Good afternoon all,

I am new to this malarky and could do with a few pointers on which tank to buy.

I think I want a Abrams 1/24 scale tank in desert storm colours - probably airsoft. Although I would quite like a bigger 1/16 scale tank, but can't find a decent modern tank. I ldefinitely prefer the modern tanks anyway.

My key quandries are:
- What is the difference between VS Tanks and Mariu battle tanks - which is best?
- Do either of the above tank ranges have variable speed control rather than just stop/start?
- Are Heng Long tanks really that bad?
- I have seen some spiffing videos of the VS tanks, these recoil on firing and look very realistic. Do Mariu tanks do that?
- The controllers look strange, I am used to 2 channel stick radio gear, are they as good?
- Is ebay a good place to buy a VS/Mariu - or are the tanks advertised on there imitations? There are not quite the range of suppliers here the UK, and what there are seem very expensive eg Mariu 1/24 Tiger 1 battle tank is $374 / MAriu 1/24 RTR R/C BB M1A2 is $280
- are there any other options that I should consider (Tamiya too expensive at this point in time, Leopard 2 A6 MBT is $1,174 basic)

I look forward to hearing your opinions on the above subject matter,

Kind regards

James