R/C cars: try not to say the words "scale speed"

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > R/C cars: try not to say the words "scale speed"

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Phat_Albert posted:

So what do you do when you buy a used truck, and the body is pretty trashed, but you havent had a chance to get a new one yet?

You buy the single best product available at Wal-Mart: Digital Camo Duct Tape.

This is incredible and awesome. Hope you are enjoying your new ride. I just sold my AX10 Scorpion. I am going to get an AXIAL Honcho next week. I will post some pics from the build. I do already have my tires that I will be using for the truck (manufacturers photo):

They just are too cool looking to pass up. I will also eventually pick up the new Jeep Cherokee body that Pro-Line is releasing this month too.

Also, just some news that was announced today that I am WAY stoked about is this:

Team Durango announce N.American Distributor

# ¿ Apr 27, 2010 23:34

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 19:25

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

So in the DIY & Hobbies forum I found some scale modelers that thought I would snap out of the static model frame of mind and posted this guy:

I figured I would cross post it. That is the Hilux with RC4WD goodies.

In other news, I put the new aluminum shocks on my BLITZ from HPI. I still think they are priced high, but I have never built a shock that was so easy to assemble, and were so easy to bleed (and I have built Losi shocks before).
I also installed a NOVAK HAVOC 3S/Ballistic 10.5 in it last night. It was too dark to run it when I got it done, but so far it seems VERY snappy!
Also I bought my SCX10 Honcho today :3:

so I know what I will be doing tonight!

# ¿ May 13, 2010 19:10

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

compressioncut posted:

Bump, and a new car. The LHS has had a used F1 car in it's collection of used stuff for a long time now, and I didn't really take much notice. I asked about it and it turned out to be a Tamiya F201, released in I think 2001.

The current crop of F1 cars doesn't appeal to me because they're pan cars, which is a little weird because real F1 is ultra high-tech while r/c pan cars are absolutely opposite. The F201 is really cool because the suspension is a lot closer to the real deal, 4-wheel independent with pushrod actuated shocks. It's also 4 wheel drive, but doesn't give up on the scale looks because of it.

Mine is basically new, looks to have run only a pack or two. The original owner only tack-glued the tires to the rims in a couple of spots per side, which means it likely handled absolutely like poo poo so he probably gave up on it. It was the Williams BMW, but the original body disappeared so it has one from the 3racing F109, which actually fits nicely and looks pretty cool. Original body sets are very pricey. I'll run either a 19 turn brushed motor or maybe a 10.5 brushless - doesn't matter as it's only for fun.

I had one of these. I think the release date was closer to 2002-2003 as I used one to race in a local Tamiya Championship Series race. I bought the car a week before the race was held, put on some stiffer Tamiya tuning springs, type A belted tires and some electronics. I ended up TQing and winning the race. I still have my TQ Certificate and my gold medal. It is pretty sweet. They do need a bit of massaging to get them to "work right", but for just he occasional buzz around a parking lot, they are freaking sweet.
For kicks I put a handwound 11x3 REEDY modified and watched it fly. That thing was AWESOME. I can only imagine what they would run like with the new LiPO/Brushless stuff.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2010 19:12

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Owsla posted:

I've got a giant shaded side yard area with some small tree roots and some 4 or 5 inch tall grass/weeds some small rocks etc. I want to bash around in there (powerslides, jumping over the little ruts and roots, building little brick/plywood ramps etc) but I've been out of the scene for ages can someone help with a to buy list?

I want a 4x4 brushless electric truck with some decent ground clearance and I'd prefer to build it over RTR although I realize that might not happen.

