM/ask me anything.
Oh and btw, I think Gene over at Artistic Hobbies is doing free shipping on Taigen tanks at the moment. Might be worth it to check up on.

Max-U52

Welchgc is right, the T1 Late full metal is a great tank for what you want. I have one myself and I love it. But you should also get the steel gearboxes (4:1 black steel gears). The zinc gears just don't hold up in such a heavy tank. If you don't want to have to change the gearboxes then the T-34 is probably your best bet. And since Erik put in the pitch for artistic hobbies I guess I have to recommend Immortal Hobbies, just to keep it fair. Who loves ya, Curtis?

TexasTank

Hope you get to feeling better Erik. You said the Tiger I is your heaviest at the moment? Wouldn't that title belong to the Torro King Tiger?

regards,
Joel

Dusty Steppes

I have both the Tiger and the T34.
Both have the 4:1 black steel gears.

Tiger weighs about 18 lbs.
T34 weighs about 14 pounds.

The T34 outperforms the Tiger on grass. I have yet to shed a track although I have had a track pin start to work loose.
The Tiger suspension requires more preventive maintenance. It seems to be more prone to shedding the track when running on grass.

One thing you will want to do is buy a bigger battery.
I have a 5000mAH in the Tiger that gives me just over an hour of run time on grass.
The T34 has 2 2100mAH batteries wired in parallel and I have 60+ minutes on grass and another 30+ minutes on the basement floor and it is still going strong. Probably has to do with it weighing less and having bearings in the running gear.

The only thing I don't like on the T34 is the clear bow machine gun. I used a sharpie on mine to give it a semi-gloss black color.

Rustytrax

Parallel batteries will generally preform better than one due the amp draw down being spread over 2 sources.

I have battled the tiger1 on numerous occasions and she is a slow but strong runner. I did add 480 long can motors to the 3-1 gears. I use a 5k 40c lipo.

Strato50

....I'm just wondering myself... many moons ago Asiatam had a set of late Tiger wheels with bearings. Does anyone carry those anymore?

Max-U52

Ain't sharpies just the greatest thing? I use them for all kinds of stuff. I've found they're great for gunmetal, and they also work great on straps, like belts and shoulder straps. I think it looks a lot more like leather than when you paint them.

What other cool tricks have ya got?

Imex-Erik

Thanks, I have been sick a lot lately. I still feel really bad today but I can't miss a day and get behind right before I leave to iHobby 2015. That would be no fun at all.... As for the weight of the KT vs the T1, the T1 is heavier by just a pound or so. I think this is mainly due to the thickness of the turret. The T1 turret is quite thick. They are however very close in weight. The Jagdtiger when it releases will bypass these two easy
I knew you would like it. Just as you say the running time is increased by the large amount of bearings on it. Runtime can be further increased by replacing the bushings in the gearbox with bearings as well. I am looking into carrying some of these.
Be very careful on lipo batteries, if you do choose to use one on our tanks please let me know first so I can recommend a few things
Yes the 480 can motors will help a lot too, I have yet to try some of the Speed Pro 480's but after I get settled down and done testing a new item I will look into it. I still do have project brushless on the table as well. I am trying to figure out my next gearbox move.

TexasTank

Erik, don't your tanks come with LiPo batteries? What should one be concerned with?

best,
Joel

Imex-Erik

No, the included NIMH are plenty enough to push these tanks around. Lipo is only for advanced users as you will need your own low voltage alarm to let you know when the voltage is getting low. Our motherboard/esc does not have a low voltage cutoff for lipo, it is currently set up for NIMH. So if you do run lipo you will need your own charger AND most importantly a low voltage alarm. A lipo can give increased run time and torque. The torque is not increased by a magnitude or anything, just lipo can provide more power all the way to the end of the battery, meaning you will notice your tank dying less than that of a NIMH type battery. I only recommend it to users that have knowledge of lithium batteries, to be honest it really isn't needed. I have a 4200mAh NIMH that gets me almost an hour of run time and is super cheap.

FreakyDude

Cavman actually I would recommend the T34 metal version. The Tiger 1 metal is a great tank but the T34 is new and has some features other tanks don't have like the 360 turret. As an IR tank it will battle as good as anything else, looks good but there isn't one on every table like the Tiger.
If you really want to go insane I just finished a custom Tiger for a chap, he lost his job so I have a very unique Tiger that could be sold at a very good value. anyway you need to make up your mind what you want then look for a reputable dealer to support your needs.
Whatever you do take your time and make a decision based on what you want. Once purchased you don't want to be kicking yourself that you should have chose a different model.

Strato50

...or once you really get into this (And everyone eventually does..!) you can just carry on kicking yourself every couple months when you buy new models over and over again

welchgc

So when is this being released?

Max-U52

I read a post from modelman (owns imex) that said April of 2015.

welchgc

Well, I will mark that down, as that would be a dream tank, especially if all metal!And finally back with my tanks! Took my KT out for really the first time since buying it. Nice ride.

Imex-Erik

Lets fix bossman's post and say "around April of 2015" just in case it is a bit late

MAUS45

Wow, I thought it would be out this year???

Imex-Erik

Well initial projections were "late 2014/early 2015" as we got it, but Q2 is looking like the expected date of release here. It might be available before then somewhere else, that I will get more info as it gets closer. Bossman is in China now QC'ing our first batch of Shermans now and bringing back a device I have been trying to get here forever and a half.

MAUS45

Ok, "device", what kind of "device"? As for the Jagdtiger no worries, just gives me more time to save up!!!