sassgrunt

My Feedback: (1)

First tank was a Tamiya 1/25 Tiger I. I got it because it was just so much bigger than any other model tank kit out there, that it was really cool. Then in 1978 I found a Bandai 1/15 StuG IV in a hobby shop in San Diego. I didn't actually like the StuG - what I wanted was a Brummbar, after seeing Shepard Paine's great 1/32 build - so I decided to build it as that. I scaled up a set of Bellona 1/72 plans to 1/15, (no Xerox machines back then, so I used a set of dividers to scale it up by hand). Styrene sheet was also nonexistent at the time, so I got the bright idea of using the outer case from a discarded television set to build the upper hull. But, I couldn't find a glue that would stick the pieces together, so it has about three kinds of epoxy/Devcon all over the inside. It was an adventure, but also made for some good memories.

ausf

My first tank was a 1/72 Dragon RC Tiger I I bought while Christmas shopping for my sons in a train store. It was on the counter and immediately brought me back to my childhood and the World At War series. Funny how something like the shape of a Tiger sticks in you mind. Even through it was kind of pricey at around $70, had no rotation/elevation, etc, just steering it was the most popluar present opened that year. We drove that for hours.

That little tank reignited a draw to RC as well as static modeling. I could only watch the hobby as a kid, even boats, back then it was way too expensive beyond the line control Cox planes that only ran long enough to slice your finger.

So I bought a bunch of Revell 1/72 (better detail than a HL), then 1/35 and eventually started a small business all because I happened across the DML Tiger I.

In between the 1/35 building and the business I drooled over the Tamiya FOs when they came out. With a mortgage, 2 boys under 4 years old, there was no way I could justify spending $500 on a model tank and there wasn't another option back then. My wife and her family surprised me with the M4 FO as a birthday present and I was hooked. So hooked I sold off a bunch of my dive gear: regulators, BCs and wetsuits to get the Tiger I. Who was I kidding, with young kids, I barely had an hour bench time, there was no way I was getting in the water for a long time, by then I wouldn't trust the gear anyway. That Tiger was, and still is, the best RC plastic model kit available.

Next evolution was buying two apples on a whim one day and the heart pounding battles that ensued. I had to grind the crowns off the sticks on the Futabas, we were cutting our fingers trying to get a shot off. That started a whole new obsession...

YHR

My first tank was the HL Walker bulldog. Still have it with the original RX 13 and airsoft combo. I mounted a video camera on it for the purpose of yard patrol. That first tank purchase totally changed my hobby focus away from model trains and into RC tanks IT has been a very good hobby with mechanical, electrical and modeling all rolled up into one. Sound, video, IR battling, all provide a very diverse, and broad area of interest for people. Through the historical interest I had with WWII, and it has provided me with years of entertainment.

Have to say though without this forum and the helpful membership that first Heng Long may have just a light blinking flash in the plan.

DaveBcool

Like a few others, mine was an Abrams in the early 80's, probably from Radio Shack.
It had rubber tracks that were really tight and put a lot of stress on the transmission.
If figured out that if I stretched them by hand before hand, it ran much better.
Inevitably, I stretched one too far and it snapped.
That was the end of that.

My first tank during this renaissance, was a Tammy Pershing because James Stewart Newman and Commander Bob let me borrow theirs at Danville.
It has been love ever since.

CaptainB

Mine was a HL Tiger 1 bought at a model air show in 2004 I think. Could'nt believe that a 1/16th Tiger 1 was available for the £65 I paid - a tamiya Tiger 1 was completely out of the question at the time. I still have the HL and it worked a treat right out of the box - unusually!!!!!

CaptB.

Patski

MY first one is my HL KV-1 bought 2 years ago! it's still a work in progress! will be upgraded with Clark TK-22 servo recoil and the correct barrel...waiting for the weather to be good so I can start the airbrush!

dgsselkirk

My first was a 1/25 Tamiya Tiger bought while I was posted to CFB London for the summer of 76. Stayed out of the mess and stayed in barracks building it and running it with the wires out the back! LOL! Fast forward to fall 2011 and bought my first HL King Tiger which I spent a year rebuilding and modifying and which now resides in NC with a collector who treasures it. Joined the CanAm R/C Tank Club and never looked back. Have about 10 tanks now but just keep adding, building, selling, and adding again. What a vicious circle!!! LOL!

LosTxSouL94

Mine is a bit of a mess.

My first purchase was a Panzer IV as I was huge into GuP. A bugger up on my part got it stuck at the depo of the couriers. Now my second purchase, but first delivered was an M4A3 Sherman. Then after correcting the issue, I received my first bought but second received Panzer IV.