Well I've wanted one of these since they were announced by Taigen... and I finally pulled the trigger!

It came in kit form from RcTank.de, a retailer in Germany whom I've had many positive experiences with. They knock off the EU tax if you ask!

The build quality from Taigen is nice. Solid lower hull, excellent turret & detail, ball bearings on all the metal wheels & a very simple yet robust idler tension adjustment system. It does have coil spring suspension instead of torsion bars which is really the one detail that isn't to my liking, but they work & don't sag, but also are not too stiff.

The turret also has simple roller bearings supporting most of the weight and spins freely by hand which the ring gear removed. Nice!

I ordered the Taigen V3 gearboxes for this build. Ratio wise they are somewhere in between the 3:1 and 4:1 gearboxes we are all used to, so it should have a nice balance of power and flat speed (Sorry Dean)

Solid metal lower hull with attached & molded on details.

Taigen V3 gearboxes.

They have magnetic dust covers!

Heavy

I completely removed the stock Taigen wiring which included a 360 degree slip ring. It is simply far too big of a pain in the butt to chase those wires and set them up properly with a Clark board; plus everything Taigen had wired up is in the same setup that Heng Long uses so it all needed to be un-soldered anyway (recoil, elevation, etc)

Plastic upper hull, showing the simple linkages that prop the hull open for maintenance. I like that feature. Stock Taigen smoker.

Comparing sizes with my two Tigers (Pshpshpshpsspsspspss!)

Basic grey primer. I loved these Ace rattle cans; good coverage, tough finish, quick drying time. 

The turret casting detail survived the paint! 

Krylon super-flat camo rattle can. I build these tanks to run & knock over trees & buildings (Sorry Dean), not to win model contests

More hull detail, good work Taigen. Besides the coil spring suspension, the WORST thing is that the power switch is under the engine access hatch behind / below the turret. You can't access that door if the turret is facing foward... but it will be fine during the day while you leave the battery installed. 

Looks great. Gla dyou are getting back into it, and yes, Krylon super flat camo is great. Love their green and yellow !

MikeC wrote:

Looks great. Gla dyou are getting back into it, and yes, Krylon super flat camo is great. Love their green and yellow !

Now I'm just waiting on IR gear and a Clark board! 

I haven't had a smoking tank, well, EVER, but there's just so much room in there so I'll leave it in.

...it lives! 

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