If you cut the grass/weeds I would definitely take the 4WD Slash. That thing is freaking awesome. If you don't cut the growth, the E-Revo may be the better choice, but running in those conditions will be torture on just about everything from the motor to the driveline.
To say that the 4WD Slash was designed for "racing" is a far cry from what the truck is marketed towards. It is made to pummel constantly and then repeat.
There are no Traxxas unassembled kits, sorry. All of their current line up (sans the Slash Platinum) include a 2.4 GHz radio that is actually kind of cool with the Traxxas Link technology.
Axial stuff likes to go slow, you can "rock race" them, but you will break a million of the lower link ends. I know from experience

In the mean time, look what I painted this weekend: (6 1/2 cans of Tamiya spray!)

and a bonus picture of my Honcho on Independence Day (drove it up the rock, did not hand place it for posing)

# ¿ Jul 19, 2010 20:01

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

IOwnCalculus posted:

In other news, I should have a Factory Team SC10 kit on my doorstep tomorrow :iamafag:

You mean like the one that is chilling at home waiting for me to build it? :whatup:

In other news, I will have a Novak Kinetic ESC tomorrow that will go in either my FT B4 buggy, or my TC5 Sedan. Probably the buggy as it just has an old Sphere Comp that will find a home in my new SC10.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2010 16:50

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

T1g4h posted:

Haha, don't know why I didn't think of that sooner. Thanks man, turns out they're Pro-Line Tech 5's. Think I'm gonna pick up some of those at some point

Yeah, those are the tech 5's, which is a "40 Series" size tire with the Big Joes. They just did a pre-mount setup of those tires/wheels this month.

In the meantime, I am trying to find out what the hell these little buggies picture here are:

# ¿ Sep 1, 2010 21:54

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Burn the Priest posted:

I fly...but no planes here! (not yet, anyway)

Click here for the full 640x480 image.

Click here for the full 640x480 image.

Align Trex 500 ESP. I love this thing. I'm currently building his little brother, the Trex 250 SE.

Great lookin bird. I have a 450 SE v2 (it was the hot poo when I got it). I also have a TREX 500 Carbon Fiber (the original belt drive one) with all of the aluminum parts on it, sans torque tube that I have not yet flown. You can get the biggest rush from flying helicopters. Planes are too boring for me.

# ¿ Sep 15, 2010 21:10

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

orange lime posted:

I think I like flying planes better than helicopters -- just something elegant about things that glide and soar, where choppers always seemed sort of brute-force -- but then again I can mount a fancy camera on my helicopter (TREX 500 clone) where my plane (electric Cessna 182) is too small.

That is simply because helicopters don't "fly", they beat the air into submission :smug:

# ¿ Sep 16, 2010 15:16

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Nerobro posted:

As far as I can find, there's no coherant r/c car racing group in northern illinois.

That's frustrating. If there were anything to go do a couple times a month, I'd pull together a rig to race with.

What part of Illinois are you in? Outside of southern California, you are like in the Mecca of R/C Hobby places to be (Champaign of all places?). If you are near Joliet, then you have Leisure Hours which is an amazing facility. The guy running that place knows what is going on.

Also, check out the Wisconsin/Illinois regional forum at R/C Tech here: http://www.rctech.net/forum/wisconsin-illinois-racing-11/ there is bound to be a bajillion people around you. I know that for a time there was some good racing in Rockford.

# ¿ Sep 16, 2010 17:33

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Hey Radio Controlled Goons - I have been MIA for about three months or so. It looks like I have a bit to catch up on! I took a job delivering with FedEX Ground, so I am officially out of the industry (bummer), but things are still good! Too much snow on the ground right now to do much here in Utah, plus my wife and I bought a place a month ago so moving, etc. has taken a lot out of me.

The good news is that I have more room for all my toys. :woot: Also moving was an eye opener to see just how much RC related stuff I have, I will just say that it is to the point of embarrassment.

# ¿ Dec 22, 2010 05:13

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

SGT. Squeaks posted:

Well, I'm jumping in all electric this season. Selling off my Jammin x1-CR buggy and my Kyosho IGT 2 on-road. After upgrading my sc10 with lipo's and a new ESC (Still running a brushed motor), I decided to give 1/8 scale electric a try as well. Going with a Hot Bodies Ve8 running a Tekin Rx8 1900kV. I know I'm going to miss the sound of nitro, but hopefully the ease of electric will make up for it. I'm keeping my nitro engines, starter box, and all that. Just in case I switch back next year.

Dude, did you end up moving back east? It has been another lonely winter with no sedan rug racing :smith:

Get a brushless system for your SC10 man! I don't own a single brushed thing anymore.

quote:

Someone explain the draws of nitro to me.

