Black Sails

Hi all, real new rc tank want a be here. How do you tell what to to buy; what model> what brand? I thought I had trouble picking a rock crawler. Need something the 5 year old grandson can help run. All the info on here about all the tanks is great, just need something that we can grow into,don't have a lot to spend. I know you have heard all this before, Help Please.
Thanks

Tanque

Isn't Black Sails a great series?? Love it...

Arrrrrr
( yeah I know this post isn't overly useful so far)

So we won't start yet another Tamiya vs the world thread ask your self the relevant
questions and realize the basic truths about tank models

• How much do you want to spend, keeping in mind you get generally what you pay for
• Is a tank really the best for a young child
• How good are you at fixing or modifying things
• German, US or Russian- those are your choices in easy to get entry level tanks
• No tank is truly cheap
• tanks aren't indestructible

When you can answer and grasp these come back and ask which specific model is right for your application.

Jerry

sergeantseabass

Price and what you want to do with it are really your two starting points. How much do you want to invest initially? I say that because you never just stop where you are. I Have a five year old and he can drive my sherman just fine. he has a little bit of a problem remembering which stick does what but still enjoys it none the less. None of the tanks go fast enough that you really have to worry about him losing control and crashing into something. that is unless your in a small space.

the next step is Airsoft or IR. Airsoft is cool if you only have one tank. It shoots plastic BBs. they so come out at a pretty good velocity though. I don't let my son shoot it in the house or near anyone. My first step in his education to firearm safety. IR is great if you have more than one tank. you can shoot each other and take damage (simulated) such as slower speed and eventually they stop working from damage, then reset and go at it again. the down side is that none of the brands play well with each other. there are two ways to combat this. either buy the same brand of IR tanks, or start your upgrading of the tanks earlier. there are quite a few upgrade boards out there that will allow other tanks to shoot at each other. Also the "standard" for any kind of group RC battle is the Tamiya setup. If your plan is to one day join a group of fellow tankers and wreak havoc your going to need to be on a Tamiya or Tamiya like system.

So with all that being said price is the next sticking point. You can spend $500 without blinking an eye and only get a tank. On the same note you could spend $500 and get 4 or 5 tanks. And yes price does kind of equal quality to a point. $100 airsoft Heng Long (HL) Bulldog. certainly not the best but it get you in a tank as a good start point (in my opinion) without dropping $300-$500. The quality at that price is not great but it still isn't a bad runner.

If you have a bit more to spend I would recommend that you go through Imex. they sell Taigen (TG) tanks. these tanks have more of the upgrades that you will probably end up doing to the tank(s) anyway. the gearboxes are steel gears and most of them have metal track (not all). But honestly the best part of buying a Taigen tank from Imex is the support. Imex-Erik (on these forums constantly) is probably the best person you will ever deal with when it comes to customer support. Plus they are in the states.

If your into building your own tank from the ground up then go with a Tamiya. these kits are full build yourself kits. if you have expierence then this is where you want to be. BUt they are not cheap. the cheapest one I have found is about $500 and they go up from there. The quality is great, but they are only IR. If you want airsoft then this is not for you.

i hope that this has at least given you an idea of which road you want to travel down. There are other good companies other than Imex. I haven't purchased from them but have heard good things. I have purchased from Imex and will do so again. I'm sure other will chim in and hopefully you have your first tank or tanks in no time.

Bill

Black Sails

Thanks for all the great info. I like the 4 to 5 tanks to begin with for the price.When I look on some of these sites and the reply's some people give are very bad makes you wonder. I was an Ag Tect for 30 years so maybe I can do some work on the tanks.I have been reading on here for a while and I think it is great how people help people on here.Reminds me of some of the metal detecting sites, ask a ? and you hear how it happened to them. Been wanting to get into tanks,just no one around here seems to have them.
Mike

Black Sails

oops sorry ,yes black sails is a great series,love it also.
Mike

sergeantseabass

where are you. If you don't mind saying

sergeantseabass

which 4 to 5 do you want to start with 4 or 5 tanks or are there certain tanks that you are looking at

Namerifrats

+1 on IMEX and Taigen! Correction on one part, all the gear boxes aren't steel. Zinc alloy unless they advertise it as coming with steel. One of mine (Torro Sturmtiger came with steel). Currently have some steel gearboxes on a truck heading here to replace the zinc ones that went out on the Tiger. I have 3 Taigens, got all 3 in about 2 weeks, so hard to stop at just one. I highly recommend IMEX and the Taigen/Torro brands! Erik is great to deal with and gets your stuff to you quick! My 6 year old son runs my tanks some under close supervision and does a fine job.

sergeantseabass

good catch thanks

tdipaul

Once you have experienced a quality crawler (like an Axial) all Heng Long tanks are a let down. They look good on the outside but are one slim step above toys r us quality. Owning 5 crap tanks doesn't equal fun or value in my book!

