M3ZEAL

Hi guys,

I'm new to the hobby (and the forum ) and would like to know what's a good tank for me to get started with. I have about $400 to spend.

Thanks in advance.

g.horn

Keep your eye on E-Bay and look for a Sherman if your wanting to go Tamiya. If not get 3 Henlong's for the same money a Tiger1, Panzer 3 and a Pershing. If you go Tamiya keep in mind you will need a radio The HL's come with radios. If you go HL make sure you buy the one's with metal gears, and buy a good charger and get good batterys.



Greg

YHR

THe Stug III is a great tank, wiht lots of upgrade parts available. If you buy the metal upgrade suspension, wheels, tracks, you will spend nearly all of your $400.!!!!!!

Ex_Pat_Tanker

The Heng Long Panzer III is a good place to start, its pretty robust and has a lot of upgrade parts available. The Heng Long M41 is also a good starter tank. I've not yet sampled the Stug III or JagdPanther so I can't speak on how good they are, but the trend would suggest that they are also good starter tanks.
Beware of the Heng Long Tiger and "Panther" - there are still some older examples out there that give a bad name to the brand. Similarly, I'd have to warn you off the Matorro Tiger and SturmTiger - they suffer the same flaws as the early Heng Long tanks: plastic swing arms that crack, mounting points that crack, etc... If you want one they can be made into good models, but be prepared to invest to "make them right".

The WSN T34's and Tigers are good looking models but not as mechanically robust. If you are prepared to look after them then I can recommend them (I have 5 T34's), but if you are going to hand them to kids to abuse (or you intend to do that yourself) then be prepared to gut them to varying degrees. Eitherway the WSN electronics are best replaced with Heng Long, as the stock controls are garbage...

I hope this helps, if not PM me - I've tried most of them
Mart

dyeager535

My Feedback: (1)

Hard to beat the Heng Longs for out of the box fun with little investment.

You might try that out if you are new to the hobby. Tamiya's are your Mercedes, Heng Long's are your Hyundai's. Not nearly as refined, but not nearly the price.

But buy whatever tank design you find appealing, or at least pick a few and then ask on here which is the best mechanically that you've chosen.

rccommand.com IS your source for Heng Longs in the US.

Panther F

What do you expect out of an R/C tank? That's the question I ask everyone first. Do you want a toy or a serious kit that will not need much fussing over?

You'll get several suggestions and all good but your needs are what need to be addressed.

Ern

Also, are you looking for infrared battling capabilities or an airsoft firing tank? If you are thinking airsoft look at the Creeping Death tanks, They modify their airsoft guns and are very durable and 2 to 3 times harder shooting than the stock HL airsoft. They also add a laser to help you aim the gun, have a recoiling barrel and a tracer system that illuminates the glow in the dark 6mm airsoft bb's. The electronics are stock HL, but all are guaranteed. They cost more, but shipping is free/included in the price, and are well worth the extra $$. I like the Tiger because of it's size and modification potential.

Here's a link: http://creepingdeathrc.netfirms.com/...stroy/catalog/

ksoc

Where in California do you live. If you are close enough, you might want to check out some local clubs so you can see - maybe even drive - before you by. In the Bay Area check out Bay Area Tankers (BAT)

http://www.bayareatankers.org/

In the south, you can look at Souther California Area Tankers (S.C.A.T.)

www.socalareatankers.com

clodzie

Maybe i could use this same thread to find out which tank would be most suitable for me.

I already have HL Pershing, i bought that for my friends kids - personally I prefer german and soviet tanks but I have tried that tank and it seems to be pretty ok, maybe a little bit too light and feels like plastic does (...surprise) but well, its really a decent toy for its price. I've been planning to use less than 300 euro for my own tank so i guess that our budgets are almost equal? What I'm looking for is good looking, pretty heavy and strong tank, that could take a little bit of abuse (rough terrain, sand). I'm familiar with fixing and tweaking but still I hope that I wouldnt have to break the whole tank apart every 15 minutes. I dont have anyone to have battle with, so i guess there is no need for IR options.

What I've been looking for is something like this http://www.rctank.de/product_info.ph...roducts_id=403 or this one http://www.rctank.de/product_info.php?products_id=407

Comparing those tanks is little bit difficult for me - does that second one have some how better tracks, description says that it has "completely closed track links"? How about gears, is the 3:1-gear set always with alloy gears? Are those good enough?

I'm really looking forward for that HL KV-1 tank but i guess it will take some time to get metal upgrade parts for that one - so I'll get some german steel before having that beast from the east.

Thanks for your help - I hope my english is some how readable so u can find out what I'm trying to say.

Janne

The_Stuff

I'd go for the panzer 3 and the metal upgrade kit. its a good starter i think.