VS TANK REVIEW #1
1/24 RUSSIAN ARMY T-72 M1

INTRODUCTION

VS Tank are the clear leader of the 1/24 RC Tank market and are widely recognized by the hobby as being an innovative, quality oriented manufacturer. With this in mind, RC Tank HQ is proud to have reached an arrangement with VS Tank to facilitate our coverage of the development of their rapidly growing line for RC Tank HQ readers.
VS Tank are now at the point where they are regularly releasing RC Tanks previously never seen in any scale, so this has not only pleased the existing 1/24 RC fans, but has also garnered a lot of interest and converts from 1/16th RC Tankers who now collect both scales.

REVIEW

Received for review:
*VS Tank T-72 M1 - IR Combat version with transmitter.
*Accessory pack - Bags
*Display base.

The T-72 is without doubt a very well detailed, assembled, glued, painted and weathered, ready to run RC tank. There were no issues with improperly fitted parts, excess glue and paint 'accidents' commonly found on some other brands of RTR tanks so it's instantly a good display piece especially with the stylish display base accessory.

The rubber side skirts with a moulded in 'ripple' effect are a particularly nice touch.

There were a couple of minor trade-offs that VS Tank had to make.
1. In order to fit the required componentry into this low profile tank, the battery compartment extends about 10mm below the hull.
2. IR Combat tanks need to have 'hit indicator' lights somewhere. The light lens extends around the front 180 degrees of the base of the turret, it's visible (if you know it's there) when on display at eye level.

IR COMBAT
The IR LED is located inside the barrel. The manually raisable/depressable IR target is located under a removable part on the turret.giving this IR system a minimal cosmetic impact on the tank while you're battling with it. The IR combat system is designed primarily for indoor use as the target is not baffled against ambient outdoor IR light. This means of course also you don't have an unsightly IR combat 'apple' like 1/16 IR tanks have.
The target itself can be shielded from being hit by keeping the higher commanders hatch side towards the enemy, a good VS tank commander will soon learn to make use of this defensive tactic.
I've spent quite a few hours with my kids playing indoor VS tank IR combat games, and we all found it a lot of fun, I'm a long time IR tank combat fan anyway. The tanks run at an easily controllable speed and the average living room is big enough to set up a good battlefield.
IR GAMING PARAMETERS
*After being hit six times, you're 'dead'. The tank will stay 'dead' and lights will flash until reset.
*A continuous 'bead' of 5 machine gun shots will count as one hit.
*After being hit a tank has a 6 second 'invulnerable' period.
* 3 second 'reloading time
*40 shot ammo limit before manual reset is required.

YOU'RE DEAD!
When hit the tank will react with light,sound and mechanical 'shake' effects and on the 'kill' shot, these effects are increased accordingly.

SOUND
The sounds are crisp and clear, no complaints here. As well as 'incoming' damage sounds there are engine noises while the tank is in motion as well as main gun and machine gun sound effects.

FUNCTIONS
As evidenced by the 19 buttons on the remote, this tank does quite a few things.
* Gun up/down
* Turret Traverse left/right
*Machine gun and main gun firing button.
*Gun tube recoils into mantlet when fired.
*Front lights
*3 forward and 2 reverse speeds
*pivot turning, left and right, at 2 selectable speeds.
*left and right turning selectable for sharp or wide turns

PERFORMANCE
With it's rubber treads, this tank will go up a 45 degree slope with no problem. The tracks will stay on OK as long as you don't overdo pivot turning on highly resistant surfaces like grass. A track misalignment is easily fixed as the tracks can't come right off due to the side skirts preventing this.

In order to drive the rubber tracks, the sprocket teeth are only for cosmetic purposes and the track is driven by a sectioned slot along the centre of the sprocket which accepts the track guide horns, the tracks have a very realistic appearance.
It's a very good runner and driven wisely it will go just about anywhere!

SUSPENSION
Each roadwheel is attached by a metal axle to a plastic, sprung , suspension swing arm.

READY TO RUN
All you need to do when you get this tank out of the box is to add the included detail parts,this involves a few drops of super glue and will take you 5 minutes, add 8 AA batts to the tank, 6 for the controller and you're off battling!

VALUE FOR MONEY
At a price point of around $110 USD, this tank is easily worth the money since you're buying a good level of quality !

NEXT IN THIS SERIES
Part 2 of the VS Tank review series is coming soon.
RC TANK HQ will review both the IR Combat and Airsoft versions of VS Tanks' late production version of the German Tiger tank.

Additional Photos!