New too the scene

[YourBoiStu]

Hi there all I hope you are all doing well I am new to the rc tank scene and I haven't ever bought a rc tank before so I would like to appeal for some help please. Is it possible that anyone could maybe do a simple breakdown of the brands you can buy from and the differences between them and also if there are any useful tips for when I'm looking at buying and owning a rc tank would be much appreciated thank you so much

[Rubicon99]

Hi there all I hope you are all doing well I am new to the rc tank scene and I haven't ever bought a rc tank before so I would like to appeal for some help please. Is it possible that anyone could maybe do a simple breakdown of the brands you can buy from and the differences between them and also if there are any useful tips for when I'm looking at buying and owning a rc tank would be much appreciated thank you so much

First question is how much RC ground and modeling experience do you have? This is important because some brands are intended for the more advanced hobbyist. The higher you entry skill set the more brands that can be recommended for your first tank.

[Delta_19]

Heng long: the entry level tank. Right out of the box these guys are ready to drive, ir battle and, shoot bb's they are reliable and when something breaks parts are readily available.
not the most scale accurate but close enough that only the most experienced of tank experts are gonna nitpick issues.
ir battle wise they use a toned down tamiya protocol.

Taigen/torro: middle of the road. Metal lower plastic upper and come with either airsoft or ir but not both. Little better then heng long in scale accuracy but they have their own ir protocol so you are only battling other taigen/torro tanks. These also come in ready to run configurations so you can use it the day it arrives.

Tamiya: the top dog pro level tanks. These guys are the most scale accurate on the market. Are of course the makers of the tamiya protocol with the most options and best battle experience.
These are not beginners tanks and come in a kit where you have to put every little part together also need to hit your own remote.

[keilau]

Heng long: the entry level tank. Right out of the box these guys are ready to drive, ir battle and, shoot bb's they are reliable and when something breaks parts are readily available.
not the most scale accurate but close enough that only the most experienced of tank experts are gonna nitpick issues.
ir battle wise they use a toned down tamiya protocol.

Taigen/torro: middle of the road. Metal lower plastic upper and come with either airsoft or ir but not both. Little better then heng long in scale accuracy but they have their own ir protocol so you are only battling other taigen/torro tanks. These also come in ready to run configurations so you can use it the day it arrives.

Tamiya: the top dog pro level tanks. These guys are the most scale accurate on the market. Are of course the makers of the tamiya protocol with the most options and best battle experience.
These are not beginners tanks and come in a kit where you have to put every little part together also need to hit your own remote.

@YourBoiStu , besides your RC experience, how thick is your pocket book.

You can get started for $100 with a Heng Long RTR tank. Shop carefully at vendors with US/Canada inventory. The Heng Long basic plastic version of their tank is very good for indoor driving quality with proportional ESC.

Mato/Taigen/Torro will set you back for $500-1000. Not ideal for first time RC hobbyist.

Tamiya will be in the above $1000 range and better suited for long time modeler who likes to build kits and appreciate the kit's quality.

Welcome to the hobby. You will enjoy it.

[tank_me]

Taigen/torro: middle of the road. Metal lower plastic upper and come with either airsoft or ir but not both. Little better then heng long in scale accuracy but they have their own ir protocol so you are only battling other taigen/torro tanks. These also come in ready to run configurations so you can use it the day it arrives.

Just to add a correction to this statement...an add on module is available for Taigen/Torro so they can IR battle, also has a toned down Tamiya protocol compatibility.

Personally I would start with a midgrade Heng Long tank to see if your interest in the hobby is solid before buying an expensive one. Use that midgrade tank to do some upgrades and learn about the hobby. If your interest stays...great - learn to solder, learn to scratch build, learn to paint well. If not, you can sell the HL tank and get most of your investment back.

[YourBoiStu]

First question is how much RC ground and modeling experience do you have? This is important because some brands are intended for the more advanced hobbyist. The higher you entry skill set the more brands that can be recommended for your first tank.

Hi there I'm all good with building a model no matter the detail I generally have a decent amount of patience and I'm quite handy

[YourBoiStu]

Heng long: the entry level tank. Right out of the box these guys are ready to drive, ir battle and, shoot bb's they are reliable and when something breaks parts are readily available.
not the most scale accurate but close enough that only the most experienced of tank experts are gonna nitpick issues.
ir battle wise they use a toned down tamiya protocol.

Taigen/torro: middle of the road. Metal lower plastic upper and come with either airsoft or ir but not both. Little better then heng long in scale accuracy but they have their own ir protocol so you are only battling other taigen/torro tanks. These also come in ready to run configurations so you can use it the day it arrives.

