Here's my story about the durability of Tamiya tanks:

A couple of years back, I wanted to repaint my first 1/16th tank, which is the Tamiya Tiger I. So I removed the tracks and placed the tank on the workbench. Stupid me forgot that those roadwheels were free-rolling, because I've gotten used to placing my tanks on odd surfaces, since the tank's weight and tracks were enough to keep it in place.

To make a long story short, the Tiger took a dive on the hard cement floor. The plastic stock barrel shattered to pieces. But aside from that and a few gauge marks off the paint, the tank was intact. Some detailed parts also came off due to the shock, but they snapped clean off, since I use glue sparingly. And those parts were easily glued back into place.

But yeah. I was simply amazed by how little the tank was damaged. The sound of that crash was horrific, and I seriously was thinking I just lost a $600-tank when I slowly walked over to pick it up.

But it's still a shelf queen to this day, on its....5th repaint now?