strippersteel,
As I said, these are the impressions from someone who has no previous experience, but having read up everything I can find and watching the driving qualities of other tanks, I like what I see. The only thing you will have to contend with is that anyone not familiar with WWII armor, will make comments about it looking like a romantic interlude between an armored vehicle and the USS Monitor. Graceful is a word that will not pop up in any conversation describing this fine piece of Russian hardware, but that is it's unique quality. As for a further input of the most recent driving experience, I found that the airsoft gun is actually pretty puny, at maximum elevation, the BB's are good for about 20-25 feet. I could see why people use the IR for battling, since it would provide a bit greater range between opponents. Since I haven't found anyone in the area that is into this stuff, it's a moot point for the time being, if battling becomes an option I can always retrofit the necessary parts. Driving it is a blast and it crawls over everything I can find in the yard. It has the height, weight and traction to come up to a brick and crawl up and over without much fuss. Throttle inputs must be made very gently to avoid launching it up and over obstacles. I did notice one track pin working its way out, so I will have to keep an eye on them in case they become an issue. That's all for now.
Mark