Tamiya: the top dog pro level tanks. These guys are the most scale accurate on the market. Are of course the makers of the tamiya protocol with the most options and best battle experience.
These are not beginners tanks and come in a kit where you have to put every little part together also need to hit your own remote.

How do you guys feel about hooben and tongde tanks I have seen them before and they have the one tank I want the centurion mk3 with the L7 gun

[YourBoiStu]

Heng long: the entry level tank. Right out of the box these guys are ready to drive, ir battle and, shoot bb's they are reliable and when something breaks parts are readily available.
not the most scale accurate but close enough that only the most experienced of tank experts are gonna nitpick issues.
ir battle wise they use a toned down tamiya protocol.

Taigen/torro: middle of the road. Metal lower plastic upper and come with either airsoft or ir but not both. Little better then heng long in scale accuracy but they have their own ir protocol so you are only battling other taigen/torro tanks. These also come in ready to run configurations so you can use it the day it arrives.

Tamiya: the top dog pro level tanks. These guys are the most scale accurate on the market. Are of course the makers of the tamiya protocol with the most options and best battle experience.
These are not beginners tanks and come in a kit where you have to put every little part together also need to hit your own remote.

And where do you guys suggest getting henglong tanks from ?

[Rubicon99]

How do you guys feel about hooben and tongde tanks I have seen them before and they have the one tank I want the centurion mk3 with the L7 gun

Do NOT buy a Hooben as your first tank. They are a handful to keep running and need a lot of upgrades to run well.

Tongde tanks are decent IF you buy the metal option version from the start. Their electronics are comparable to the basic systems used in Heng Long tanks. The TongDe Centurion does not come with the 105mm L7 cannon it comes with the original "90mm" gun. An aftermarket L7 is available through RichJohnson Models N Stuff.

If you want a Centurion look at HAYA. Theirs is well built and superior to the TongDe version and has lots of aftermarket options. Cost is a little higher then TongDe, but you do get a lot more tank.

[Delta_19]

Hooben is only for the most experienced craftsman since you will end up needing to make a lot of your own parts. Low quality trash


Tongde well I have no experience with them look to be on par with heng long.


For buying heng long tanks you have motion rc in the usa and matomart in canada and usa.

[tank_me]

Everyone will say the same thing about Hooben...I own two. The T-55 is decent, but Hooben has bad customer service and a lack of spare parts. The rest of the tanks have issues. Some issues can be fixed, but they aren't for the faint of heart. I own a TongDE M60 metal version and it's been ok for a first release of a company. DKLM RC is the best vendor for them as he can get spare parts. You can get HL tanks for lots of places, but Motion has free shipping and good customer support. The Haya tanks are good, but expensive as I own two of them - the Chieftain and the Centurion.

[Evan D]

For me the HengLong are the perfect combination of value and what I want in a easy to build, set up and run tank. I have bought all mine from the Toucan vendors on ebay, mostly by making an offer.

[Durahl]

In case you're still intrigued about building a Tamiya Kit I have somewhat documented the build of my Tamiya 56016 M26 Pershing providing a bit of insight at what building a Tamiya Kit entails.

Something you may want to consider when buying non-Tamiya Models is those usually having a terrible Sound Profile... I've yet to come across a YouTube Video featuring Heng Long and Co. Models that didn't feature anemic Sound incapable of overpowering their conversely ridiculously noisy Gearboxes ( Drive / Turret / Cannon / Recoil doesn't matter ).

That is on top of not always featuring the proper Sounds - Something that seems to have gotten only worse with the introduction of more recent Tank Controllers stripping the Controllers of some of the previously selectable Sound Profiles allowing for a more accurate association with the Model ( unlike on Tamiya Models only supplying one Sound Profile on a Model specific Controller the competition supplies their models with the same Controller containing multiple Sound Profiles )

[keilau]

In case you're still intrigued about building a Tamiya Kit I have somewhat documented the build of my Tamiya 56016 M26 Pershing providing a bit of insight at what building a Tamiya Kit entails.

Something you may want to consider when buying non-Tamiya Models is those usually having a terrible Sound Profile... I've yet to come across a YouTube Video featuring Heng Long and Co. Models that didn't feature anemic Sound incapable of overpowering their conversely ridiculously noisy Gearboxes ( Drive / Turret / Cannon / Recoil doesn't matter ).

That is on top of not always featuring the proper Sounds - Something that seems to have gotten only worse with the introduction of more recent Tank Controllers stripping the Controllers of some of the previously selectable Sound Profiles allowing for a more accurate association with the Model ( unlike on Tamiya Models only supplying one Sound Profile on a Model specific Controller the competition supplies their models with the same Controller containing multiple Sound Profiles )

It is a wonderful build journal. Thank you for sharing.

