Can anyone comment on the finish and quality of the New Taigen Tanks ?

Maybe some if any short fallings ?

thank you

To my Knowledge Taigen come delivered in different degrees of upgrades.

The basic is a Heng Long Tank with a better paint job. They have then added on what used to be asiatam metal upgrades of varying degrees to improve and differentiate from Heng Long. I may stand to be corrected here but I believe the electronics between the two are the same, but I am not 100% sure, because I have heard the Heng long 2,4 Ghz is horrid and yet what I thought was the same electronics in the Taigen, people seem happy with???. Not sure if this is a perception thing or a reality.

So I have seen the finish and give it top marks. The tanks themselves I would consider Heng Long quality because that is what they are in their basic form. Service from IMEX appears to 100% and if they support their dealers as well as they do their direct customers then this give them the edge.

Okay .

So its a step up from HL tanks but the RX 18 still the weak point correct ?

Can someone support this guys ? Maybe someone who bought a tank like this ?

The Taigen 2.4 system is not the same as the heng long. I have both, as well as the old rx18. I replaced all the old rx18 units with imex/taigen electronics. I'm not sure if the boards in imex/taigen tanks are the same as the straight taigen, as I've never seen one. I get the Imex electronics kits from island enterprises on ebay (island enterprises is Imex on ebay), and I get the transmitter, receiver and a slightly better speaker delivered to my door for $90. So far I've converted four tanks from HL to Imex with no trouble. I also have the old version HL 2.4 that came with my T34, but right now that's in my all metal mato PIII. It's really not a bad unit, and the new version units have the volume control and the on/off for the smoke unit right on the transmitter, and that looks pretty cool. Erik tells me they're planning upgrades to the Taigen system, I just hope they don't do it like HL and make the new incompatible with the old.

As for the new imex taigen tanks (T34, KT and Sturmtiger), I haven't seen one in person but they have promo videos that look pretty good. I'm pretty sure the new tanks are Torro, but still HL at heart. I do have many other Imex/Taigen tanks, and they're pretty good. A major step up from HL. They're also more expensive.

So in my opinion, the bottom line is that if you want a good tank that's ready to run out of the box then Imex is the way to go, but if you want to start very low cost and slowly add on (or if you just like the hobby aspect of doing it that way, I hesitate to repaint a $400 tank, but not a $75 tank) then HL is a good starter. I like all aspects of the hobby, that's why I have both Imex and HL, as well as a Tamiya kubelwagen, a couple torro halftracks, a ton of static kits, etc, etc, etc. If I ever get around to building this Meilerwagen convoy ...

I've only owned Tamiya and HL, so I can't speak to the quality of the tank itself, but I do know that with Taigen you get customer service and support, which is probably one of the most important things in the hobby.

1) I just picked up a Taigen Jagpanther and KV1..
2) A Matomart Tiger 1.
3) And also a HL Leopard 2A6 off Amazon.

I would Rate their Quality and Finish in the Order Listed.
Taigen may be characterized as an Upgraded HL.
However from What I've seen, Taigen's Upgrades are Significant.
And Taigen's Customer Service is Top Notch.

HLTx are pretty much Junk.
MatoMart Tx are a bit Better but basically HL Dressed Up.
Taigen Tx more closely aproach Hoby Grade, Are easy to Rebind to your Rx,
and while the function is basically similar, the quality seams to be the Best of the three.

Hope this answers some of your question.

-gus

Like most things, parts always need to be massaged some in order to work but I am most interested in the metal gearbox they have. It will be the main feature I am interested in on the T34. Has anyone heard one run? I wonder if a few of them need to be replaced with a nylatron/delrin type of gear to make them as quiet as a Tamiya gearbox.

I'd hate to spend that kind of money and then turn around and yank that out putting a Tamiya part in instead. I want my SU-100 to be as quiet as all my Tamiya tanks are.





Jeff

Very informative guys thank you

Anyone else has findings on the new Taigen tanks ?

