German Tanks and Prices - Page 2

NapierDogs · 31-05-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by NapierDogs

Is ebay a scorpion with a sting in its tail or a wise shopping move. I don't Know yet! but, will soon find out,
Have I've been a wise man (with the wifes Money) or a idiot of the first magnitude??? and WILL be sleeping in the spare bedroom for a couple of weeks.
I have taken the plunge on EBAY, and have orderd, A 1/16th King Tiger Henchel Turret 56018, 5 batteries, from 2 different places. (both places shouldn't rob me) Battery charger. Tank battle system. Futaba 4VWD, Threadlock.
I now sit and wait for all the CORRECT products to arrive, with just the correct amout taken from the bank account. and delivery dates kept.
I will certainly tell you if its gone to plan, or if I have incured import tax, or that goods never arrive.

NapierDogs.
p.s. It better go to plan or the wife will bloody kill me.
p.p.s. If anyone out there is of a religious nature, I do accept prays. single or group?

I would say on my first foray into ebey country, there are defiantly lessons to be learnt.
First, I made all my purchases with paypal. so that any payment came straight out of the bank account, (not credit card) and the items were paid for instantly so, they could be sent straight away. BUT, not getting verified (proving you are the person at your given address) My first item bought, the tank took 11 days to clear.
King Tiger £251.00 plus £87 fast post. cheaper post was about £54.
I should of bought something cheaper first????

Battle system (53447) £35.04 cheap post £6.70. paid on the 6th, arrived on the 14th. 8 days NO import tax
Charger 12v/240v fast charger £22.99 cheap post £4.99. paid on the 10th. arrived 12th. 2 days
batt. 3/pack 1700mah. £19.99 fast post £4.95. Paid on the 10th. arrived on the 12th. 2 days
Transmitter, j60 4vwd £57.92 cheap post £10.92. Paid on the 10th. arrived on the 24th.
14 days. IMPORT DUTY. £9 + £4 for the post office for them paying it for you and picking it up from customs. (thats a new one on me)
Battery 1 3300 Nimh £21.50. 1st class £2.50. paid on the 10th. arrived on the 12th. 2 days.
BACK TO THE TANK.
It took 2 weeks for the eCheque to clear, after another 4 days, they e-mailed me to say that they were out of stock? But, they had a Tiger1 (56010) so, if I would forward a further £23.91 they would send the tank. plus, we do not give refunds, I could only have store credit??? I had found this store on ebay BUT, had clicked the button that said see what else we sell, these items were not on ebay, so not coverd by there bid/by now, laws. (Its so easy to click and go somewhere else).
I sent the money and now have the tank, which took less than 2 days to arrive, little consolation.
I did buy other things of the net. All packages coming from america there custom declarations were filled correctly with what content and Value.
Any packages from hongkong Like the tank, Was $50 value and ticked as a gift.
Things to learn, if paypal, get verified. 2, ask if they have the product they have advertised. 3, Check postal charges. it can make thing that are cheap, really costly. 4, internet shops seem to advertise, you buy, then they go out and buy, Don't make my mistake "ask"

But, at the end of this, I am very pleased with my 1/16th tamiya (56010) tiger tank, 5 batt (3x1700mah 1x3300 1x3600), 12/240 fast charger, a Futaba 4 channel 4vwd radio control system, a tamiya Battle system (53447) and a mild numbness down one side of the body, a nervous tick, and a tendency to burst into tears?
all for £583.00 I think I've done well, Do you???

NapierDogs

**Bluewavestudios** · 01-06-2005

Well, all I can say is all my dealings on e-bay have been good bar one where i had actually won the item that I bidded for but he didn't deliver but at same time had not taken my paypal payment so I was able to cancel that. I won same item for exact same price from someone else on there so I am more than happy.

E-bay is fine so long as you stick with their rules and do everything within e-bay...that way you are covered against losses/rogue traders etc....I know a few people now who have done deals on things advertised on ebay and have then gone outside e-bay and have been ripped off or not received goods.

Stick within e-bay rules and u won't go wrong

As for my Tank, shame it is no longer on the market...this baby cost me £39 as a kit in 1985...company changed hands in 1987 but they did not inherit this tank on the production line.

new to trains · 01-06-2005

i too think ebay is good so long as you stick to the rules, use your head, shop wisely, ask questions first and bid later and never never bid an amount you can't afford to loose...... i generally buy items under £100 on ebay but have bought the odd item valued at several hundred from power selers or more reputable traders, , i would sriously think twice before spending several hundred quid from a private seller without seeing the goods first.....

I sold my N scale layout for over £500 on ebay and the buyer came down in a van after the auction ended and collected and paid cash - i personally would not bid up to this level without first seeing the goods!!!!!
i sell lots of surplus modelling goods and materials on ebay and have no problems with it, i am honest with the listings use lots of photos to display the items and show all shipping costs in advance.
i also buy alot of goods via ebay, great for tracking down those specialist bits and bobs no longer in production, but be very very wary of over inflated postage prices.......

i learnt this to my cost in the early days, i bought a wireless mini CCTV micro camera on ebay to fit into a model , i bid and won and got the stystem for £25 and shipping was £3-00......
so pleased with the item i found the same seller was selling an identical item several days later, start price was £5......
i put a bid of £5 on and won... what i had failed to notice was on this later listing the postage charge was not advertised...... so when he sent me the invoice with the total for the goods and shipping the postage for this item was a whacking £22-50, making a total price of £27-50, after an exchange of emails the seller basically said the minimum selling price was £27-50 if he does not sell for more than that he makes a loss !!! he basically ensures he gets that price by upping the postage to bring the total up to his minimum sale price- VERY DEVIOUS !

but as for the japanese importer who can supply cheaper tamiya products then E bay is great- you get a large selection of the goods for greatly reduced prices, and for those into model rail check out the KATO importer who does some very tempting deals on goods shipped from Japan....

but back to the tanks, they are great ! and the !:16th ones are such a ' usable ' size, like the look of the bigger ones recently seen at the shows but they needed ramps to get them into the boots of cars !- thats getting heavy !!!!

anyway keep up the good modelling work !

