Maccrage

All I have to add is Mato is the only manufacturer, as far as I know, who has open periscopes on their Shermans.

Bulldogger

My Feedback: (1)

Who are EEO and DT tank suppliers not familiar with them?
Thanks

gp100

Yeah, really.. Never heard of any of these people that they just named.. By all means, share with the rest of the class.. Inquiring minds want to know..

And, as far as Imex is concerned, they don't have certain things in metal. Only plastic. And I have thought about buying parts from them at times, but got fed up with whatever I wanted always being "out of stock".. I don't have that issue with UK vendors.. They have what I want, when I want it.. I've also ordered things from the UK that went ground shipping, and actually got here faster than stuff I ordered from Imex/Taigen..

When I need a part, I need it now.. Not a month or six months or whatever..

I've gotten much better customer service from the UK, then I get from the U.S.

sevoblast

I think EEO is actually my site, ETO, aka Etoarmor.com.

Crius

Had you bothered to read the sticky you would know about all of them.

gp100

Actually I did bother to read it when I first got here.. Obviously nobody "bothered" to update them.. As the sticky I read has out of date info with dead links that no longer exist, or they only do 1/6 or 1/8 tanks and do not apply.. The sticky I checked when I first registered here was " RC Tank Shops/Manufactures "

Oh, I don't do Ebay either.. So no go there.. But it appears that many of those links are from 2009.. Way outdated.

So yeah, I bothered.. Obviously no one else did though.

Did find one place on the internet though that 'claimed" to have Taigen parts.. Artistic Hobbies .com.. Only one problem though.. All they know how to say is "Out of stock" Useless to me.. Can't buy from you if you have nothing to sell.. Six glorious pages of nothing..

ArtisticHobbies.com - Taigen RC Tanks, 1/16 Taigen Spare Parts

sevoblast

I started in 2003 and since then I've seen our hobby grow exponentially. However, with the hard economic times of the last half decade or so, there has been a rather large culling of the ranks of suppliers, that and some of us are getting on in years..AFV ceased in Germany last late summer simply because the owner was getting old and his wife finally told him 'enough'. Others have gone under when business simply dried up or when business events dictated closure.

I'm still going strong but I concentrate on Tamiya. Even my transmissions, at this time, will fit only Tamiya but I will state that with a new machine shop doing the main frames and other machined items, it's possible I may have some one piece final drives made to fit HL/Taigen. However, my units are not light although they are pretty much bullet proof so far after 4 years of production. I'll have to see the market for HL/Taigen before I invest in getting hulls to design the mounts and final drive details. I'm also contemplating doing two types of TU's for each tank I offer a unit for, one 'road speed' and one 'off road speed'. "Off road' is pretty much the same for all tanks, around 20 kph or so. One can not go bucketing across the prairie or steppes at speed, none are smooth and gentle and the crew never knows when that sudden gully or remains of a house cellar will appear, both of which can cause a distressing event for the crew and the AFV if it appears too suddenly to stop.

All of the tanks we use at 35th Battery and Cultural Festival near Balaklava are set for off road speed. While the youngsters we teach 'Tank 101' to all have one on one supervision, it's a better idea in VCO and my opinion to have a slower tank for them to learn the ropes with rather having them get a bit too unwound and dump an expensive tank in to a nearby trench.

Shorty54

They have been closed for some time,
ArtisticHobbies.com - Artistic Hobbies, How to Contact our Hobby Store, San Marcos TX

Shad

gp100

Well, that would be the reason they are out of stock then.. Scratch another one off the list.. Thanks for telling me that.. The link I found took me right to the Taigen parts page I linked here.. So I didn't know.. And there is no indication of this on the website.. They look like they are open for business..

Like I was saying earlier, I would support my local business in the U.S if there was anything to support.. But even when I do find a part, it's plastic.. The UK vendors often have metal parts for just a few dollars more or even the same price in some cases.. I think metal parts are superior in many cases and will last longer..

Forgebear sold me an excellent quality metal turret ring with bearings for pretty much the same price I could have gotten a plastic one for.. And he had an all metal version of the Turret rotation motor for slightly over what the plastic version costs.. Excellent quality metal gearing system.. The parts were from DKLM..