It was for a very long time the most competitive racing classes. Nitro sedans were king, 1/8 off road is still where most of the "Elite" racers and races are had in North America. When you know what you are doing with a nitro car, they will run forever, without headaches. My only frustration was the mess they made. 45-60 minute mains are INTENSE to race in! I love that they have stretched out electric races (Our local off road track does 6 minute quals and 8 minute mains). I have raced in a 45 minute Nitro Sedan main. It was probably equal to what a crack user gets off of a hit. It was awesome!
Now though - I don't own a single Nitro. Everything is brushless/Lithium powered, with the exception of my Baja 5T which is mixed 2 stroke. :quagmire:

To the dude looking to get something to race: Buy an SC10 if you will be racing it exclusively. If you will be doing bashing most of the time, and are okay not being super competitive when you do race, then rock a Slash! If you are going to do mostly bashing, run a 4x4 Slash. They are ridiculous, and will be competitive in the 4x4 class at your race track. Get the brushless. The Traxxas VXL system is actually smooth on a 2S LiPo, smoother than pretty much any other sensorless system, and crazy fast/durable to boot.

# ¿ Feb 1, 2011 04:07

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

iqarus posted:

i came in here looking for info on drift R/C's. that tamiya is designed for drift right ?

they seem decently priced in comparison to some of the other "high end" brands.

whats the quality like, do they have a brushed motor ?

There are a few cars out there marketed directly at "Drifting", but sans a few options out there, most of them are very inexpensive/cheapened out versions of higher level chassis'. You can take any 1/10 Touring car, and make it a "drift" car with a flashy paint job, and a set of drift tires which are essentially a plasticized rubber making them very hard with just a little grip. HPI Racing has a slew of great drifting option parts that are universal in application when it comes to bodies, tires, wheels, and body accessories. I have an S15 Silvia, with the "Body tuner kit type A", some XSA Wheels, and Falken Azenis tires on a Hot Bodies Cyclone S chassis. Check out their option parts for drifting here: http://www.hpiracing.com/drift/
They have an E10 RTR drifter, but it is kind of...underwhelming. The Sprint 2 Drift, or Cyclone Drift are not bad starters. If you want something lustworthy out of the gate, then check out what some options from Tamiya can look like:
http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=84132

# ¿ Feb 22, 2011 04:26

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

AzCoug posted:

After doing some looking, I didn't see an RC Heli thread so I thought I'd ask here.

Anyone know of a good "starter" Heli? Preferably 3 or 4 channel. I originally bought a Helix 360, but then saw some reviews AFTER I bought it and discovered it wasn't as good as I may have thought. After looking through some reviews I found the Syma S107 which got great reviews. Anyone have experience with that particular heli or can recommend something even better for the money (Syma S107 is also very cost effective).

Anything from eFlite will be your best option, especially when it comes to local parts support. They coaxial "Blade" helicopter line is the one to check out.

Phat Albert re: letting LiPOs sit at full charge - I have let a few sit at a full charge for a monthish, and noticed that they started to swell a little bit. They still work fine, but I have noticed some have lost their "punch" a bit. All of my batteries are higher end cells, I have heard worse things about cheaper quality packs, but ymmv.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2011 02:37

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

I have a Subaru Brat. I bought it the week it was re-released since it was cheap, and awesome in an AI kind of way. All I did was put bearings on the axles (it comes with some for the transmission) and had to shave the battery tray slightly to fit my LiPOs. It is not very fast, does not handle well, and doesn't really scream "upgrade me". On the other hand, it looks awesome, it is a part of R/C History, and you get a polycarbonate body in addition to the ABS hard plastic body (which I have unpainted still in the box :v:

) A 5000 mah LiPO will run a good 40 minutes and I let just about anyone drive it and have not broken a single part yet.
Given your other options, I would stick with the Tamiya idea. The TT01 is not a very good chassis from my experience. For a beginner chassis I would say that the TL01 is the better option, or one of the "Mini" chassis platforms. Tamiya makes a whole mess of upgrade parts that will cost 3x what the initial vehicle cost, and you will still not have a very exciting car. If availability for your area, and budget allow, I really like the TA05 chassis as a moderate/beginner car. It will be better out of the box than the likes of the TT01 and TL01 will ever be - plus if you do go upgrade crazy Tamiya makes some lust worthy bits that will make your car look better and handle much better.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2011 16:26

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

krushgroove posted:

Went to a scale crawler meeting over the weekend, lots of fun! Laidback bunch of fellows.

