scheibler

Are these mostly like building models except you can drive them? I don't understand the whole concept. I've always really liked war machines since I was a kid and this cought my eye. Can you do anything else besides just drive them? Is there miniture guns or laser systems that lets you fight other tanks?

The_Stuff

well most if not all of the bigger scale tanks have plastic bb guns for turrets. large 1:8 and up usually have paint ball guns. I see these as really customizable rc tanks. not models.

bhop73

There are many different brands and a few different scales, but the 2 most popular 1/16 scale tanks are Tamiya and Heng Long.

Tamiya comes in kit form, so you have to build it, then buy the battery and radio separately. There's also a separate "laser tag" style battle system, so you can battle other tanks. They're generally thought of to be superior to any others out there, which, although I don't have one, is probably true. They cost around $500-$1000 depending which model and accessories you buy.

Heng Long are made in China, come pre-built and ready to run with radio and battery included. Many Tamiya fanatics hate them and pass them off as Toys, which for the most part they are, but they are "mostly" accurate and the newer ones drive ok if you don't have any electrical problems. They shoot airsoft bb's instead of the laser system, which can be fun, but not as fun i'd imagine. The main benefit is the price, which is generally under $100.

I myself have a Walker Bulldog since I can't afford a Tamiya, although, if I had more disposable income, i'd go for the Tamiya. My Bulldog drives pretty good. I haven't had any problems yet. Driving them in terrain that other r/c vehicles can't navigate is what's fun about them to me, although, I wish I could battle other tanks

martin g

that made me laugh...im new to all this I didnt know about that..

"tamiya lovers pass HL off as toys!!"..thats goldust, and they hate them?a lump of plastic and metal???

So what is a tamiya RC Tank thent isnt a toy??? helloo..they are ALL toys! Is that really the case?

As much as I love tinkering with these things I kinda worry that things may get that silly.

thanks for the fun bhop

ksoc

Well everyone, we can flame bhop73 for resurrecting the bad blood between the Tamiya and Heng Long crowd

If you go through this forum, you will see a lot can be done with a HL and little imagination. They can't be beat for cheap out of the box fun. Though not scientific, it seems there are a lot more posts about fixing HL's then Tamiyas.

Tamiya tanks are more robust out of the box, but can have their weakness also. The scale is more accurate, and you have the fun building the tank. For me, what I like best is the Tamiya Battle system. Driving tanks around can be fun, but try battling it out with eleven other tanks, THAT'S FUN!

For some picts, video, and links check out our site

www.socalareatankers.com

Kevin O'C
<S.C.A.T.>

martin g

Sorry i didnt mean to flame or be insulting, i was simply surprised by learning that, no offense intended in any direction. [8D]

bhop73

Whoops.. I didn't mean to do anything like that. I actually love my Bulldog, it's awesome. I just wish i had a battle system for it.

ksoc

Looks like you both safe so far It may be the New Years Holiday, but I haven't seen any of those slash and burn responses we use to get about which was the better tank. We have Tamiyas, Bandais, HL's, and Trumpeters battling on our field. As long as it can play nice with the Tamiya Battle System, it is welcome. We actually have had a few people new to the hobby come out just to run their armor on the terrain between battles. There is even a modified 21st Century Halftrack and a couple of scratch built armored cars we hope to see in the new year.

bhop73 - there is talk of a battle sys that might drop into a HL coming out of Taiwan next year. A member of our club, and forum poster bullyhys, has modified his HL Tiger to fight it out using the battle circuit shown on the Tankhobby web page.

Quite a few of our club members, including myself, are interested in HL Panzer III. If HL was to come out with a Sherman with the older VVSS suspension and narrow tracks, and it actually held up, there would also be a lot of interest from both HL and Tamiya drivers. It seems to me that HL has been sticking with the easier torsion bar suspensions, and staying away from the bogie type of the Sherman and Panzer IV. HL took a bad turn with the 'PanTiger', forcing a Panther's narrow hull onto the Tiger I's wide frame. NOT EVEN CLOSE. They seem to have gotten the message, and the Panzer III appears to be a respectable model.

In the end it come down to having fun. If you are the only person in your area with a tank, and you enjoy driving it around, I'm not going to argue with that.

