Hi. I have been drooling over the Tamiya R/C 1/16 scale Tiger but have not been able to save up the cash, however a local store has the Bandai PzKpfw VI Tiger Ausf E
up for sale.

Anyone know much about the Bandai kit?

Is it worth 400.00 Canadian/ 250.00 US?

Should I wait and scratch anothe 1000.00 dollars together for the Tamiya kit?

MSW

Yeah Howdy Billy, welcome to Armorama.com. You'll find that you have found a real jewel here. The fella's here are nothing but helpful!
As to your question, regarding wether to wait for the Tamiya or not. I would say that the Bandai 1/16th scale kits are for the most part worth the money. They are of a little less quality than the Tamiya, but also a few less pesos too
The only real concern, or issue to be concerned about is the gearing. The gears themselves are cheaper and thinner and more prone to stripping. I have recently joined a local R/C Tank club and one of the members has several Bandai units. The gearing has been his only real complaint.

Good luck.

Tread.

P.S. Bandai also has a wider selection of vehicles available

Again, welcome to the site! Standby for Sabot to read this post because he's currently working on the 1/16 Tamiya Tiger so I'm sure he'll have plenty of info for you. Plus, I'd bet he's got some info on the Bandai kit as well. He seems to know everything!

The R/C Tiger can can be had for about $700. Very nice kit is worth the wait; however, if you really, really want one, the static version can be had for much less, around $250 or less.
http://www.modelexpo-online.com/ it is item #TM56010 and is $700 here.

http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=TM56010 Squadron has the for $800.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p.pgm?Q=1&I=LXUU83&P=7 and even cheaper, $690 here.

The non-R/C is even cheaper, either is leaps ahead of the Bandai kit.

For a company that carries both lines and may be a little cheaper than other places, check out Dave4What.com.

Yea, I know, funny name but good site!

Tread.

Sorry I don't know how to do the URL link stuff for ya...

I have the Bandai Tiger I in 1/15 at home, once built by my grandpa. I could compare it to Tamiyas 1/16 Tiger and the result is rather desasterous for the Bandai kit.
They overall detail of the Bandai kit is very simplified, not to say crude. The muzzle brake is wrong, as it shows a small, late version, while the tanks is an early version.
The drive sprockets are wrongly detailled, the track appears to be a bit too clumsy.
The solution to fix the upper structure with a screw, placed in the rear area of the side armor
and "hide" it with a plastic cover is not the best practice for a scale replica.
so from the point of detail and accuracy I cannot recommend this kit. to me the 2 motors
also seem to be underpowered in comparision to the Tamiya ones.

regards-werner

Thanks for the help peeps. Seems I will have to wait till my next Bday or next Christmas for the Tamiya 1/16 Tiger. Will have to drop some serious hints to the better half


MSW

i think the bandai kit would be good for static display