Piccies: https://picasaweb.google.com/frank.mckinney/UKScalerNatsOct2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

This was in the Peak District area of England. Amazingly, there was no rain, just lots of biting bugs.

I had a good time looking through those Scaler pics. Seeing the effort people put into them makes my full light kit seem half-assed and makes me want to deck my Honcho out better.

I stumbled across this on Neobuggy and had to share it - I didn't watch the entire thing, just scrolled through some of the middle bits. It was mind bending to watch though. I wonder what he could create with real estate of the VW Baja bug body
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpQLbMAq29Q

# ¿ Oct 10, 2011 21:40

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

The savage was and always will be the beast that wants to be punished. My original savage21 had me hell bent on blowing up the engine. I removed all head shims, ran 30% nitro that had 8% synthetic oil (7 gallons!). I had it running 380-400 degrees, and would be dead pegged on the throttle for the entire tank, all the way through my radio range. It finally died when I jumped off a snowbank and landed topside on the asphalt. It cracked the block from the front bearing to the backplate. Not a lot of power, but still the most amazing engine that just wouldn't die no matter what I did (outside of destroying the block)

I've got 2 something's awesome in the works, one being my cup racer, the other my HBS Cyclone I'm making my drift car. The cup racer is a Datsun 510, the cyclone is a Silvia S15. Both will have full lights, and body accessories, and a Japanese sunburst paint scheme. They're masked off, waiting to be painted.

# ¿ Dec 21, 2011 21:38

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

ease posted:

I was just in a shop that I like because they always have some boxes of used RC vehicles and parts, etc for cheap. I asked the owner what the easiest way to bind cars to something like a DX7, and he told me no way, its too dangerous because you might fly some ones plane into the ground nearby.

So, what is the easiest way to bind a dx7 to a car? What rx can I buy that can do this?

Can't I just make a heli model in my tX so the throttle has a dead zone in the middle and up is forward and back is reverse? I'm pretty sure I saw some crawler guys doing this in a video posted here, although I'm not sure it was a dx7.

dude was probably old. Before 2.4 GHz, there were dedicated 'surface' and 'air' bands; 27/75 MHz and 72 MHz respectively. It was, according to the FCC illegal to operate a surface RC vehicle with an aircraft frequency.
2.4GHz spread spectrum modulation however is much different. You're transmitter will search for one of I believe 80 different 'channels' within the 2.4 GHz range and find an open one and lock to it. Your receiver is 'bound' to your radio and locked into that channel. It is impossible for someone else to get in to disrupt that. Should the chance that 80 2.4 GHz radios were on within range of eachother, and number 81 was to turn on, it simply wouldn't transmit until a frequency becomes available. It's pretty :science:

That being said, you need a 'Spektrum' brand receiver to bind to your DX7, and it will work fine, but will be funky feeling to drive since the throttle gimbal is non-centering; unless you like cruise control for your truck?

# ¿ Jan 7, 2012 22:54

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

skippo posted:

I've got a Stampede xl-5 converted to a Velineon system (among other things).

So twice now my rear LHS wheel nut has come loose and the hex nut and wheel have both worn down to circles.

Is there some alloy part I could replace the stock Traxxas hex nuts with? I found this but it's not on the Stampede xl-5 parts list so I'm not sure about the size.
ebay link

Any other tips or solutions?

Get some STRC wheel hex hubs. The locknut is 4MM nylon lock nuts that will wear out over time. Traxxas sells some that have a serration on the back (I want to say number 1747X if memory serves me right). Get those, they'll dig into the face of the wheel and resist coming loose.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2012 05:39

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

krushgroove posted:

EU/UK racers use redrc.net and neobuggy.net a lot, they're more about racing and Neobuggy is pretty much only 1/8th nitro buggy racing. There are many others but those are the 'big two' on this side of the pond, at least for English speakers.