The Turret rotates so smoothly now, it's beautiful.. Between Ian and Dave in the UK, I honestly have a tank I'm proud of.. When you finally get the tank upgraded with all the great stuff out there that these guys sell, the tank is a masterpiece.. I even upgraded the Turret Recoil and elevation system with metal parts from DKLM.

Total cost in the tank now? About $1,500 and change.. But it was worth it to me.. The tank is an excellent performer now..

There are still a few little upgrades I can do to a few doo-dads here and there.. But they are nothing more than cosmetic at this point, and do not effect the performance of the tank in any way.. So I'm not in a huge hurry with them.. I want to add some extra detail mostly..

gp100

Well,

There goes another $149.. I just found something else I wanted for my tank.. Just bought it.. Thank you MATOMart!

http://www.matomart.com/prodview.php?p=3455

Shorty54

Yeah its hard to tell unless you go to their contact page. If you click the link I provided it explains both brick n mortar store and internet store are closed.
Anyway, its good to see you getting your kinks worked out and enjoying the tank. Even after your mis-haps. The tank stuff is tough, it seems when you ask about getting one
you can sometimes be misled that you can just buy a cheap one and its just as good as a better high $$ one. In the end it seems you end up spending over $1200 for sure!

shad

gp100

Very true..

You can go broke easily in this hobby.. There is always something you can do to a tank to get that little extra out of it either in performance or looks.. In my case, I consider all the upgrades to be well worth the money.. Someone else might not see it that way.. And I understand.. Depends on your budget, and how far your willing to go with the tank. But for me, it was more of a "in for a penny, in for a pound" sort of thing.. If I'm going to do it, might as well do it right..

And of course, your absolutely correct in that it doesn't matter if you buy the cheap one or the expensive version.. Either way, your going to put money in it..

I do think, it's probably worth it to buy the expensive version right in the beginning though.. At least for me.. This way I have a great foundation to build on..

Both Ian and Dave were excellent to work with.. I have always been impressed with UK vendors.. They honestly have given me great customer service.. Any questions I had have been answered very quickly.. And they were honest about it.. Ian actually saved me money by telling me that a certain upgrade would be no benefit to me.. And therefore I should save my money on it.. Now, many vendors wouldn't do that here in the U.S.. They would go for the quick money.. But Ian didn't do that.. He was honest..

The man has integrity.. I cannot say enough good about Ian.. He's a wonderful man to deal with.. And I have purchased extra parts from him just because.. I don't really need the parts right now.. But I probably will someday down the road.. And I would rather give him my money and know I'm supporting his business.. Great vendors are getting harder to find in today's economy.. I will do whatever I can to support those that are great people..

Sorry for the long winded post.. Sometimes I just lose track of my writing..

I must also say, that if I had purchased the same parts in plastic from U.S. vendors, I would have spent about the same, but gotten half the tank I wound up with in the end.. For the same money, I got superior metal parts and truly believe I got a better tank out of it.. Just my opinion though.. Everybody's mileage is different.

Mike.

Cruiser133

Correct, my bad Robert.

sevoblast

LOL. Not a problem, my friend. At least at my steadily advancing old age I figured it out!

gp100

Well crap..

There goes that idea.. Turns out the hard case I wanted will not fit my Taigen.. The cupola doesn't come off on my tank, and Mato says the case is only like 6.49 inches high inner diameter.. My Tiger 1 measure a bit over 7.25 or thereabouts.. I see a problem here with those measurements.. If it don't fit, you must quit..

Any ideas out there in the wild on this? Cause I'm outta them..

Shorty54

One of the Danville guys should chime in. They all seem to have lots of boxes they use.
Most get them from Home Depot, Lowes, places like that.
I think Tuff Box and Pelican make good cases.

Shad

gp100

Hi Shad,

Thanks for the reply.. I appreciate it.. Yeah, I thought about Lowes or home depot, but all I found was junk plastic..

The Pelican idea is a great one, but I can't find the right dimensions for the case.. I need something that is 26x10x8 if possible.. Just enough to hold the tank and the i6 radio and a battery.. 26 Long 10 Wide 8 High.. Proving difficult.. That Trolley case would have been perfect because it had wheels on it to.. Damn..

Dusty Steppes

I use the 28 inch Stanley FATMAX. Tiger I fits nicely and depending on the size of your radio, it might also fit.