Elwarpo

Picked up a Tamiya Tiger 1 from the AAF museum. Quick question... Can I assemble it as is or are there mandatory upgraded parts I should get before the build. I am looking to battle the tank so reliability upgrades are what I am looking at. Not really looking for cosmetic additions. If you can include a website that would be awesome (I hope rules allow it).

I plan on a servo for elevation, so I can fire it using a button on channel 5.

Panther F

Perfect out of the box

Maybe a metal elevation arm.

Durahl

I'm a bit confused on what relevance a Servo for elevation has for being able to fire it using a Button 🤔

That being said... If this is your first Tamiya Tank be advised that in order to operate it, you'll be needing one of three types of Transmitters:

• A "Vintage" 4CH with Analogue Trimmers
• A recent programmable 4CH ( personal recommendation is any Transmitter that is capable of running the EdgeTX OS )
• A Tamiya #45068 FineSpec 2.4GHz

The way how Tamiya Tanks have all their abilities mapped to just 4 Channels is by using 0-100% of a Channel for movement with 101-125% reserved for the Auxiliary stuff like firing a Cannon or turning on/off the Lights.
Accessing the Auxiliary 101-125% Range is done by incorporating the Channels respective Trimmers in a very short timeframe ( like sub 2sec ). On a Leopard 2A6 - Turning on/off the Engine is done via moving two Sticks and their Trimmers to all of their MAX positions withing that timeframe which can be done on a Transmitter with Analogue Trimmers but not with Digital ones - By the time you've managed to get the Digital Trimmers to be set to their respective endpoint you'll have exceeded the allotted timeframe.

To circumvent this problem on Digital ( aka Modern ) Transmitters, you'll have to cheat the System a bit by training the Tamiya Controller to be working exclusively in the 1-100% range instead of the usual 1-125% allowing you to access the Auxiliary Features without the use of Trimmers at the cost of limiting your movement range fidelity by like 1/4th ( not exactly something you'll be noticing ). A non-programmable Transmitter will still require for you to swap between the Regular and Auxiliary Modes whereas a Programmable one will do that for you if you set it up accordingly - Using a Button/Switch if so desired.

And then there's the Tamiya FineSpec 2.4GHz where Tamiya finally took the hint that something must be done about the aggravating 🔼🔼🔽🔽◀️▶️◀️▶️🅰️🅱️ Stick & Trimmer Combos with the Transmitter having the Buttons for doing them instead 😑
Can't comment on in but I guess they work as expected from the first party manufacturer.

cleong

The metal elevation arm doesn’t have anything to do with button-press main gun firing but is good to have as the gun barrel puts quite a bit of stress on the plastic part if you run into things.

Aside from that, from a mechanical standpoint, the Tiger is a very well designed tank as Tamiya pretty much started out with a clean sheet and no legacy compromises.

Any money you spend on it beside the elevation arm is a want, not a need.

sturmgescheutz

Hello,

it is always the question what do you want to do with your tank.

Do you want to drive it like a crawler over and through stones, or high grass.

I prefer rather the prototypical driving. In every tiger division there were advance commandos, who determined whether the terrain is suitable at all.

I think the Tamiya Tiger is very well designed, if you stick to the weight, but as soon as you use metal tracks, you should strengthen the chassis accordingly.

Look but times in this report, anyway it is very smart if you inform yourself beforehand. It can cost a lot of time and money if you do not do it.

https://www.rctankwarfare.co.uk/foru...ic.php?t=12235


with kind regards, Guido

jarndice

I completely agree, Unless you fit metal wheels and suspension arms as well as metal tracks the law of diminishing returns will empty your pocket book with great speed.

Elwarpo

Sorry if I was unclear. I have many Tamiya tanks (KT, Panther, KV1,sherman), several HL tanks with tamiya electronics. I have standardized on the older spectrum DX6i transmitters. By making programming adjustments on them (I learned from James from HEAT), I can drive with the right stick, turret and elevation left stick, and I fire using a button on ch5.The easy way to do this is to use a servo for elevation, bypassing the tamiya elevation mechanism. I could not do this when I used the tamiya elevation. In the past I have battled with HEAT of NC, DTC of MI, and currently I am part of the Texas group.


It h has been a long time since I bought a new Tamiya tank. The last was a panther when it first came out in 2007. My KV1 I bought used. I had a lot of issues with that tank and it was sent back to Tamiya. Since that time, I have doubted if a Tamiya tank was capable out of the box, that is why I started this thread.

