Best of 3 distributors

[DavidN]

My additional input is that if you plan to play IR battle in a tank club, and most of their members use the Tamiya IR set up, you should get a Tamiya. If you want the Torro/Taigen, you then have to spend over $200 more and know how to swap all the components to be able to battle in the club.

[Marshalpadutch]

I now have 2 HL and 2 Torros. Which Tamiya is the best one to buy? I was thinking ww2 and be able to take it to battle.

[DavidN]

On your other thread...you asked which brand made the best King Tiger. Rubicon gave you his knowledgeable advice. Maybe you should go with the Tamiya King tiger for battle. That's my modest input.

[bobassetto@me.com]

Does Tamils make any 1/16 RTR tanks….. seems like they just sell kits…

[Skeezix]

Tamiya are generally considered the most accurate and smoothest running. They are also the most expensive but worth every penny.

Tamiya tanks have metal where metal is useful without adding it just to make their tank heavy for unnecessary reason.

That said Torro/Taigen make a good tank but their electronics are outdated in every aspect and not IR battle compatible with HL or Tamiya tanks if that is important to you.

One other question: A fellow RC tanker claims to have an all plastic Tamiya Tiger 2, but upon viewing some YouTube videos, it appears the Tamiya has metal wheels, hull, ect.
I'm trying to understand if my friend has an older non-metal Tamiya Tiger 2, or if he has another brand all together and THINKS he has a Tamiya.
Any advice?

[Rubicon99]

One other question: A fellow RC tanker claims to have an all plastic Tamiya Tiger 2, but upon viewing some YouTube videos, it appears the Tamiya has metal wheels, hull, ect.
I'm trying to understand if my friend has an older non-metal Tamiya Tiger 2, or if he has another brand all together and THINKS he has a Tamiya.
Any advice?

Tamiya R/C King Tigers have always had metal lower hulls, metal suspension components and metal wheels. Trust me I have built several starting as far back as the mid 1970s.

The upper hull and turret are the typical high quality Tamiya polystyrene material and the barrel is aluminum. There is no benefit in the upper hull and turret being made from metal as it adds no additional details, well except to make the tank needlessly top heavy IMO. If you want your tank to be heavy it is better to simply add weight to the lower hull open space (which there is a lot of in the KT). Plus this allows you to achieve a better weight balance front to back which I turn makes for an overall better handling tank.

[Skeezix]

Ah thank you for the response. So it seems either my buddy has a metal lower hull/wheels on his Tamiya and doesn't know it, or he has a plastic tank that he THINKS is a Tamiya and really isn't. Are there any ways to determine if the tank is really a Tamiya?

[Rubicon99]

Ah thank you for the response. So it seems either my buddy has a metal lower hull/wheels on his Tamiya and doesn't know it, or he has a plastic tank that he THINKS is a Tamiya and really isn't. Are there any ways to determine if the tank is really a Tamiya?

There are a lot of ways. A few - The suspension uses a torsion bar set up, the MFU (control system) is a two part system, the gearboxes have brass gears or if a really old version clutch drives.

[Marshalpadutch]

[QUOTE=DavidN;n324742]On your other thread...you asked which brand made the best King Tiger. Rubicon gave you his knowledgeable advice. Maybe you should go with the Tamiya King tiger for battle. That's my modest input.[/QUOTE

ha, I took your advice for my FIRST King Tiger and bought a heng long and will be putting that together along with parts I bought from motion to put together a Torro Jagdtiger. I was not sure about my first Tamiya. I will end up with a Tamiya King Tiger eventually or even first. My readings on the forums indicate a Pershing, Panther G, and King would be excellent prospects.

i am really getting sucked into this tank thing!

[DavidN]

MPD....Just don't make the same mistake I made. The lower hull of the KT does not have the length as the Jagdtiger, therefore, the track sets have to be longer too for the Jagdtiger. The lower hull of the Torro does not accept the road wheels from the HL. The gearboxes from the HL KT does not fit the lower hull of the Jagtiger. You need to use the Torro gearboxes. Those were the issues I came across while I combined multiple parts from HL and Torro to build my Jagdtiger.

[Marshalpadutch]

I bought all hL for the king tiger. The jagdtiger has all torro. I plan on putting a Clark board in the jagdtiger and other higher end components.

