Imex-Erik

Yes, actually that was an idea taken from here on RCU I can't remember who I saw it first on but I mentioned then in that thread I was passing along the great idea to the factory. Glad they finally used it!
Weight was around 16lbs but I'll have to double check that one. Motors will be 380s due to the lack of space for 390s but the gearboxes will be 4:1s or at least use the High/Low motor mount type so you can use either if you wish. We are aiming for Q1/Q2 for the JS2. Honestly it was supposed to be here right after Xmas but with all the new tariffs and restrictions we got a bit behind this year. We are a pretty big importer (IMEX) and tanks are just a tiny fraction of the business. There were 28 pages of NEW tariff codes I had to sort through and apply. If you guys get a chance take a look at what is actually being tariffed, it isn't so much the products themselves but also the machinery that US companies would purchase to make the items here in the US. Kinda strange really but anyways.....
For the paint I actually am having the factory swap to an acrylic based paint for the JS-2 and possibly future models. The new acrylic paint they showed me was much more scratch resistant than the current in use paint so I am looking forward to seeing how that turns out. It should be released in kit form as well, not at initial release but soon after I'll put something together for the IR battlers in our kit section.

You got to remember there are only a few big requested tanks (around 10-15ish that you can actually sell in enough volume to make your investment back on the molds) so there isn't too much stuff you can really produce and make money on in large numbers without huge risks and/or slow returns (to develop a Taigen tank is not cheap at all). The JS-2 got the most requests in a small amount of time and so it was even put ahead of the Abrams if that tells you anything. We also got a special one coming up soon that had TONS of requests and I bet will catch a few off guard here for sure as it did myself when I was informed earlier this year. We make the tanks we get the most requests from, it also might be that people don't want to pay $1000+ for a kit too, the hobby industry has been slowly dying over the last few years as more and more RTR items are being produced. I've been pretty deep in the hobby industry now for around 6 years meeting lots and lots of big wigs over the years and if we don't step in and support our local shops there will be no hobby shops in the next few years and even less people selling them. I've seen the DIY part of the hobby die in RC cars over the last 10 years or so, planes are almost non-existent anymore, and even drone DIY'ers are starting to go RTR. I personally hate it and love to build but I understand not all have the time or experience to do so. RTR is here to stay I'm afraid.