Here is the thread on the panther issues
Poor Tamiya tank Quality
After that experience where both gear boxes gave out within a few hours due to improperly hardened aluminum, tracks that were a different width than the sprockets...I doubt Tamiya quality.

cleong

I had one of the later-build Panthers (purchased in 2011) and later used it intensively at AAF between 2013 to 2015. I did not suffer any other quality-related issues on the stock components. Even though I arrived with Impact tracks and gearboxes installed, I opted to use the stock plastic tracks for better performance. I had to revert to the stock gearboxes as the Impact sprockets were incompatible with Tamiya tracks.


The first battle in Sep 2013 (the metal tracks were taken off later that weekend)



March 2014 (By now, you can see I have removed the gun-muzzle mounted IR emitter, giving up a bit of range in exchange for consistent accuracy, as well as ditched the antenna which wasn't doing anything). Plenty of new scratches on the front lower glacis plate from rock crawling.

By this time, the AAF regulars had mostly worked out the Panther's quirks, guys like Jersey Bob, DaveB, Troy were all pretty handy with the tank, and exploited its gun depression on ridges - honorable mention for Dana who had the JP as well. The Panther's key weakness is a relatively high center of gravity and a relatively narrow width, that made it more prone to rolling over than say a Tiger or a Pershing.



I have since retired that Danville Panther, but would buy another Tamiya Panther again, I have already stashed some Aber and other upgrade parts for it if that ever happens.

Jeff489

My Feedback: (12)

Been running and battling Tamiya Tiger 1s since 2006 non-stop.

Tamiya Tiger 1 is good to go as it is. No upgrades needed.

heavyaslead

The Tiger is a solid performer OOTB

Only thing for long term would be upgrading the turret rotation unit and gear ring and the gun elevation unit

The turret rotation can be finicky as is the elevation unit. They are both not quite sized for the rigors of battle from my experience.

Good substitutions would be the HL rotation unit and ring and a servo for elevation.

It does not mention in the instructions, but using threadlock on even the adjustable/serviceable attachments will help with the rigors of battle where bolts/nuts do thread off sometimes.

Durahl

I was scratching my head what the concept of this approach was until it finally clicked and then it made me question it even more...

You're not just bypassing the Tamiya Mechanism by using a Servo but the entire Tamiya Controller while also splitting the function of Gun Elevation and Gun Fire onto two separate Channels which - If the DX6i has a bit of programming capability - is kinda unnecessary.
During the Teaching of the DMD you're being asked to calibrate your Controller to the Max Inputs ( -100/+100% ) of your Transmitter Sticks - This, so I assume, is being done so it'll know that anything below 100% is a Primary Function ( like Driving, Turret & Gun Elevation ) while everything outside that range is an Auxiliary Function ( Cannon Fire, Lights, Modes, etc... )

If during the Teaching you're limiting the Stick Throw to like 80% then during Regular Operation anything above 80% will be interpreted as an Auxiliary Function without the need for Trimmers.
All you now either have to do is either limiting your Stick travel to below 80% ( personally not a fan ) or setting up Dual Rates where you generally are limited to below 80% but then are able to override that with the press of a button - Ideally ALSO setting that Channel to 100% thus not only making it possible for the Channel to go beyond 80% but outright GOING to 100% thus performing the Auxiliary Action.

Pcomm1.v2

I checked out the “Poor Tamiya Kit Panther Quality rcu thread” and discovered I had participated in it with my then new Panther G kit build.


Recommend Tiger I upgrade part.


Recommended Tiger I part.


The troublesome old Panther build. I used ETOArmor/Daryl Turner parts and
Impact tracks/sprockets, almost 16 years ago, to make it a reliable runner.
Those parts are no longer available, but DKLM rc tanks has similar stuff for sale.


I used ETOArmor/Daryl Turner parts and Impact tracks/sprockets, same as Panther, same kit issues/fixes.


The out of the box Tiger build with a gear box brace and metal elevation arm.

As for for the Tamiya Tiger IE kit, I agree it is good to go built out of the box. Maybe, a gear box brace and a metal elevation arm will be helpful to extend reliability. I did use them on most of my Tamiya builds. Do not recommend, like most Tamiya builders, metal tracks for running and rc tank battles, unless your Tamiya kit tracks are OEM junk. Though, never really interested in club IR battling, just IR backyard fun and of course building the Tamiya tank kits.

Elwarpo

Thanks guys, will pick up the motor brace, since I will be using a servo for elevation, I will bypass the whole Tamiya elevation mechanism.

ksoc

Some old build notes for S.C.A.T. back in 2007 (from the FAQ Thread). Based upon the battling experience of the club members.