[keilau]

I am waiting for delivery of a "Henglong 1/16 7.0 Plastic Ver Soviet 3909 T34-85 RTR RC Tank Model" from "build-for-u". That will be my 5th HL tank. Also on order are:
2. Heng Xin metal gearbox with bearings.
3. Tamiya 380 motors.
4. Mato metal drive sprockets and idler wheels with bearing.

The HL RTR tank is excellent money value, but needs many updates. The bearings on the gearbox and the idler wheels greatly improve the stability of the platform. Noise is not much a problem with the simulated engine sound built-in.

I am still looking for a pair of good looking and durable metal tracks. Kenny has T34-85 track, but it may take a long time for delivery.

[keilau]

I ended up buying the metal track, sprocket and idler wheel from Taigen to replace the HL plastic gear on the T34-85. The gearbox is a Heng Xin. I like its mounting plate and almost completely enclosed design. The Heng Xin gearbox runs with much less vibration than the Heng Long OEM steel gearbox. It is a much desired upgrade.

[Rubicon99]

I ended up buying the metal track, sprocket and idler wheel from Taigen to replace the HL plastic gear on the T34-85. The gearbox is a Heng Xin. I like its mounting plate and almost completely enclosed design. The Heng Xin gearbox runs with much less vibration than the Heng Long OEM steel gearbox. It is a much desired upgrade.

With that I would respectfully disagree. The cost vs return in improving performance and operational smoothness is negligible at best and nothing a few drops of oil or grease could do nearly as well. I have few hundred hours of running time on stock “steel” HL gearboxes (that’s a conservative estimate) and have also tried every competitor. In the end stock “steel” gearboxes after a short break in and proper oil run just as well as gearboxes costing twice to three times as much.

There are exception like wanting or needing a lower gear ratio, then one has no choice but to look at other gearbox options.

[keilau]

With that I would respectfully disagree. The cost vs return in improving performance and operational smoothness is negligible at best and nothing a few drops of oil or grease could do nearly as well. I have few hundred hours of running time on stock “steel” HL gearboxes (that’s a conservative estimate) and have also tried every competitor. In the end stock “steel” gearboxes after a short break in and proper oil run just as well as gearboxes costing twice to three times as much.

There are exception like wanting or needing a lower gear ratio, then one has no choice but to look at other gearbox options.

Heng Long makes 3 level of metal gearboxes. The basic brass sleeve bearing goes into most metal version or pro version tanks. HL have improved it over the years and got it pretty well refined. When I got a pro version German Leopard 2A6 earlier this year, I was very pleasantly surprised that I could turn the drive shaft by thumb which demonstrate the good fit and low friction. The HL premium version tank uses a similar gearbox with ball bearings. The HL Ultimate II gearbox is sold separately for upgrade only. It has thicker wall and ball bearing.

Most tank collector have so many tanks that each one was run only a few time a year at the tank club, may be. And the dirt gravel surface is not a challenging ground to run on. Rubicon is right that the lowest grade brass sleeve bearing gearbox is fine for most users and does not impede the tank's performance.

I am biased toward ball bearing gearboxes because I used to deal with electronic equipment, including cooling fans, that runs 24/7 where only the highest quality ball bearing will do. Even at home, I want my desk side PC to run absolutely quiet. It is like after driving a BMW with a turbo4, it is hard to go back to the Corolla. The RC tank is a hobby to spend money on, right!

[keilau]

I am waiting for delivery of a "Henglong 1/16 7.0 Plastic Ver Soviet 3909 T34-85 RTR RC Tank Model" from "build-for-u". That will be my 5th HL tank. Also on order are:
2. Heng Xin metal gearbox with bearings.
3. Tamiya 380 motors.
4. Mato metal drive sprockets and idler wheels with bearing.

The HL RTR tank is excellent money value, but needs many updates. The bearings on the gearbox and the idler wheels greatly improve the stability of the platform. Noise is not much a problem with the simulated engine sound built-in.

I am still looking for a pair of good looking and durable metal tracks. Kenny has T34-85 track, but it may take a long time for delivery.

I ended up purchasing a set of metal sprocket, idler wheel and track from Taigen which arrived today. I am very pleased with the quality of the taigen track. The Heng Xin gearbox also arrived today. The tank arrived in good condition yesterday. It ran straightly OOB. (I will not need the "Mato metal drive sprockets and idler wheels with bearing". Send me a PM if you are interested in them.)

I hope to finish the metal upgrade tomorrow. Detail parts installation and painting will follow after I finish testing the tank mechanically. I will take many before and after pictures.