EASY11, Hi, do not think that every thing is interchangable between TAIGEN/TORRO/HENG LONG, I made the mistake of buying a pair of WALTERSONs 3/1 brass gearboxes for my TAIGEN Tiger 1, the gearboxes come with a replacement base plate, unfortunately it is for a HENG LONG Tiger 1 and the TAIGEN base plate will not accept the WALTERSON gearboxes so armed with paper, rule and marker pen I copied the mounting holes and transcribed it to the base of my old service mess tin! Drilled and cut to shape, after a dry run all is well, one new base plate,but I had expected the mounting points to be the same between the three makers Tigers. So check before spending your cash.shaun

Lots of experience on this one
I will talk about the Taigen tanks, ie the KV-1, Tiger 1 and King Tiger Henschel turret.
As far as I am concerned the rest are the same as Heng Long BUT they are complete. What I mean is a Taigen tank say a Panther is out of the box ready to run do nothing, so is a Heng Long but it has the cheap RX18 and crap paint job - Taigen is DONE. You run it and it is that simple. Great tanks for beginners.
So the real TAIGEN tanks in my opinion are the ones with the upgraded suspension and metal parts. These are Unique to Taigen and nobody else. ( Tamiya has quality metal parts but I do think and can be corrected on this the Taigen is more metal as a general product)
The fit and finish is great, they are solidly built and ready for the most part out of the box ( Plastic version Tigers need paint but little else ) the metal version tanks have a value above Heng Long and dare I say from a cost point close to equal with Tamiya and in some areas better.
The worst part of the Taigen tank is the electronics and I don't care what anybody says in my opinion they are the same as HL's 2.4ghz. Taigen only fights Taigen which in my book is a huge handicap as I am an IR battle fan and I hate airsoft.
The sounds are not good and niether is the control of the tank.
At the end of the comparison though you can replace their electronics and radio for $150 bucks, you add that to the cost of any tank and compare the value ( Note I said value here, there is a huge difference between price, cost and value ) I am sure you would have to admit that it is worth owning one.

Note I am a distributor of Taigen products so I am biased but this bias has come from working on them, fixing them and upgrading them. take my opinion as just that - an opinion.

Hey Freakydude,

As a distributor are you willing to help newbies learn how to convert? I have many tanks but none are Tamiya, but I really want to get into IR battles with Tamiya compatible stuff. I've been thinking about getting an all metal mato T1 to set up for Tamiya IR, or maybe converting one of my full metal imex/taigens. One of those even has brass gearboxes. :-) What I don't have is a part time mentor. Someone to guide me through the conversion and advise me on what stuff to buy and how to install it. I have an old futaba I could use to get started, but it's only a four channel and I don't have a board. Clark seems to be the favorite, but I've also heard of elmod. That's how ignorant I am, but that won't last long. While you're thinking about it I'm gonna check out your website. :-)

Just checked that website. Damn, another place to drain the bank account. :-) But just what I've been looking for. Expect an inquiry about that metal IR turret for the T1. One thing I never seem to run out of is questions. :-)

Okay great

So I wonder what a nicely done Taigen Tank would add up to ?

Is the quality as good as the Torro which I am familiar with ?

Has anyone compared the two brands ?

Hey,

I have 4 Taigen tanks (Tiger I Late Metal Edition, Jagdpanther half metal, Pantiger metal tracks only, Panzer IV plastic)

I can say both the Tiger and Jagdpanther are excellent. Very good construction, great details, and out of the box they both run terrific. I do not hold back when running my tanks, and those two have not failed yet.

The plastic tanks have not held up as well. When run hard they break, mostly the idler wheels come off or road wheels become very loose. So more bench time with these guys. But they were half the cost.

The Tiger/Jagdpanther were around $400 each, and the quality is there, awesome tanks, tons of fun, very proud to own them. The other two I paid less than $200 each, and well, they just do not run as good.

In the future, I am going to stick to the metal versions, worth the money for me. BUT the paint jobs and detail on each Taigen tank are quite nice. I have no time/patience for painting, so this is a nice upgrade for me. Service from Erik (Imex) has been great too!

A torro KT is on the way, so I will compare then.

I am in Canada as well, splatterpaintball and immortalhobbies are the two places I have made repeated purchases from. Great shops.

thank you

I agree Immortal is great and close to home for us !!! Real passionate guy too , helpfull and knows his stuff

When is the KT Torro coming out ?

Should be out now? Erik has been posting all over the place and one camo version of the KT Torro is out of stock already but the desert camo is still avail (I think).

You probably have all the info already on people's thoughts on Taigen but I'll add mine. I just received my very first tanks (Panther G and Panzer IV) yesterday (very happy) so all I got are first impressions. I pretty much agree with FreakyDude and Maxu52. However, my tanks have several issues right now only after 2 battery charges and that's why I went Taigen: I'm about to test the vaunted customer service Gene at artistichobbies and Erik at Taigen provide. I hope they can help me out as I really want a good intro into this hobby. If not them I'll note it here and see if the community can help.

