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My Feedback: (4)

Noice! I'm pondering building another /35th RC tank and while the stuff I used for my KV-2 works, it's really bulky. The massive hull of a KV only barely manages to cram it all in. More space could be freed up with some pancake lithium batteries, admittedly, but not much. Having access to sturdy /72nd RC gearboxes and turret mechanics would make that far easier for me to do! Well, that, and it'd let me finish my KV-2, I still don't have a working turret on that thing.

Oh, sweet. Yeah I went and re-examined the product pages for the various airsoft turrets and the 360 ring ya'll offer. It seems I can just use the 360º kit and turret as-is, I'd only have to redo the connectors on the other end of the slip ring since they don't use standard servo plugs. I didn't see any digital boards up there so that's just a simple snip-and-crimp affair.

Hint hint, nudge nudge, ya'll should also sell the airsoft T-34/85 turret seperate. Didn't see it in the page anywhere and I have HB's /16th T-34/85 kit as well.

It would greatly help. I'm figuring I'll have to do some minor surgery on the upper hull I've got, it'd be nice to know how much. And, hey, maybe I'll get lucky and not need to operate! The turret ring present is fairly large, it must be said.

I'm gonna be using Channel 5 to fire the main gun, so no mix required.

Oooh, that bodes extra well for repurposing the transmissions in larger tanks. My KV-2 rolls pretty free, but it's also fairly hefty, and it's got Friulmodel metal tracks on it. It does on occasion break teeth off of the gears in the 70097 gearbox I used. It's done this twice, both at the final drive. Once, off the small 12t final drive gear from running in some mud, and the second time the large gear driving the final drive in the same spot shed a tooth just driving along my kitchen floor, I chalk that up to that tooth having been damaged from the first broken tooth incident. Also means I could RC smaller /35th stuff, like my FT-17 or Panzer II, something the rather bulky Tamiya box doesn't let me do.

Imex-Erik

These should be in stock very soon. Give or take a few weeks when the bossman comes home. They are currently done and should appear in the kits as addons (these do not come with your stock tank) soon. I'll update you guys when they do I will be adding the accessory kits to the store soon, so please contact me first if you need them, I only have a few left. If you miss out you will have to wait for bossman to return from China

afv aficionado

Hi Erik
Cool. Will email.
Mal

Panther G

Yep, an M4A3 with the T23/76 W would definitely be my next WWII era tank I would be buying or building. Love them 76's.

Panther G

I love this scale. Just perfect. Not too big and not too small. Wish it was more popular, would love to get into 1:10 scale tanks.

Imex-Erik

Then keep watch for Q2-Q3 of next year

Tanker 10

oh boy

RJS75

Elefant is a must. Metal version.

Tanque

Depending on what you want to do it isn't that bad or expensive to get into. Keeping ur eyes peeled for good deals, parts and such goes a long way.

I would just about flip if a 'mainstream' manufacturer decided to offer a military subject in 1:10 scale but that is just a pipe dream.....

jerry

mondo

If you made a Centurion, it would be bought up by a ton of people. There's no actual British tank available at 1:16 - we're not talking a a niche with the Centurion either, imagine all the people wanting to make an Vietnam era Australian MkV or Israeli Sho't.

The market needs something other than German, US and Russian tanks. I get why a Matilda or Churchill would be tough to manufacture due to the running gear but a Comet or Cromwell would be very easy as it's just torsion bar once again. A Centurion would be a little harder again due to running gear but in the end it's not to dissimilar to what you're already doing with the Sherman.

YHR

A Comet or Cromwell is as easy to do as a T-34. Very big hole in WWII armor that needs to be filled, and I can't think of an easier tank to produce to fill that hole, then the Cromwell or Comet.. Maybe one day we will see it.

Cheers

Panther F

Those tanks carry a type of Christie suspension which is not a torsion bar system but like a bell and crank.




Jeff

Panther G

I have been asking for a Comet or Cromwell for years now. British tanks are surely needed in this hobby, The Brits invented the dang things after all.

Tanque

Even if British, Japanese and Italian tank subjects aren't in the offing then why not more soft skin/ armored car of American or German types?
Not all subjects need to be combat vehicle sorts.

And don't hate me but most modern subjects are just boringly similar for good reason.

If not WWII how about WWI subjects? Renault, A7V, Mk IV? we could have fun with those...

With the technology available a Mathilda isn't far fetched...maybe a manufacturer might have to do a little more
homework to figure out best practices and materials for the more complex suspensions and cost would likely be greater
but it is all doable. I think the smaller more organic makers have faded away even in China and are being replaced with Tamiya and Bandai - like companies which as time moves on won't be as willing to take chances on lesser popular subjects even though they have greater resources to absorb
a poor seller. There's those pesky stockholders and investors to placate...

Jerry

Panther F

I totally agree! I like just about everything that has been released so far BUT... the British and Japanese armor has been avoided, for some reason.


I'd like to see someone re-release the 1/16 RC M-16 half-track and do some variations on it. Even some German half-track varieties would be most welcome... even if it's JUST one platform!

Then there's the Danbury JEEP and Tamiya Kubel kits... more potential for WWII soft-skinned vehicles that CAN BE RC'd.


I agree there needs to be a 'balance' that the theater(s) were not all armor but not everyone plays in battle games (IR or air-soft) so even an RC'd JEEP would be appreciated.


(off my soapbox now)




Jeff

Darkearth74

,sorry i insulted you jeff you did not dserve that,nomatter what your opinions are

Panther F

Actually, it was a Panther II (D.A.) and even IT was not completed. It has been moved since then.

"douchbag"... LOL!!! That's funny. I guess you and Gary should get a room together and come up with something better.


