Are the Taigen tanks that Imex carries any different than the Taigen tanks that other companies have? The reason I ask is everyone seems to recommend Imex, but they don't have the one I want listed on their site, but did find it on Amazon from a company called Phoenix model co.

Hello Rooster Anything on Phoenix site will be on the IMEX/TAIGEN Site... Phoenix is part of the IMEX Group Thank you for your interest . BOSSMAN

Thanks for the reply, I just placed my order

So tell us what you ordered rooster.

Rooster, Imex takes the tanks and checks each one individually, and sometimes has features that others won't have. For example, the Taigen Jagdtiger was available in Europe before the Imex/Taigen Jagdtiger shipped from Florida. The difference here was the gearboxes. The European Jagdtigers came with zinc, while the Imex/Taigen Jagdtigers come with the latest and greatest all bearing steel gearboxes. It's that kind of attention to detail, along with the excellent customer service provided by Erik Edwards and his Minions that make everyone recommend Imex and their authorized dealers in particular. If you buy an Imex tank, no matter if you get it from Imex or one of their dealers like Artistic Hobbies or Phoenix, you then have Erik and his staff behind your purchase, and believe me, that's a really big deal.

You made a good choice buying a tank from an Imex dealer.

I ordered the early Tiger I, 12013, its the dark grey IR version

Do you mean the 12031? The full metal Tiger? I not only have that exact tank (mine now runs on an IBU2, 9X TX and Impact apple) I have three other Imex Tigers, two that have always been full metal and one that I had a great time turning from all plastic to almost all metal. I tend to concentrate the metal in the lower hull and I'm slowly going back to plastic turrets. Once they're painted you can't really tell, sometimes the plastic actually gives you better detail, and i just think it's easier than doing all that bracing underneath.

In fact, here's a video of the exact same tank as you just bought, but after I put in the IBU2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3TMYh25PW0 The tank behind is also an Imex Tiger, but that's the one that started life all plastic and now is mostly metal and runs on the Asp and the 9XR Pro, and that's the tank providing the voice and music while the engine start and drive away is the IBU2.

Good choice, mine still runs on the stock electronics, one of the remaining that do.

That's a pretty interesting shelf ya got there, Joe. How do ya make 'em stick to the side like that? Velcro?

Hello Crius,
interesting video you posted. What do you think of the IBU2 compared to the ASP ?
Are they similar in performance and quality ?
What about their ease of programming ?
Interested to hear your opinions on both types
Cheers
Afrikakorps

The one I ordered is the all plastic version with metal hull 12013 is dark grey IR version / 12012 same tank airsoft version

Do you have any upgrades in mind? Do you want to make it Tamiya Compatible? That's what I'm doing with my Full Metal Tiger One Late (they seem to be out of stock on those at the moment, but it's the same paint scheme as airsoft version TAG12040) and it will have an Asp board and run on the same 9XR Pro that the S33 (the camo tank in the video above) runs on.

Then I'll have two Tammy compatible IR tanks I can fight against each other, as well as use them at the local club meets.

Afrikakorps, that's a long answer, my friend. For now let's just say I love them both and want more of both. Both have their pros and cons but both are fantastic boards. If you're willing to pop for the 9XR Pro from Kevin I say the Asp has the edge, mainly because it has many more features. Sometime soon I plan to do a side by side comparison of the two (Asp and IBU) but it will be a couple weeks at least.

OK, now I get it. You ordered 12013, which is the plastic version of 12031. Sorry, when you said metal lower it threw me because ALL taigen tiger tanks have the metal lower so when you say that I think FULL metal lower, which also has metal tracks, sprockets, etc. Sorry for the confusion, but I get it now. Still a great tank, it was the first Imex tank I bought and now it has the Asp in the video.

Thanks Crius,
I have a 9X and use some of Kevins Mako boards with HL RX18. Also an ASP on order.
I look forward to your side by side comparison (Asp and IBU).
P.S
didn't mean to highjack this thread.

Cheers Afrikakorps

Crius: I flew rc heli's for about 5 years, and after spending more money than than I care to remember in upgrades on all those heli's, I eventually realized that all those aluminum upgrades weren't needed for general sport flying, and anytime I would put one into the dirt, instead of a few inexpensive plastic parts breaking away, all those fancy aluminum parts would hold together resulting in a twisted up train wreck. Now whenever I get something new I give the plastic parts a chance, and since this is my first tank, I will have to see how it holds up for the way I use it. As to being Tamiya compatible, there are no tank clubs around where I live, so any battles will be between me and friends, and at this point its not so important. If I buy an aftermarket control board, then I would want it to be Tamiya compatible in case it becomes important in the future.

Well, if you're speaking of the shelves, they are dowel pinned. The tank commanders are held in place with velcro.

One of the first things I want to try is mounting my fpv system system on the tank, I think having a battle with the same view and perspective that a tank commander had would be interesting.

I made a very simple rig for my mobius, here's a video. If you're interested I have videos of the tank running with this set up, as well as others. Just for video I take the mobius and just stick it to the top of the Jagdpanther with white tack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNvMjr3c82M

Thats a great fpv setup that can be moved from one tank to another, as to orientation, all you would need to do is move the camera further back on the turret just enough to get the front of the tank in view. I have never tried fpv on a ground based vehicle, what kind of video range are you getting?

On my battlefield the tanks don't get more than about 100 feet away and so far I've had no issues with range. I'm told that my system should be good for at least 1/4 mile on the ground, depending on interference from buildings and things, but I can drive around behind the brush pile so the tank is out of sight and no problems so far.

Gary

Does this supply real time video back to a screen or is this just an on board camera which Takes video?

i believe when most people use the term FPV they are referring to real time on board video.