Kevin O'C
<S.C.A.T.>

Harquebus

Right on. But if you really give it some thought, both the Heng Long tanks and the Tamiya tanks are built. The Tamiyas are built from a kit and the HL tanks are preassembled, disassembled and built again. There are some key scale detail deficiencies in every HL tank that can be fixed so that is the challenge as well as individual modifications.

Most of the 1/16 tanks have realistic functions such as engine noises, gun sounds, recoil action, turret rotation, main gun elevation/depression and so on. It is true that the HL tanks shoot an actual projectile and can also shoot the 6mm paintballs provided you do your homework. I don't believe anyone has used the paintballs to do actual backyard battles yet. The Smoke & Sound HL tanks come with a built-in smoke generator that emits smoke from the tank's exhaust pipes so that also adds to the gee-whiz factor and makes the experience a bit whimsical.

Best thing yet is the forthcoming Tamiya compatible battle system for HL tanks. It will of course require a hands-on approach to install it but it will make the HL tanks fully capable of taking out the Tamiya tanks.

-Harque

martin g

Just for interest, I have tried paintballing with the HL tanks, unfortunatley the BB gun does not generate enough velocity to break the paint balls, even at close range. I tried all th tanks with exeption of my sons Bulldog, a normal BB gun broke the balls easy by the way. It may be possible to upgrade the guns but my main worry was the shape of the paintballs, none are round, even worse than the stock BBs.

The_Stuff

lol friend and i 'patrol' the neighborhood.

navspook

To address the original post, what do you do with tanks?

To me, I have fun with the mechanical intracacies you find in a full-range-of-motion tank. You can drive over all sorts of terrain. Whenever I need a diversion from my hectic life, I'll lock myself away in the workshop and tinker with some part of the tank that may need fixing or re-painting, or the look of battle damage, or whatever.

As pointed out by others, some have battle systems (like the Tamiya laser battle system), which introduces another fun aspect of war gaming with other tankers who have the same laser tag type of set up.

You can make the hobby whatever you want of it.

RC airplanes are fun too, but tanks don't crash (taking from a quote from Tom A.)

Check out the larger scale tanks too -- much more expensive but some are reasonably priced. Being heavier, they give a little more realism but also present more realistic problems, like getting them onto the work bench without causing a hernia.

Here's a shot of my 1/8 scale King Tiger in winter camo working its way through the snow.

Cheers....

Leo2A6 Owner

RC tanks are universal for fun regardless of who makes it. A car you need a relatively flat surface, even the "off road" cars. A plane you need a perfect day to fly it depending on the scale. A tank, you can it out in the rain, snow, muck, and rough. As long as you dont go too wild with it there will be no problems. I get laugh about these guys who have the 60 MPH cars who can only run on relatively dry days and perfectly flat surfaces. Its even more fun when they zoom too close to your tank and just happen to get caught under its 1/6 tracks.

martin g

Thats gott be one of the best rc tanks I have seen, really good. even the slap dash winter wash is accurate..close up pic of a real one below

I got into this through my 9 yr old son. He spotted a HL tank and asked for one, we got an old standard Panther ( if HL did anything crap, the non S+S Panther was it and probably responsible for the poor press the rest get) > Getting used to tinkering gave us the bug, I seldom drive them, thats not my bag, I just enjoy working on them and especially painting and weathering etc, so theraputic after a tough business day at work, then I let him go and break them for me. I also enjoy learning about the historical side and the hobby prompts you to do that, Tanks were history changing machines, I also being an engineer admire the way the Germans took the idea from the British and made is sooo much better. I have now got to the stage where people ask me to decorate thier tanks for them, which is an enjoyable past time.

get yourself an HL one, if you get hooked go knock yourself out with a Tamiya if you choose, I would like a Tamiya as my engineering element craves more accuracy, like true torsion suspension etc ( which I can tinker with) but I cant justify one at the prices, even being superior, they are still way overpriced and with my kitchen and Bathroom needing work I had to prioritise.

navspook

Martin: Thanks for posting the photo of the winter wash. I used a "scale" brush to try to get the same effect.

Another method that someone told me to try -- pieces of white bed sheet. Tankers on both sides of the war would tear up white linen bedsheets in a rush to camoflage their tanks when they didn't have time to white wash them.

Cheers....

karma99

Bovington's M10?