There is not much you can do about the Heng Long Pershing sound file. But I can significantly reduce the gearbox noise and vibration by upgrading to a ball bearing equiped gearbox and there are several of them. I have tried the Heng Xin and the Torro Series 2 gearbox, both of which are ball bearings equiped, with excellent results.

[Delta_19]

Something you may want to consider when buying non-Tamiya Models is those usually having a terrible Sound Profile... I've yet to come across a YouTube Video featuring Heng Long and Co. Models that didn't feature anemic Sound incapable of overpowering their conversely ridiculously noisy Gearboxes ( Drive / Turret / Cannon / Recoil doesn't matter ).

All 6 of mine over power the gearboxes. Willing to put money on the fact you dont see it on YouTube is because one no wants to make a video with the tank at max volume. It's bloody annoying and loud.

[Rubicon99]

In case you're still intrigued about building a Tamiya Kit I have somewhat documented the build of my Tamiya 56016 M26 Pershing providing a bit of insight at what building a Tamiya Kit entails.

Something you may want to consider when buying non-Tamiya Models is those usually having a terrible Sound Profile... I've yet to come across a YouTube Video featuring Heng Long and Co. Models that didn't feature anemic Sound incapable of overpowering their conversely ridiculously noisy Gearboxes ( Drive / Turret / Cannon / Recoil doesn't matter ).

That is on top of not always featuring the proper Sounds - Something that seems to have gotten only worse with the introduction of more recent Tank Controllers stripping the Controllers of some of the previously selectable Sound Profiles allowing for a more accurate association with the Model ( unlike on Tamiya Models only supplying one Sound Profile on a Model specific Controller the competition supplies their models with the same Controller containing multiple Sound Profiles )

The 7.0/7.1 sound effects are actually rather good IMO as well as many others given the price point of HL tanks. Better then Tamiyas recent offerings, especially the M551 and Centurion which both have mediocre sound effects and poor clarity, The Tamiya Abrams is also not that great. To get the best sound from a new HL systems all that is needs is a higher quality speaker. I have upgraded a few of my speakers and the different is amazing. They can also be raised to rather uncomfortable volume levels once the speaker is upgraded.

As good as Tamiya once was they have unfortunately seen fit to discontinue most of their 1/16 rc tanks. NONE of the WW2 American tanks are still in production and only a few of the WW2 German tanks remain. Even the JSDF Type10, M551 Sheridan (released only a few years ago) and Leopard 2 have been discontinued. And spare parts for the discontinued tanks have run or are running dry fast. Try to find a new set of Tamiya Pershing or M4 tracks.

HL may not yet be at the fine detail and quality engineering of Tamiya, but they have made gigantic leaps in quality the last four years and kept prices relatively low. So I for one will give HL credit where credit is do.

[keilau]

As good as Tamiya once was they have unfortunately seen fit to discontinue most of their 1/16 rc tanks. NONE of the WW2 American tanks are still in production and only a few of the WW2 German tanks remain. Even the JSDF Type10, M551 Sheridan (released only a few years ago) and Leopard 2 have been discontinued. And spare parts for the discontinued tanks have run or are running dry fast. Try to find a new set of Tamiya Pershing or M4 tracks.

HL may not yet be at the fine detail and quality engineering of Tamiya, but they have made gigantic leaps in quality the last four years and kept prices relatively low. So I for one will give HL credit where credit is due.

The price disparity between Tamiya and Heng Long 1/16 RC tank is too big for the average user to ignore. When the market dries up for their product, Tamiya withdrew from the 1/16 tank market. Business has no sentimental consideration.

I built a Trumpter 1/16 T-34/85 many years ago. The quality was not there to make it an outdoor RC tank. On the other hand, I successfully updated a 2005 HL Snow Leopard to a 2021 HL Pershing with metal parts and modern Radio. Very good driving quality on lawn and rough terrain. I am giving HL credit where credit is due.

Don't get me wrong. When comparing Tamiya tank parts with HL parts, Tamiya wins hands down in material and quality. After I closed up the tank, HL drives almost as well as the Tamiya.

[LittleRic]

Is it normal for my metal tracks to move on the idler wheels when i push them towards the haul or towards me they also scratch on the upper haul sides

[cmdrcody]

I think he means HULL (haul)

[Rubicon99]

Is it normal for my metal tracks to move on the idler wheels when i push them towards the haul or towards me they also scratch on the upper haul sides

Yes. Side to side "play" is normal.