ORIGINAL: Rebellion13
OK this might be a long round about way of asking a question but here it goes. I plan on eventually saving for a Tamiya full option w/IR either a Tiger 1 or a KT. I have a heng long tiger with a blown rx13 board (naturally), my question is, drum roll please, I want to get this thing running and I know its all about money, should I go Elmod and run the HL electronics, full elmod and try to configure it with a 2.4ghz transmitter, because that is what I want to buy when I get the Tamiya. Or be happy getting the low cost route and going with the rx18 kit with flash from rccommand and 3:1 gearbox, recoil, and dbc/dbu. Now I know this is a lot to take in, that is why my head is going to explode. Just looking for some feedback and opinions. To go elmod looking at 300+, the other route gearbox $50 rx18 kit $50 assembled dbc/dbu $140 recoil $10 so I'm looking at $250+. I love the sound of the elmod, oh yeah ad 110 to elmod for their sensor. And I know the new dbc/dbu can be bought to use 2.4ghz. Wondering if its worth it, to upgrade. Like I said just looking for opinions on what would you do. I know there is no clear answer but I am driving myself nuts. And to make matters worse Impact is having a new system come out. [:@] Thanks for any feedback
Wade
MY two cents.
If you like to build real nice models and want most of the stuff to do that in one box at your door go with tamiya. Some of the kits even come with a transmitter. The 7 channel you are thinking about may not work well for the tamiya due to some settings especially if it is all digital (i am sure someone will confirm or correct me on this statement) and you will have to purchase the battle unit (apple) separately.
The good-tamiya
High detail and real close to correct in all features.
lots of after market goodies.
reasonably durable.
been on the market for a few years so problems have been identified and most issues upgraded.
all in one plug and play system is easy to get up and running.
lots of parts for the model builder to fiddle with.
awesome and pretty accurate sounds.
immediate battle compatibility with most tanks, in fact tamiya is the standard (not necessarily the best ,but the standard).
Tamiya will waranty some items or replace parts that were missing in the kit.
rubber tires on road wheels as appropraite and usually on return wheels
the bad-tamiya.
high initial cost.
Way to fast for even near scale speed.
oem parts are a bit expensive.
turret and elevation drives are piss poor IMHO.
The good-Heng Long or Matorro
Low initial price (you can buy 4-5 for the cost of one tamiya (with some caveats).
always comes with an inexpensive transmitter.
most units are pretty durable with minor exceptions.
gobs of after market stuff to doll them up and improve reliability/performance.
most units are a bit fast but can be cheaply modified for improved speed and traction.
mostly fully assembled when purchased with a few glue on pieces.
reasonably inexpensive after market battle units available.
It has been shown on this site that a battle ready tank can be put together for around $315.
very powerful elevation and turret drives
.
The Bad-Heng Long or Matorro
Dead on arrival electronics is common although electronics have improved quite a bit with introduction of RX-18 escs.
forget the warrenty issue, many suppliers will not stand behind these tanks with some exceptions, including RC COMMAND, Blitz at RCTANKWARS and for the most part MATO toys. If i missed other good vendors it is because i have no personal experience with them.
sounds are generally is pretty lame IMHO, and pretty much sound the same in all Heng Longs (cannot comment on MAtorro).
suspension components can be pretty fragile depending on how aggressively you drive.
The installed battle elements are not compatible with Tamiya.
The airsoft guns are so-so, some good, some feeble. The gun barrels for the airsoft is way out of scale.
Fidelity of scale in general is liberal, to be kind.
lots of detail lacking on older units and geometry is sometime sacraficed to fit in motors/gearboxes.
metal gearboxes quite often have to be run in to quite them down
The ones that have recoil work backwards and most units do not have recoil (tamiya's is not great but it moves in the correct directions)
plastic road wheel tires.
after market electronics may take a bit more fiddling to perform as desired.
I think many of us love our Heng Longs and Matorros because they provide a great point of departure either as an inexpensive toy for us or the kids or as a suitable foundation to do some upscale modeling.
My 2 cents became a dime. sorry about that.