I received a message from a member asking if I had decided on an excavator yet. Apparently I can't respond to PMs yet, so I'll just answer you here.
I am currently leaning towards the Lesu, either the PC360 or the 374. I like the size and detail of them. I have read that some have had some issues with the pumps and valve blocks, but even if you spend the money on a better pump/valve block from Premacon, you would still have much less in the excavator than some of the high dollar machines.
I also looked at this one:
https://www.eaglemach.net/114-rc-hyd...-boom-148.html
It seems to be pretty nice for the money, but I hate that its not a kit, and I prefer the Komatsu or Cat over a Liebherr.
FumotecUS never even responded to an inquiry, so I have kind of written them off at this time.
There are also some decent looking models from Aliexpress, but I just don't think I'm willing to trust them at this time, they don't even seem to have a consistent manufacturer.
Hope this helps!