I have found Red R/C to be pretty much the best source for new stuff. Besides that I'll check out the RC Car Action news/new stuff forum.
krushgroove; the new gasser stuff looks pretty cool. I'm very interested to get my hands on it and see how they run!
In other news, I finished my Hot Bodies cyclone that I set up for drifting and have pics I need to post. I also finished my cup racer (sans light kit) and both are a blast to drive.
I also find myself employed in the R/C industry again after I was hunted down. I'll say 'we deal a lot with 1/5 stuff'. :iia:

# ¿ Feb 6, 2012 22:17

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

MEGA POST AHEAD

krushgroove posted:

Are you with one of the aftermarket companies now? There are some big ones over there

Yeah, we do some of our own manufacturing, but mostly retail/distribution of all things 1/5, and a lot of HPI as we are set up as a distributor for them. Dave's Discount Motors

ColonelJohnMatrix posted:

Lots of great pics of cars etc

Sounds like you have a similar story to me. I started the "Real" R/C hobby when I was 9, started racing at 15, and have tried pretty much all types of cars. I am 27, married, and have a baby on the way. I have not, however, taken a break from this stuff since it has been my career for all of my life, excepting about a year and a half. Your cars look great! The SCX10 is a total riot! I have a Honcho that gets driven probably more than the other 11 cars I have.

HoWSeR posted:

SCX10 SPOTTED! That Tamiya looks sick! The local hobby shop I used to work at has one in stock and it looks AWESOME! I would totally get it, but just don't want to spend that much on a car I will slip and slide with. I would consider the Hot Bodies Cyclone D-SPEC since parts would be more easily accessible to me.

And now, some shameless pictures of my Hot Bodies Cyclone S set up for drifting, and my cup racer! Warning, the cup racer chat will escalate and many of you will end up buying one after looking at it. I couldn't get a good angled picture for the roof, but I have the sunburst flag on top. The windows, hood, and trunk have the Flat Clear sprayed on, and the red is just gloss red. Both of these were just rattle canned and I think turned out awesome. The body accessory kit for the Silvia looks sweet, the intercooler and far can set it off, and the molded plastic wing looks a lot better than the usual lexan ones. It also has blue and white headlights, blue underglow lights, and tail lights. The blue headlights and tail lights will strobe to different patterns too. It is so :rice:

it demands love and respect.

<can someone photoshop that in between the cars in this pic? tia

looks like

EDIT:
I forgot to add, the other week I got to take a new Losi 5IVE-T to test out. The thing is pretty drat big, this is a picture of it next to my (very dirty) Baja 5-T

Somewhat Heroic fucked around with this message at 02:12 on Feb 11, 2012

# ¿ Feb 11, 2012 02:02

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

kuffs posted:

I'm digging that Trailfinder over the Axial offerings because I wouldn't have to scavenge for a proper body for it. It also looks like the chassis designed with a little more scale realism.

(Not to hate on your recent purchase ColonelJohnMatrix it looks hella fun regardless)

That is actually one thing Axial made good and sure to have figured out - there is literally not a more versatile platform out there than the SCX10/AX10. It is 'legal' width, easy to make wider. You get great 'steering swing' out of the axles, digs are available, rear steer is available. Multiple battery/servo locations are on the chassis, different steering linkages, and suspension link setups. Also, axial makes about a million different length upper and lower links in aluminum to fit any wheelbase body on the market. There are also two different mounting spots on the chassis rails for longer length bodies and short bodies.

The RC4WD stuff is good and all, but as far as most versatile platform, axial has it locked down.

# ¿ Feb 14, 2012 03:47

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

kuffs posted:

The programming card is cool, but none of their stuff is sensored.

(P.S. Novak did that like 10 years ago with the Pit Wizard)

Hobbywing is pretty much considered an off-brand. I see Speed Passion stuff once in a while, and their gear looks good. I'm pretty much on the Tekin bandwagon though.

Mamba Max Pro is able to do sensored and sensorless. Their 'boost' mode was basically unstoppable in the 1S world GT class, and most other classes. Plus it can take up to a 6S lipo AND 1/8 motors. Associated uses them in the SC8e RTR.

# ¿ Feb 18, 2012 23:34

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Nathan Explosion posted:

I just recently bought a 5100 mah 7 cell nimh battery for my stampede vxl. It replaced the dead rear end cell the truck came with the in the rtr package.