If you must have "ready to run" this is IMO a nice one within the Taigen offerings (model #12080):

http://www.taigentanks.com/airsoft/2...kampfwagen-iii

if building is half the fun (and there is a desire to end up with something that is RELIABLE and to be proud of) this is the lowest $ entry point:

https://shop.aaftankmuseum.com/Produ...ductCode=56014

https://shop.aaftankmuseum.com/Produ...tCode=FUTK4200

scottlarson925

My Feedback: (2)

Imex now carries Torro and I couldn't be happier with my Torro King Tiger. As others have said, you get what you pay for. What's that old adage, "quality is remembered long after price is forgotten"? How true...

heavyaslead

The two key points "5 year old grandson" and "don't have a lot to spend" basically says start with a ready to run 1/24 scale tank or 1/16 tank.

Don't get a kit or shoots BB's.

My suggestion.

Namerifrats

I think airsoft tanks are fine, as long as the child is directly supervised. They have a safety switch that will render the airsoft useless if need be. With that said, those plastic BB's are moving when they exit the barrel. I've fired mine all the way through the side of a cardboard box at 10ft.

Max-U52

Always keep in mind that these tanks are rated for ages 14 and up for a reason. I gave one to my 9 year old nephew and he handles it fine, but I did disable his airsoft (at momma's insistence).

dgsselkirk

Heck for a 5 year old and the price point I would start with the 1/72 to play with on the kitchen table or the living room floor! LOL!

CHIEFSONN

tdipaul PM Sent

ausf

Honestly I'd avoid 1/16 altogether if it really is going to be used by a 5 year olds. Having had two of them myself with tanks in the house, you're setting yourself up for a big disappointment with 1/16.

That's not a slight on 5 year olds, both of my boys have been handling an airbrush since they were around 6. Thing is, they don't have the control for small movements on the sticks. Doesn't seem like it wuld be much of a hassle for a tank, but the jack rabbit jumps are the worst thing you can do to a gearbox. I had Tamiyas go through torture, a cheap HL is not long to the world. Seriously, you'll spend more time with the hull open than you would running. As soon as he drops the Tx, you're sunk.

I second the call for 1/35, 1/24 or 1/72. Especially the small ones. You and him can IR battle on a table top for the price of the cheapest 1/16 and will work better in tiny hands.

As far as airsoft: kIds can find buttons real easy (airsoft off) and are short on patience. You ever see a kid look down a hose to see where the water comes from? Not a far stretch to do the same with a tank barrel. Or worse, ask his buddy to do it while you step out of the room for a second.

RichJohnson

Wow Paul, you hate heng longs huh?
I have tamiyas and Henglong shermans. I love the henglongs. I can build them, bash them upgeade them as I see fit and they are a great platform to go any direction you want. A stock plastic gear and track sherman is a great place to start, or stop of you just want to play.
the only draw back as I see it, is plastic drive sprockets, which should be upgraded to metal from artistic hobbies.
See my M4A1 build thread down the board.
i can have more fun building up several henglons, than I can for the price of 1 tamiya. ButnI like building models, and diversity.

MAUS45

I do not think Paul hates the Heng Longs, he is just trying to save a newbie some pain and money. He just suggested the Tiagen(Upgraded version of Heng Longs) as a time saver/pain saver. No one can ever really hate a Heng Long they can just fix them. I have 2 HL Stug III, 2 HL Panzer III L, and parts of a Panzer IV to use as a base for a Jagd.Both Stugs ran and died of plastic gear failure, but I knew what I was in for. So both are getting new steel 4-1 mid-low gearboxes from IMEX when the container gets here! Erik? One of the Panzer III’s is still running and the other one gave up the electronic ghost and has become a donor for a StuG III G based on the Panzer III M lower hull. I agree the HL's are the best base tanks you can buy to modify or convert, as long as you know you will head that way. Just look at the tread by Kanyhalos, “New guy needs help with Heng Long tanks”, 11 pages of fun and sweat for him even with our suggestions on how to fix stuff. I thought the guy was about to give up at one point. Just do not want to see another potential R/C Tanker go crazy trying a Heng Long first. I think the Taigen Panzer III or Stug III G would be the best first ready to run 1/16 scale tanks to try. IMHO Maybe like Ausf said go small with VS 1/24 or Dragon 1/72?

