This would be my first tank and I am looking into the question of Airsoft or IR.

I am looking for any bits of insite.

I know from years of other activities that one cannot predict the path one's involvement will take, you speculate you will get into a certain aspect of it, then un expected changes come along. Case in point, years ago, I started with V-Twin "cruiser" motorcycles and the leather "biker" look; now I ride a 4 cylinder sport tourer and wear those fabric, armoured sport bike suits.

Anyway; right now, my projected interest is;

- somthing to "unwind" with in my backyard after work
- socializing with others that share the interest and learning from them
- working on the tank to enhance a realistic appearance (I used to make plastic, static aircraft models, I was OK at it but could learn a lot)

I don't know that I would be into the battle gaming but would be interested in attending some gatherings, so I don't know if that means going IR or if Airsoft is an option, in that case.</p>

The most common battle sytem is the IR Tamiya or Tamiya compatible system. However with the amount of Heng longs being sold there might actually be more Heng long systems out there soon. These offer bare bones simple 5 hits and you are out gaming. Not bad for back yard battling, and if you put some thought into the "game" you are playing this basic IR capability can be fun. i.e Capture the flag by battling your tank to the headquarters, and then hold the position for five minutes from the other team. Once you have a tank that can give and take hits, you can let your imagination free to dream up ways making fun gaming scenerios.

To know whether that is for you the best thing to do is look for a club in your area. IF there is an active club then in most cases you will want to go with an IR system. If there is no club then you have to make a decision.

Do you have the enegy and time to cultivate one?

Start a club by finding others with an established RC interest, CARS,PLANES. Introduce then to tanks and your vision of an active club in your area. Guage response and don't give up on the dream!!!


Do you have the time and energy to travel to one. Find out where the nearest active club is. Is it feasible to travel to events and attend battles on a regular basis. Once a quarter? Emaill that club, introduce yourself, and ask if they are interested in accepting out of town members. Ask what the expectations from you are. Membership fees?, Time commitment on events you can attend etc.

If you have time for none of this then airsoft may be of more interest for you. You can have fun plunking lawn and garden ornaments at a pace and frequency of your leisure in the backyard, and still have fun building accurately scaled RC models of Tanks. Since the development of the DBC, there is always the option of turning a Airsoft tank into a full fucntioning IR tank for less then $100. So just because you buy an airsoft tank doesn't mean that purchase has to be wasted if you decide IR is the way you want to go.


Affordable tank battling is a rather new development in this hobby. It may have mass appeal but this hobby is really just out of the gate. You most likely will be a pioneer, and as such sometimes it can be a bit lonely until others start to show up. I gave a half handed attempt at setting something up in my area, but never prioritzed the time to it I needed to in order to be successful. Between my Family, profession and my desire to build tanks there was little time for much else. Kids are in college now, work is starting to get normal again, so I am hoping I can prioritze some time to work building interest in my area. I have a 6 tank display at the local museum, and sometime this summer I was thinking of putting on a IR battle demonstration between a couple of tanks. I was thinking of putting a fact sheet together with a list of good online retailers. If someone likes what the see then this fact sheet might reel them in.

Dan

i prefer Ir because i have children
But airsoft can be fun to if you are responsible i geuss

Dan

Thanks, that was a very thoughtfull reply which I know took a while to compse.


I have just discovered I am interested in this so I don't know what the level of activity is here. From my limited reading, it appears there is some activity in this area (Niagara Region of Ontario).

Honestly, I don't have the time and energy to work on a club, there is the usual work stuff and home maintenance.

I have been involved in compedative trapshooting since 1970, I am quite involved in helping to run our local, volunteer operatedtrapshooting club; this does take time and energy. I also am into motorcycling, I own a Yamaha FJR1300 Sport Touring bike. Consequently, I would participate in another club, help as I could but not be too involved in actually running it, at this point.

Since I am used to firearms and teaching people to shoot, the airsoft would sort of fall into line with my interests, also, I am conditioned to treat anything that shoots with respect, even if airsoft balistics are pretty tame, compared to what I am used to.

As you point out, down the road, if I want to go into IR, the cost is minimal, compared to what I am used to paying for stuff related to shotguns or motorcyles.

Down the road, it would just be an excuse to buy another tank

You have given me some good stuff to consider.

Sounds like you've settled on airsoft. These tanks are cheap, so I don't see why you can't have both...hell, if you wanted to only have one tank and have an IR turret on stand by, the RX18 board that comes in the newer tanks allow you to swap and drop. The only limitation you have in this hobby are ones you set. IR for me isn't an option at this point until I've gained interest from people around here. One of the reasons beyond me wanting more than one tank because I like them is to bait people into a club until they can purchase their own. Once I get my Tamiya built, I'll likely leave it at the local hobby shop so they can demonstrate it there for a few weeks. It'll help them open more doors to merchandise and in turn help me start a dang club.

I started with one BB tank and I like others will tell you one is NOT enough. (un less you are the girl friend who comes over and says "What another $%#$ toy how many do you need!"))
Fire man tim is going to try to get some gaming started in Niagra and it looks like there will be alot of HL, IR tanks showing up. If it takes off it should be fun.
What ever tank you buy try and show up in august with a tank! So which tank have you decided on?
Ho ya the answer as to how many tanks I need is ..one for every exgirl friend..I have seven......and counting.

Not a problem, I will just tell my wife "I'm a 58 year old grown man, and it my perogative to buy a toy tank if I darn well please"

HLPanther G but I am trying to decide, grey or camo, though I will likely wind up re-painting eventually. The camo might give me something that looks a bit more correct as far as colours go, for the interim.

lol! I don't think any man here can't purchase a tank if they damn well please. It's therepercussions of more than one we think about. The wife was fine with the one 6 months ago...the third is when I started hearing some lip. The 4th being a Tamiya...I surely had to hear some lip, now the 5th (Tamiya again) is right around the corner..sometime this week and Iregretfullysay, there may be some bedroom time unaccounted for....for a little bit but worth it.

I was joking about telling her that, buying stuff like that isn't a problem, she actually encourages me to try new things, like this.

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Glen,

you need to come over to my place in Stevensville, Fort Erie and try out some tanks. Myself and Dacostasr in NY run the CAN-AM Tank club, and our first tank meet is at Old Fort Erie on Sept 11th.

Tim

I ended up getting a ir and a airsoft. Frankly unless I had someone else to play with, there is no poijt in the ir. THe airsoft is fun when screwing around. I end up spending most of my time on both tanks in trying to drive over hard terain. Defiantely go for the metal version though. The plastic just dont cut it with the crap gear boxes n plastic tracks. jagdpanther is a beast of a climber.