1/16^th scale Tamiya Pershing – I thought the Tamiya Tiger was a great kit.  The Pershing blows it out of the water with dramatic improvements in the sound system, drive system and detail.  I have been around many 50 caliber machine guns and I have to say that the machine gun sound is accurate.  Certainly the best in 1/16^th R/C scale.  A pleasure to build and operate.  When you operate it, you will notice a couple of differences between the Pershing and other tanks.  One is the power and torque available to climb hills that were once obstacles to the tanks.  Another is the track and drive wheel design.  The Sherman and Tiger's were susceptible to gravel getting the tracks and jamming them or throwing them.  The Pershing runs through any dirt without any difficulty.  Now for the problem areas.  There is no room left in the tank so you need to be extremely careful when running the wires between everything.  The turret will not rotate consistently if the wires are not dressed out.  Another item that could have been improved is the track tension adjustment.  It is a lot of work and there is no fine adjustment like on the Tiger.  Despite the problems, go buy one.  You won't be sorry!  Best place to buy is Dave4what.com.

1/16^th scale Tamiya Tiger I – Perhaps the best engineered and designed model tank kit of all time.  Prior to the Pershing, it was the best in 1/16^th R/C scale.  A pleasure to build and operate.  Needs a couple of areas “tuned-up” to improve reliability.  See our Beginner Hints Section for some insight.  Can also be upgraded to the later and mid version Tiger I with some extra work.  Best place to buy is Dave4what.com.

1/16^th scale Tamiya King Tiger II – A good kit in either the R/C or static version.  With a lot of craftsmanship, can be up-graded to operate just like the Tiger I.  Comes in either the production (Henschel) or Porsche turret version.  See our Advanced Hints 1 section for details on what you need and how to convert.

1/16^th scale Tamiya M4 Sherman – The main stay of R/C tanks.  Been around since 1974 and now in its 3^rd major release: Tamiya’s #56014 kit.  Uses either a 2 or 4 channel radio.  With the new version, you no longer have to spend long hours assembling the intricate metal tracks.  Kit #50014 offers most of the same multi-functions as the Tiger I, but at a lower price.  This is a good kit to start with if you are on a budget, but want sound and flash.  Sadly though this is a 105 mm cannon version of the real thing, which rarely went one on one with German tanks.  To be more realistic and accurate, the tank can be upgraded to the M4A3E8 version with larger 76 mm cannon, by using a Model Master’s conversion kit.  Then you can stand against anything Germany had to offer.

1/16^th scale Tamiya Kubelwagen - A fun kit to build and run, and makes a great addition to a battle site. Problems we found is that because it is so light, it does not run very well in loose dirt.  However, for the price, you should not pass this one up.

1/15^th scale Bandai Stug Mk IV – This kit is a nice addition to anybody’s German R/C Army.  Needs 2 Traxxas #4578, 380 PH motors and Kenny Kong’s metal tracks (see our Link page) to do the job right.  See notes on Mk IV f2 below, for conversion tips.

1/15^th scale Bandai Panzer Mk IV f2 - Although not necessarily 100% accurate, this kit still makes for a neat looking R/C tank.  Add 2 Traxxas #4578, 380 PH motors and Kenny Kong’s metal tracks (see our Link page) and you have a solid runner.  If you want to upgrade one of these to an MF-01 full option model, see our Advanced Hints 2 section.  “Caution”; you will spend as much on this upgrade as you would to buy the Tiger I, and a lot more time and effort to create.  Better be a good “kitbasher” or “scratchbuilder”.  See Bandai 1/15^th Panzer IV Project web page in our Links, for details on accuracy of this model design.

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