Decisions, decisions....
I know that the merits of these tanks have been discussed before, but as someone who is interested in giving an R/C tank a try, I really would appreciate everyone's thoughts as to what a good path to take would be. My interest is in modern armor, which pretty well narrows my decision. The tank would be primarily for display and bashing, although I wouldn't necessarily want to rule out the possibility for combat. The way I see it, here are my options:
21st Century/Ultimate Soldier 1/9 Abrams:
Pros It's BIG! I like BIG! BIG is good! Detail seems good out of the box, cost seems reasonable, and it gives me plenty of room to tinker.
Cons Oddball size, and just a hair under 36 inches which I understand is the minimum size for sanctioned combat. I’m also concerned that the suspension is too fragile. On a related note it seems that the suspension may be wrong. I thought the Abrams used a torsion suspension. However the picture below shows a suspension similar to that on the Sherman tank.
VS Tanks:
Pros Quality and detail both seem good. Price is such that I could conceivably afford two of them, and recruit others for some combat. On the other hand airsoft option could be interesting… heheheh
Cons Small, really prefer a kit or something I can tinker with. With unscrupulous sellers either trying to pass off Hen Long tanks as the real deal, or charging outrageous shipping fees in some cases, it can make online bargain hunting risky.
Tamiya:
Pros Superior quality and realism. Size is good. Comes in kit form so I actually get to build it up. Plenty of options.
Cons The ONLY option I have here is the Leopard, and of all the Tamiya tanks it is the most expensive. By the time I get it assembled and out in the field, I expect it to be over the $1000 mark, which is a bit too steep to justify for a backyard basher.
Scratch build my own:
Pros Build any kind of tank I want.
Cons I wouldn't even know where to begin a project like this. Doubtful I could begin to come close to the detail and features of the above tanks.
Hen Long:
Not an option! I may be a noob to R/C tanks, but I know junk when I see it!