Good day,

This is the first post I have here, and I am sorry if it is in the wrong place!

I have a 1980's Tamiya King Tiger RC Tank 1/16 scale. I am looking to get a second tank, but am unsure as to what to get. I have two in my mind right now: 1/16 Scale Sherman Full Otion Tamiya #56014, or the older 1/15 Scale Bandai Hummel RC Tank.

Does anyone have any experience with Bandai quality or building, in relation to Tamiya?

Through what I have read, the Sherman by Tamiya seems to be the one to get; but I am looking for guidance all the same. I am very excited to see the replies to this question!

Kind regards from Canada,
SuperTank

The banday ones are discontinued, arent they? And if I remember right they had too old electronics and weak gearboxes... And finding spares would be a hell.

I'd buy the sherman

Yeah I thought about it, and the Sherman is a better option for me. I found the Bandai on eBay, but I'd like the Tamiya kit better most likely!

Cheers from Canada!

You will be far better off with the Tamiya Sherman full option. Comes with everything you need to get rolling except glue and paint and no one beats Tamiya quality or Tamiya electronics.

Hi SuperTank,
good advice from both Rad and Sevo.
A local club member has both tanks and the Bandai breaks down a lot more than the Tamy Sherman. Major gearbox issues !
I would definitely stick with Tamiya.

Cheers from Australia

Thsnks all for the advice, I habe chosen the Tamiya! Will have a fun time building and driving her around.

Cheers from Canada

Not that it matters, but I think you made a fine choice.

But remember, it's not real until we see video!! I'll be looking forward to seeing photos and videos of your new Sherman once it's complete, and welcome to the Forum.

Bandai's tank lineup was not intended for the contemporary idea of what in means to operate an RC tank. You could change out the gearboxes to Tamiya's or some other manufacturers and as there wasn't any electronics ( as we know it now) you could use anyone's system in a Bandai.

You can get metal tracks sprockets I believe still from Kenny Kong.

After all this you will still have a 1960s - 70s 1/15th scale all plastic hulled model. I don't believe there is any variant in the Bandai lineup that
you can't make with Taigen, Heng Long or Torro as the base including the Hummel.

I have all the Bandai models and I converted two of them however they occupy permanent places of respect on my shelves as they are historically significant...when they were new they were some of the best on the market. Sadly Bandai never saw fit to extend and keep the armor lineup current with trends. Bandai is a powerhouse company just not in this particular area.

Jerry

Yes on balance, you have made the correct choice but don't fully dismiss the Bandai though. Not up to Tamiya quality but they do build into a nice model if you are prepared to work on them a bit. I have a Stug iv which I run quite a lot on it 's original gearboxes which are a bit noisy, but the slow speed control is terrific. The main problem with them is the output shaft gear spins freely on it's shaft after a while and drive is lost. I bonded mine with Loctite 638 and have no problems on that score. I have converted mine to airsoft with gun traverse and recoil using a clark TK22 control PCB. I too will be keeping mine. Enjoy the Sherman - it's a great kit.


Cheers

CaptB