Large Scale Central

RC WWII German Tanks!

I follow WWII history fairly well and consider myself well versed on German Tanks and tactics. I am not an expert, mind you and I enjoy learning more about them. Anyway, I have three 1/16 scaled RC German WWII tanks. I have an early production model of the Tiger 1. My favorite, needless to say. I also have a King Tiger and a Panzer III. Early production model. All are fully functional and all shoot BB’s. I follow tank
tactics allot and enjoy watching 1/16 tank battles in small replicated villages and towns. If none of you has never seen this before, you need to go. It is so realistic and the level of detail put into these model RC tanks is absolutely mind blowing. I also have several 1/6 scaled vehicles. A Panzer II and a Kettengrad. These are not RC, but can be modified to become RC. One fellow RC’d his 1/6 scaled PanzerII. Done in dark gray with two 1/6 scaled panzer men. I mean this looked incredibly realistic.

Anyway, I like WWII history and in particular, the German Panzers and tactics. RC Tanks are a great way for anyone not familiar with tanks or tank tactics to get a rudimentary understanding of how things worked in the German Army as far as Panzers were concerned. The Tiger 1 I have is 1/16 scale and again, it is done as an early prototype. Basically, the first Tigers had a unique cupola and a smoke system as well as other minor features that distinguished them from later production models. My favorite by far and still, in my opinion, the greatest tank ever created as far as fear factor. To give you an idea. A friend of mine in England went to see the annual tank show. I forget the name of the place, but they put on a grand show. Everyone shows up, but everyone comes to see one tank, the mighty Tiger1. Well, here my friend was taking some pictures when he heard what sounded like a freight train. We all know what that sounds like. Well, around the corner comes this Tiger1. She was absolutely the perfect example of terror. My friend actually ran! He really was scared. This thing was huge and loud and very menacing looking. Even at a distance, she is capable of sending people backwards! LOL Anyway, after getting over his phobia LOL, he took some really cool shots of this particular Tiger1. Only a few remain and only one original exist in perfect running condition.

The RC tank battles replicate small villages and towns as well as battle fields where the tanks can battle each other. A hit does not mean the tank is out, but it depends on where it was hit. Just as in real life, the RC Tiger1’s fair better against the allied tanks when in open ground where they can pick off targets at greater ranges. I saw one RC Tiger1 pick off three Sherman’s in a few minutes. This guy was good. Real good. Anyway, the Sherman tank guys all laughed because they knew they had their butts handed to them. On the other hand, a Sherman tank took out a Tiger1 with a direct hit on its track in the rear. It never saw the faster Sherman coming around the corner of a battle damaged building. Tigers never fair well in towns, but open ground…

Oh well, fun hobby and I like the realism. Plus, unlike RC aircraft, you can go home with a generally intact RC tank. I have seen a few wrecks of RC aircraft. Enough to send me into another direction. LOL

Stacy K

PS: Bovington Tank Show in England was the name of the show. It came to me as I posted.

Sounds interesting, especially to an ex-Armor Crewman.

It’s the Bovington Tank Museum. Well worth a visit…
300 tanks…200 on display.
http://www.tankmuseum.org/

Hi Stacy, can you post some pics?

Can’t do trains and tanks so I play World of Tanks instead.

And I thought we were nuts!

[youtube]http://youtu.be/fAMZkj3tBGQ

Just over a month ago at one of the local hobby shops (sold off their g-gauge a couple yrs bk.) I spotted a 1:24 scale R/C Sherman ($130cdn) Caught my eye 'cause it declared 1:24th and was a ‘Acts of Valour’ product usually 1:32. The primary clerk said run-in hard-pack snow okay but stay away from sand. Checked it out online found out 1:24th AoV is discontinued 'cause majority of hardcore r/c tanks favour the 1:16th size.

I have noticed since that they were also offered in 1:30th with some still being sold out of the uk on ebay !

There was a person on the r/c forum that (yeeech) mentioned trashing his so i bumped it with a comment (re: g-gauge )… http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=887287

doug c

btw, our regional g-gauge reseller (also at ST’14) once told me waaay back, ‘if we all had the same hobby, we would be drones…’ !!

Steve Featherkile said:

And I thought we were nuts!

