Zodack fucked around with this message at 04:00 on Feb 14, 2024

ColonelJohnMatrix fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Feb 15, 2024

• Tamiya – The original and many would say the best, but with an astronomical price tag and hard to get hold of. The electronics are also somewhat dated but at least can be swapped out with something newer. Needs to be fully put together from scratch, and is comprised mainly of plastic with metal reinforced chassis. A huge range of WW2, cold war and modern tanks are available. Expect to pay around £700 for something like a Tiger 1, and over £1100 for a modern vehicle like an M1 Abrams.
  
• Heng Long – Used to be cheap knock offs of Tamiya but have come a very long way over the last couple of decades and now boast the best electronics of the “out of the box” options. These are substantially cheaper than the other options and all come ready to run out of the box, complete with extra parts sprues, and waterless decals. Their latest versions have both airsoft and IR battle capability. Hulls and turrets are entirely plastic but varying options are available at different price points, such as completely plastic, metal sprockets and tracks, and metal sprockets, tracks and road wheels. By far and away the most popular and easy to work with, but some models suffer from accuracy issues, and some hulls don’t handle metal running gear very well. They offer a good variety of WW2 and modern vehicles, but cold war options are practically non existent aside from the T-72. An all plastic Tiger 1 is around £150, and the version that comes with metal tracks, sprockets and idlers is around £250. An all plastic T-72 is around £199 and one with metal tracks, sprockets and idlers is around £299.
  
• Taigen/Torro – These sit between Tamiya and Heng Long in terms of pricing and are characterised by having all metal running gear, metal lower hulls, plastic upper hulls, and either plastic or metal turrets. Decent accuracy for the most part and very high build quality compared to the other options (except Tamiya). They also sell tanks fully painted and ready to run out of the box, or alternatively as unpainted kits for those willing and able to do it themselves and save a large chunk of change in the process. They also offer the unpainted versions without any electronics for those who wish to put the more advanced aftermarket options in. They have a decent variety of WW2 vehicles but no cold war options and the Leopard 2A6 is their only modern option. The only real downside is their electronics have fallen far behind Heng Long, and their tanks can either have IR or airsoft – not both. An unpainted Panther F can be had for £405, while the painted and RTR out the box version is £522.
  
• Mato – These are about as expensive as Tamiya and are characterised by their all metal construction. Some prefer these as they add a nice amount of weight and inertia to the vehicle, but they are made from pot metal so hardly super high quality and quality control is flaky to say the least. Predictably they’re also very difficult to work on compared to plastic, and the significant extra weight is a strain on the gearboxes and batteries. The electronics are far behind all the other options. Personally, I wouldn’t. Expect to pay about £800 for a Tiger 1.
  

• Plastic/Standard – As the name implies the body and running gear are all plastic. Depending on the model and seller these can be available with nylon, metal or steel gearboxes. Metal gearboxes are cheap soft pot metal and should be avoided along with the nylon.
  
  
• Professional – The body and road wheels are plastic, but the sprockets, idlers and tracks are metal. These also come with steel gearboxes. These are the most popular as they usually represent good value for money and strike a nice balance between a more realistic look and feel against cost and battery life. Metal tracks for instance sag nicely while plastic tracks don’t – making tanks with unsupported tracks like the big cats and the T-34 look very unrealistic.
  
  
• Platinum – The body is still plastic but the road wheels, sprockets, idlers and tracks are metal; predictably these are the most expensive option and the heaviest. While unsprung the extra weight can push the plastic chassis toward its limits and a lot of modellers will reinforce the hull to compensate.
  
  

• Panther G – The second tank to get a release and benefits in the same way as the Tiger does, but this model and onward can require some modification to mix and match.
  
• M4A3 Sherman – The Heng Long version is highly recommended as a solid and reliable runner.
  
• T-34 85 – Same as above, although the Heng Long version rides too high on the suspension for my liking.
  
• Panzer III – Basically a dinky Tiger. Easy to work with and a good option if you want something smaller.
  

• King Tiger – Nothing actually wrong with it, its just expensive, enormous, and in the case of the Taigen version, very heavy. Very impressive when done right so best to get this once you’re sure it’s a hobby you really like.
  
• Panzer IV – Accuracy issues and some reported problems with the suspension.
  
• M41 Walker Bulldog – Glaringly inaccurate as Heng Long chose to alter the shape of the tank to fit the gubbins rather than alter the gubbins to fit the tank.
  
• Panther (1st Heng Long release) – Often referred to as the Pantiger, this abomination was Heng Long’s first attempt at a Panther. While the turret was hardly accurate but at least recognisable as a Panther, the hull was rejigged to fit the Tiger 1 lower hull. Awful.
  
  
• T-72 – A common issue with these when using metal running gear is the plastic hull where the idlers attach to cannot take the weight and over time will break. Fixable but requires extensive modification.
  

Skunkduster fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Feb 19, 2024