But thanks for trying to call me out. Now quit trying to start flame wars on Eriks threads guys.






Jeff

Tanque

Yeah geeze folks, this IS a hobby right? A fun hobby? No need to resort to name calling. Thank goodness I don't feel that strongly about details...

G, F, II or whatever Ausf floats our boat. Maybe even that little baby Panther that never saw the light of day- the Leopard ( stub of a Panther-like
chassis wearing a Puma hat ...)

Jerry

Darkearth74

The facte are that you wernt there jeff and all you know is what somebody told you or you read,you just want to be right and thats cool with me im sorry i attacked you have a nice night

mondo

Yes, I understand that but from a practical manufacturing point of view, for a 1:16 tank it would be a box with torsion bar which is very simple and not require specific tooling or design work. Which is unlike a 1:16 Matilda or Centurion.

philipat

Where's the market for British, Italian or Japanese 1/16 RC armor? Aside from hobby-ists, who has heard of them? What significant impact did they make that they made a name for themselves? The Italian and Japanese tanks were insignificant in numbers and capability. The Italian tanks were only really encountered in N. Africa and then minimally. Even the French tanks were so quickly rolled that they're not really known outside of hobby-ists. The British tanks were and are very capable, but their numbers were and are small. They don't export like the US, German and Russian/Soviet tanks. So, most people don't think of them when they want an RC tank. Remember that Taigen and HL are building toys first and hobby stuff second. Tamiya follows the market. The only reason there is an RC Japanese tank is because Tamiya is riding a wave of nationalism in Japan; we're not the market they focused on for that tank. Same for HL's ZTZ.

Not saying that it wouldn't be cool to see other armor, modern or WWII...just saying that I don't see it as a good business decision.

Tanque

Good points all however don't use the numbers fielded as a criterion. The Elefant wasn't a particularly useful, successful or effective
AFV as deployed or implemented especially in the number as it was but yet we all fell over on another trying to get a Hooben or two.
( and don't dare say I don't like Elefants- I have 6!)

And try mentioning Porsche Elefant the next time you're in a Toys-R-Us and see the blank expressions. How many people outside of
hobbyists really knew what a KV-2 is?

I don't dispute the low financial viability of offering something different. What do you and the others propose the 'majors' bring to the market? Variations of all the old standbys? StuG III with chassis number for 1/1944, 2/1944, 3/1944....? And if we use the toy segment as a benchmark often times a tank, is a tank is a tank... little Johnny won't care what it is so unless we're talking generic tank-like toy with rubber band tracks why not make it a Comet? Give them the push_on_the_floor tanks with sparks generators and leave the Japanese, British and Italian tanks for us. If there's a wave of nationalism sweeping through Japan perhaps now would be a good time for Tamiya to present us with a 1/16 Type 97 Chi Ha. Bringing out a lesser known tank might well become
the difference between a company being viewed as innovative or not.

mondo

What significant impact did any British tank make? Were there no western allied tanks before the Grant and Sherman arrived? Oh, how I've been mistaken all these years about all those battles in France in 1940 and the Running battles in North Africa. I guess there were tank battles before the tanks graciously gave the British a few tanks in 1942 right? It's not like the Matilda in either form was relevant was it in those years? Oh wait, it was and there were tank battles! It's not as if the Churchill and Cromwell were the mainstay of the British army late in the war. Oh wait a second, they were. Oh hang on, what tank took out Tiger 131? Must be a Sherman obviously.

North Africa was the only ground action in the west for 4 years. Or 1 if you were from a country very late to the party . The Italian tanks may have been rubbish but they had them in numbers.


People will buy British tanks at the very least. Games like World of Tanks has exposed people to tanks outside of the few very famous models. As pointed out, the Ferdinand was historically irrelevant (which it was, as is the jagdtiger, sturmtiger and kv2) yet sells so a tank like the Centurion, which won Yom Kippur among other achievements won't sell?

Tanque

Oh hey! So the criterion is impact made? Did the Mark IV ( WWI ) or A7V make an impact?

So the world just fought WWII with German, American or Russian tanks? I'll bet there are some tankers who fought their way across parts of the Philippines
who wish that was true. The Japanese military doctrine didn't respond quickly enough to US tanks but the Japanese armored forces didn't go quietly either.

Italian armor didn't make a good showing but as a concept they held their own against their design opposite contemporaries and then there was the brilliant Autoblinda
AB41 armored car. Small in numbers but significant in design. The Italians had crappy tactical doctrine that didn't exploit their tanks . But the machines couldn't have been that bad for when the Italians threw in the towel the Germans snapped up what they could and I believe even made more...

I really want a Churchill Flail (Toad)! I'll get around to making one some day...

Jerry

philipat

All good arguments from hobby-ists and folks that know history. How many consumers are either?. Now think like a businessman who isn't into "innovation", but is trying to stay viable in a shrinking market. Model building still happens a lot; but it's competing against a lot more (sometimes cheaper) distractions and forms of entertainment than it did 20 or even 10 years ago.

Like was said earlier, a tank is a tank is a tank. If it's not in the movies, few people know about it. If it is in WoT, some know about it, but not much. Making tanks that are in WoT might help, but then you have to pick between WoT's running paper tanks, those of small impact but look cool (Elephant, JT, etc), and those that are more known.

Not saying I wouldn't love to have an entire wall of options offered by manufacturers. I think that would be totally cool. Just trying to think like someone with limited research, design, development and production resources who is trying to apply them to a small market.

And yes, the predominance of WWII was fought with Russian, German or US tanks. In fact, despite their own production abilities, Great Britain and the USSR relied heavily on the US lend-lease program, which was in place several years before our "late entry".