[youtube]http://youtu.be/fAMZkj3tBGQ

Hi Steve

Yes, these guys can get a little intense as I found out one time when I attended a battle between three Tiger1’s and at least seven Sherman Tanks. So, the scene was a small euro village and the goal was for the Sherman’s to cease control of this command group headquarters. The Tigers positioned themselves in such a manner as to have the whole area saturated should anyone even breath. I mean, these guys were nuts. So, one of the Sherman guys says, that the fellow operating one of the Tigers was violating some sort of rule regarding actual rules of engagement. it was hard to tell what anyone was saying through all the yelling, but I gather the yanks were getting hosed real bad and they did not like the fact they could not get in a position to eliminate the Tigers. Complain as they did, the judges were not having any of it. So, they basically awarded victory to the Tiger crews because the Sherman guys were a little off the res. At the end of the day, everyone kissed and made up and ate hotdogs and soda pop. It was all for fun and charity anyway, but it got downright intense. LOL

BTW…Great video and you can clearly see the level of detail one can achieve.

Stacy

I’m currently working on an imex taigen tiger 1 late model full metal version. I updated the the turret and I’m going to finish it off with a Clark board. I’ll post some pics if anyone is interested.

Terry

Yes, these all metal tanks are pretty cool, though this one is okay, in my opinion. Notice the bogie suspension. Cool battle tank…

Yes Terry, please post pictures when you are done. I should like very much to see them.

Stacy

I guess I could justify getting one of these since they still run on tracks. :wink:

Dave

Spearhead, Hell on WHeels and Old Ironsides Divisions

What I like about this particular hobby is the action. Oh trains are really cool and I know many scoff at the mere idea of branching out to something else. Still, many have other hobbies. I like WWII armor. Especially German armor. Superior, but often far too complicated, given the fact that the Germans over engineered these tanks beyond. In scale, they can be just as complicated as one wants. Some of these all metal monsters can cost upwards of 1000’s of dollars. I saw one fellow displaying his 1/6 scale Tiger1.
The cost?..Oh just a scant over 10,000 dollars. That’s right…TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!! Man…
LOL

Anyway, the tank was fully made of metal and had a fully operational turret which shot paint balls. Yes, paint balls. Totally cool and way over my head as far as price and patience. Took this fellow some 2 years to construct this tank and it was all hand made from scratch. In between his position as a chief design engineer for a fortune 500 company, he worked on the Tiger until its final completion. With a full crew of five 1/6 scale panzer crewman and a sound system that really captures the essence of the Tiger as far as fear factor, this Tiger was a one of kind piece of true engineering.

One other thing. This Tiger1 pulled a small pickup truck. So, there was no doubt about its integrity and workmanship. I will try and find the pictures/video of this monster.

Yes, these tankers can get real crazy…LOL

Stacy, that’s the same tank I have but with metal upgrades. The IMEX full metal version is just a built up Heng Long tank. If you look around, especially on EvilBay you can get a nice starter tank in the $100 area. Then, just like trains it’s as far as you want to go with mods.

I like the metal parts because they add weight. The tank becomes less jerky and starts to move like a real tank. The drawback is the drivetrain can only handle so much then it needs upgraded as well.

Terry

Are there models of the M-60, or even better, the Abrams?

[youtube]http://youtu.be/CX28Fwa5nI4

Steve Featherkile said:

Are there models of the M-60, or even better, the Abrams?

There are models or more rightly, plans for building large scale tanks from scratch. There are prebuilt kits that require some assembly and they can be modified to incorporate many of the features found on a real tank. The M60 is a fine tank and I have seen quite few at battles.

Of course if you have some cash stashed away and feel brave enough to venture into the real deal, this 1:1 scale recreation of a fully operational Tiger1 might be what you are looking for. This Particular Tiger1
was made in Russia. It truly is a work of art and yes, it is fully functional and ready for the movie set.

Remarkable details and quite capable of scarring the hell out of anyone within 3 clicks of it. LOL

Steve check out taigentanks.com tamiyausa.com or henglongtoys.net

Terry

Brother of a friend of mine, hopefully visiting with Korm in Paraguay as I write this, builds the Armortek models for customers…sigh.

Last time I was in his shed, he had a Panther, a Jadgpanther, two 8-ton halftracks and a ready-to-collect Tiger 1 made to replicate #131 running in the tank Museum in Bovington.

That little lot added up to around $35,000…

tac
Ottawa Valley GRS

Scratch built tanks from WWII are really awesome, but require special tooling and allot of room to create. I have allot of respect for anyone that can create such machines by hand scratch built. At 1/16 scale, my three tanks are puny compared to the 1/6…1/4 scale stuff being built and used out there. The level of detail is endless. My dream is building a 1/4 scale Tiger 1, but honestly, it is only a dream and not likely to happen for a variety of reasons.