**Bluewavestudios** · 02-06-2005

Yes you have to watch the postage charges on some of those items on e-bay...if they are not shown send them a message asking them how much postage is before bidding...hopefully they will reply.
As far as I know there are no rules governing postage charges on e-bay so always check that out as well...sometimes you can find that it is higher than the cost of the item you are bidding for...yes they are making sure they get their money for the item one way or another....but like I said, it is not against e-bay rules.
Best way is look for people with decent feedback ratings and check the feedback too, at least you get an idea of the person you are dealing with then.
Regards.......Mark.

NapierDogs · 10-08-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluewavestudios

Well, all I can say is all my dealings on e-bay have been good bar one where i had actually won the item that I bidded for but he didn't deliver but at same time had not taken my paypal payment so I was able to cancel that. I won same item for exact same price from someone else on there so I am more than happy.
E-bay is fine so long as you stick with their rules and do everything within e-bay...that way you are covered against losses/rogue traders etc....I know a few people now who have done deals on things advertised on ebay and have then gone outside e-bay and have been ripped off or not received goods.
Stick within e-bay rules and u won't go wrong
As for my Tank, shame it is no longer on the market...this baby cost me £39 as a kit in 1985...company changed hands in 1987 but they did not inherit this tank on the production line.

Your Panther looks very good, When you have a closer look, its a very unusual model, who made the kit and how well does she run ? and what is she like on the inside ? or is the tank just a static model?

Mike.

NapierDogs · 10-08-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Panzerfaust

This is my first Tamiya Tank,used to own a Hornet,Grasshopper & Fox back in the 80's when i was a kid.Build is going to plan at the moment chassis & suspension are all built and primered & most of the upper body parts are painted.
Good luck with your's........Is this you first Tamiya Tank?

How has the Tank build come along, have you had similar problems with the RC gear with channels 2 & 3 or was your build problem free? what colour have you painted your tiger ?

Mike.

**Bluewavestudios** · 17-08-2005

Michael,
Sorry for the delay in replying, The Panzer I have done is basically a wooden built up chassis but does have spring wire suspension on all the wheel bogies. The Wheels and tracks are heavy duty ABS Plastic as is the top body shell....The Barrel is wood but can be changed to a metal one easily if you want a firing barrel....I did not use the barrel supplied with the kit as this was just basically a straight dowel rod and not scale at all. Tank Barrels are tapered...so I used part of a broken snooker cue to get that right !!!
The Kit was made by S.L.E.C. (They of R/C Model accessories fame) but it was only in production for about 2 years, I bought mine in January 1985 just after they first came out, the company changed hands in 1987 and they did not inherit the production tools for the Tank. So it is quite rare now.

I am still doing minor little details on it but it is looking very good now, all the extra fittings were hand made by me. I have a book on Tamiya model Tanks, including this tank and the JagdPanzer which was basically a variant of the same tank, it covers other earlier & later variants of the Panzer too. The book is extremely useful as it covers building these tanks from start to finish and has lots of photos showing all the extra detail nicely....and of course various colour schemes and markings.
Mine is fitted with 2 Meccano motors both with 6 speed gearboxes allowing you change ratios for different types of running very easily...no tools required to do this job, just a couple of switches to flick over with your fingers.
There is more than enough room inside for the radio gear (I have 3 channel R/C fitted at present) and a large 6 or 12 Volt Motorcycle type battery to allow plenty of running time (either voltage battery can be used with these motors).
Mine has had some testing and runs extremely well....One of those little sound effect boards to simulate a big diesel engine in there would finish it off nicely. There is ample room for that inside and a reasonable size speaker too.

Regards.......Mark

NapierDogs · 18-08-2005

Thank-you for the reply. You have put a lot of work into the tank, and it shows. Did the kit go together well or were some adjustments needed? It must feel good actually making parts for models rather than just sticking parts together from instructions. Have you any more Tank models?
Your book you mentioned, whats the name and author ? it sounds a good reference book? I went to duxford last weekend, there were lots of books to buy, but a lot just seemed to repeat pictures and text that were in other books. Have you heard of the big model show at Telford (model world) i think its Nov 19th ?? I was told that that was the place to buy, anything to do with building, painting, weathering, and general info on model making???
You see books on the net, that look promising, but all you see is the covers not the content.

Regard Mike.

**Bluewavestudios** · 18-08-2005

Thanks Mike.
Yes the kit went together very well, no real adjustments needed, just the usual trimming of the abs plastic when you first get it as everything was moulded on two sheets if I remember rightly. The main top as one sheet and then the turret and other parts on the other sheet. The Turret has a wooden built up frame inside it too.
I thoroughly enjoyed making all the extra fittings as it adds to the realism of the tank rather than just some of the moulded features on the abs plastic. I modified some of these replaced some with hand made items. All the engine vents have been opened out too and fitted with wire mesh inside to add to the realism.
I will dig out the book for you and post the name and author on here, It is available in the UK. I found mine on a visit to Chester where there is a very good bookshop.

Regards......Mark.

09-09-2005

Just to let you know that I'm planning the same method as you only my package will be going to France - where I now live. I, like you, will be keeping fingers and toes crossed. I am sure that the guy will be fine it's just the import tax that might be the catch. In any case it will still be much cheaper.

My worry has been whether I'll be competent enough to actually build it properly and make a decent job of it!

Good luck