Black Sails

Thanks all, the 5 year old won't be running the tank with out me. We have fun with the crawler and he has a Wal-mart crawler,but he still runs mine with me. I just would like a Tank that I can learn on and so can he.I would love to have an imex tank ,just a little to much right now. The HL tanks are beaten up more than the rest of what I have read. Getting them with missing items,won't run,a lot of things. Not trying to miss lead HL tanks but the reviews aren't that good. Then there are the good reviews, so who is right? Just can't make up my mind. Thanks to everyone who is trying to help,it makes me feel better.
Mike

MAUS45

Mike, check this tank out at Imex scratch and dent. It just has some plastic cosmetic stuff, but has a lot of good stuff for the price. It's a Taigen Panzer III with metal upgrades. The only thing you would want to upgrade, and I wouldn't do it until they fail, is the gear boxes. They are zinc and should with proper maintenance last, but steel is better. Only $259 for this one it is usually $399.
http://www.taigentanks.com/clearance...0092-ctag12080

ausf

Mike, I swore off recommending brands but you seem like a good guy who's genuinely interested in opinions to help you out.

HLs are a great cheap source for a lot of things, but keep in mind, you can buy them direct from overseas (or at least they offer them to me constantly) for about $30-35 with metal tracks. Shipping is nuts though unless you get a container's worth. But that's not on them, I paid mid nineties shipping on a Tamiya from Japan, so a HL with shipping from HK runs about the same as you'll find in available in the States. That said, you will be buying a tank that has zero customer service and quality control, and remember, at the end of the day is a $30 tank.

The markup we pay is to cover returns, plain and simple. I've ordered 4 from Amazon, eBay, etc and 3 went back due to being DOA, and I know my way around these things.

If you are set on 1/16 and the budget is low, don't have a problem having to resolder the inevitable broken connection and have resonable expectations, then by all means get one. But if you do, I strongly suggest buying from Mato or Artistic. They look over what they initially get and weed out the complete losers before they ship. If won't solve everything, but it'll give you a fighting chance.

They do have potential, here's a HL Stug III of mine, but the $100 model has ten times the amount in upgrades plus months of bench time.

tdipaul

I have tried three Heng Longs so its not like I didn't give them a chance.

#1. Early Tiger 1 arrived with one of the idlers broken clean off. FYI: an idler is a major driveline component that needs to be rock solid. But on a Heng Long its an afterthought. It was obvious someone tried to glue it back on pre-shipment because it was all glue-shiny at the break. After re-gluing it required very ginger driving to keep it attached. Very frustrating to own.

#2. Pershing looked great but sounded like it had sand used as a lubricant for the gears. Not sexy. Bought some Mato 3/1 gears to try to fix this and they too were wobbly garbage. And it glitched like crazy too.

#3 Bulldog had super sloppy fitting road wheels and an upper roller that was broken pre-shipment and haphazardly glued back on crooked and seized solid. The best thing about this one was that it had plastic trans gears which were quiet.

All three sounded silly and had goofy low speed control that's nowhere near appropriate for a tank, and not fun to drive

So there's about $400 here that could have been allocated for something better.

In short, Heng Longs are great to detail and weather but not much fun to operate. They make nice shelf queens.

Black Sails

Great advice, I have read all the posts and know I am in good hands foe any ? I have.Thanks
Mike

Max-U52

I don't want to disappoint you, Rudy, but the 4 shaft gearboxes don't come in mid-low, only high-low. Mid-lows are 3 shaft. Of course, you said 4-1 so I can't be sure what you mean by that, the confusion about what to call gearboxes boggles my mind. Are you talking about the new boxes with all the bearings like they put in the HL Abrams that you get from Imex?

Mike, this site is famous for not delivering private messages, did you get the message I sent you? If you do go with Heng Long for the budget it's true they often arrive in less than working order. When I buy a Heng Long a lot of the time I'll get it from ebay and I make sure that if the tank doesn't work properly upon arrival the seller will provide a call tag to cover return shipping and will replace the item with a new one. I know a couple sellers that offer that if you need them. It's frustrating when that happens and you have to wait for the new one, but it's better than buying from overseas and having major return hassles if there's a problem. Of course, Imex is definitely the way to go if you can afford it. The Panzer III (TAG12085) is $239 but you might be able to find it cheaper, and Imex backs all their tanks even if you get it from a dealer and not directly from them. Imex has the best customer service I've ever seen, bar none. Maus45's tip on the metal PIII at $259 really is a great deal. So if I were you and you really want 1/16 I'd do my best to get Imex, but if you really can't afford that then go Heng Long but make sure the vendor has a hassle free return policy. I'd say it's about 1 chance in 5 that you'll have to send the first tank back if you buy Heng Long, but some HL tanks have better track records than others. The Panzer IIIs usually are a safer bet. I think it would be a good idea to call Erik at Imex and see what he can do for you. You never know what that guy has hiding in the back room for just such an occasion.