My cheap rear end charger will do 1 and 1/2 hours on 2 amps AC and about the same on 3-4 amps DC.

I feel it should charge way faster on DC. Is this my cheap rear end charger or am I doing something wrong?

your charger probably just has a safety timer (most do between 60-90 minutes) where they turn off automatically so they don't cause explosions/battery fires. If your battery was fully dead, on a 4A charge rate it should take approximately 1.275 hours to charge. Make sure you let the battery fully cool to ambient temperature before charging after running it in your truck. A peaked battery should be slightly warm to the touch. When you're using your charger on AC, you'll probably have to 'charge' the battery twice. Just unplug it, and hit it again until the charger shuts off, or the battery is warm, etc.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2012 01:40

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Treytor posted:

Yeah it is a bit puzzling how the good kits are $500 - $600 while most of the RTR kits are around $300 or so. I realize the good kits are I'm sure far superior quality and what you'd start with to win races and stuff, but it seems like there's a niche of affordable kits that isn't being filled.

Thanks for the tip on the Tamiya TT-01 kit. That looks like a good place to start. Interestingly enough it looks like they don't have those kits on amainhobbies website...

There are quite a few of them available from Tamiya directly though.

A couple quick notes;
The 'tweener' priced kits don't exist really because as a general rule it is more costly to produce an unassembled kit rather than the RTR. Krushgroove might be able to better comment on that, he works for HPI Europe. Those that are interested in the highest performance are likely to spend the extra money for something more expensive without fuss.
A Main hobbies is without a doubt in the top 3 R/C retailers in the world. I'm quite close to the VP of purchasing there (also a goon, actually). Order from them without any concern; they will take care of you start to finish. They won't be stocking the TT01 chassis mostly because that is not their market.
The TT01 is an okay platform, but not my first recommendation. If you want a tamiya kit, spring for a TA05 or TA06, they will just drive soooo much better. I would also say the TC4 club racer kit. It will be super easy to find parts wherever and forever. You can buy an HPI or Tamiya body for it and get super scale/detail if that's what you're going for.
The other one I would suggest is the HPI Cup Racer. You can look back at some of my posts for pics of mine. I absolutely had a great time building it and it drives awesome.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2012 02:33

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Anybody here planning on going to RC X in long beach this weekend? I'll be there with the 1/5 crowd, we can ask each other about stairs in our house, etc.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2012 02:12

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

I'm going to go ahead and give myself -10 points. Went flogging the Baja some today and thought I'd get some sweet POV videos with my new GoPro. Well, apparently when you turn it on, if you hol the button for half a second too long it skips video mode and goes into camera mode.

Damnit.

I'll get some sweet R/C goony vid for you guys. Tried mounting it to the cup racer. It turned out ok. Mounted on the back trunk it will make my Datsun do a wheelie :hehe:

and it will also make it hilariously top heavy...resulting in a roll over. I need to get a higher quality memory card anyway, mine doesn't do too well, the video/audio can be better.

# ¿ May 29, 2012 04:28

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Aceshighxxx posted:

So I was innocently browsing hobbyking.com for some batteries and stumbled upon a 1/5th scale 26cc buggy for $350. poo poo.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__16635__Hobby_King_Baja_260_1_5th_Scale_26cc_Dune_Buggy_USA_Warehouse_.html

I'm going to virtually beg you to not part with your $350. I work with the worlds largest Baja retailer and that is seriously a road you don't wan to go down. I love the 1/5 crowd and platforms a metric ton. People that get into should have nothing but an awesome experience. Buying a clone car is not a way to have a good experience into pump-gas cars. While the majority of the HPI parts will fit, not everything will. I will never be able to give you a guaranteed 'yes, this will fit your car' etc. should you ever call the same way I have to tell others.
If you want a Baja, find a used one, check local Craigslist/classifieds or the HPI baja forum buy/sell forum.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2012 04:15

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

front wing flexing posted:

This isn't really a good reason not to buy one. Most of the parts do fit, the ones that don't you can make fit and if that fails, you can track down actual parts for your model. Especially if you checkout hong-kong based online retailers.