I'm not regretting my choice in fact I'd probably do the same knowing what I know now, but I am disappointed.

BALIW, Hi, It would help the rest of us if you told us what the issues with your Panther and Panzer 4 are, perhaps we can help at least we would be able to share our tales of disappointment. shaun

Hey there Shaun,

I would but I'm going to give Gene and Erik a chance to see if they can help me out first and I didn't want to hijack this thread (will start one if problem persists).

It seems a wire was disconnected from one of them (to which he plugged back in. My fault, I like to test random tanks before shipping) and the other has a small electrical issue. No biggie, parts will be sent out today You guys know me, I fix stuff ASAP. I gave you my number in the FB PM too btw, call me if you want to get it fixed quicker

Thanks all for the kind words, it means a lot to hear good things about our company and service. I apologize for not answering sooner, I usually check the forums on the weekends too but I had a great time with some friends this weekend, then I went to our local track for some well deserved track time. I was thinking I should bring a tank to the track next week....

Ok now to respond to everyone
*Quality- Consider us a step above HL. We provide a RTR experience with a great paintjob and service for a bit more money.
*Service- Local Hobby Shops or direct through us, we will make sure your tanking experience is how it should be out of the box. Unlike other sellers/manufacturers, we care when someone has issues or received a faulty tank. We understand problems happen, but want you to know you aren't just another random customer, you are a tanker, just like us.
*Electronics- We use a variant of the RX-18 but it is not the same. Our proportional steering is leaps and bounds ahead of the standard HL systems. However, we do just provide a RTR experience currently and there are plenty of available options to modify our 2.4GHz systems to make them IR compatible with others. Some mods are as simple as pass-through boards, while others replace the whole motherboard and allow a different radio and lots of options.
*Finish- All of our tanks are airbrushed and done by hand. Even though the scheme is the same, they will vary a bit. If you wish to see one, just ask I have pictures of all the tanks and if you check our Facebook at www.facebook.com/taigen.tanks you can see most of them already there in my albums. A custom paintjob can be arranged but if you are in Canada I would suggest contacting Immortal Hobbies or Airbrushler on the forums here to get yourself a nice paintjob.
*Torro- Consider these guys Taigen quality as well. The ones we have imported have metal chassis and all have the torsion bar suspension, adjustable idler wheels, internal charging, lots of nice metal components (except the plastic ST of course), and great paint jobs as well.
*Our Upgrades- Since I have started working for Taigen/IMEX, I have taken a lot of pointers and advice/feedback towards our tanks. I have improved parts, got new items made, upgraded parts, and I do a lot behind the scenes making sure new stuff gets done correctly. We have some really nice molds for parts and all the newly molded stuff is even better! I'm always open for suggestions, you never know what you may get for asking... My boss reads the forums too and I let him know when I see a need for an improvement or new idea.

The most important thing I think we bring to the table is customer service. In the growing tank hobby it is hard to find local hobby shops or dealers near you with the knowledge/ability/willingness to help. One of the things I do to help these hobby shops is to tell them to refer the customer to me if they have problems. I will help with whatever problems they need and then let the hobby shop know what they need to do to help/repair/diagnose the issue and get it fixed. I am also more than happy to help with requests directly, I have seen a lot of strange ones, trust me you won't sound dumb asking. I believe everyone should have a positive experience out of the box and I strive to do so. With mass manufacturing there will always be issues, just know that we are more than happy to fix it, just let me know! If I don't hear the problems I cannot have them fixed

I hope this answers your questions and I'm sorry for ranting on. I hope you now have a better feeling for what Taigen/IMEX is all about and I hope to add you to the tanking family!

Maxu52
Just drop me a line or we can chat on Skype. I am more than happy to share any knowledge as little as that may be to help anyone. Just remember a couple things, Go slow and think about what you want, it gets expensive if you are doing things 2 or 3 times over, Planning a build is more important than the build itself.
Don't be afraid to do what you like, exact specs or copies of the real thing are nice but what is best is you building something YOU are proud of.
I'll send my personal e-mail and you can contact me there, after that I do suggest skype as it is fast easy and I can share my pics etc from my pc quite easily.

Clark is a fantastic board as it gives everything you need and doesn't kill the bank. It will work with a Futaba as well.