These are actually good reasons to not buy one. Not trying to pull rank or whatever, but a lot of our hobby has always been to buy things that have good resources available for help. Clone cars don't have reliable resources, and from my experience the cost of parts that most people end up putting onto their clone baja meets or surpasses the cost of the genuine HPI car.
RE: list vs invoice - I won't give specifics, but having been in the industry for quite a while I will tell you that dealers are not BSing when they say there is not a lot of margin on kits. Manufacturers make the most percentage over the cost of raw materials, but a huge investment is included on what krushgroove has illustrated in an earlier post (building molds, R&D, etc). The way we sell most of our kits is by including a free tuned pipe we sell for $170 when you buy a kit, or by removing the engine and reducing the cost of the kit so the customer can install their own. When you factor overhead for carrying kits, cost of shipping (free shipping over $100), +signature service + residential delivery on boxes weighing 45-60 pounds, and if people use a 5% coupon code, credit card fees etc the money is not made on kits. Again, we do make a profit, but after all that it is not going to net us all that huge Mercedes Benz and the likes. Our money is made on the parts, upgrades, and engines. For the volume of parts we sell vs. the amount of kits, a lot are being sold somewhere else. I suspect tower does it as a loss leader (there $150 off $1000 or whatever + free shipping is outrageous). It is safe to say most dealers make 10% on most of the kits you see that are in a realistic price range.

That was a wall of text, sorry. It's just after spending years in this industry and working business operations I find it really fascinating and like to tell people the mechanics of it.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2012 05:28

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Evil_Ash posted:

I've been known to shoot a little video. Check this out. Sub if you don't mind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAAVcH2Ody8

it's pretty long, but what I watched, I like! Living in Utah lends itself to pretty excellent scale running. I've had my honcho for 3 years or so. It gets driven the most out of my fleet next to my Baja 5T. When my wife and I go hiking I'll sometimes bring it along and cruise it around. Mine was a kit, it has a titanium geared steering servo and the Novak goat brushless system, some black RC4WD OEM steelies. I'm pretty sure I've posted photos before. I use 1/18 2S lipo batteries for weight savings and keeping the CG down. Now that I've finished my cup racer I'm ready to get my honcho decked out with the scale gear. HPI posted a photo of the new ken block fiesta with a freaking tiny molded gopro on the body. It's awesome.

# ¿ Aug 5, 2012 02:42

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

HoWSeR posted:

reminds me, before I went home to Canada I went to a drift competition here in Doha with my Tamiya TA-05 VDF.

I won second place while a friend of mine with a golden VDF won first.

Before this I used a Tamiya TT01 on pavement, the VDF is soooo much better.

Small vid of practice on the track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd4YizaT248

Honest to who, I looked for the 'like' button on this post. Drifting is way more fun to build/drive than it is to just watch. I find myself at a stage where I basically find scale builds and 1/5 most satisfying out of my hobby/job. I'm pretty much over racing sadly. I'll get back into it if a carpet track would ever end up opening and staying open locally.

# ¿ Aug 28, 2012 02:40

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

needknees posted:

Can't wait to get over to the (not very local) carpet track and start putting some laps on this thing! CRC Gen Xi, my first onroad car . Figured I might as well jump straight into the carpet racing deep end with 1/12th pan car.

Carpet racing is a wonderful kind of drug that ruined me on all other forms of racing. Now we don't have a carpet track and I make it to the electric off road track 3-4 times a year. It's got me on the fence of selling all but my baja, honcho, cup racer, and drifter to buy a 1/5 FG competition sedan or formula one.
Later ITT: watch me do something expensive.

# ¿ Sep 10, 2012 00:20

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Nerobro posted:

Yes, you went to a hobby shop. To buy parts for a specific car. From the experts.

If you're doing part number research before you goto the hobby shop, your hobby shop has utterly failed you.

Where are all the "good hobby shop" stories?

Wow, there are a lot of seriously hurt people in this thread. Powderific, sorry you had a crappy LHS experience. Fortunately something I've been able to witness with the economic decline is marketplace Darwinism. Basically if you're not growing, you're dying. If the shop told you it would work and didn't, it's on them. Store credit be damned, you are entitled for a full refund. If they refuse, then that is crappy business practice and you should not support them. I know full well where I am I have been given full authority to make right on any situation. If its the customers wrong doing I will help within reason. If its our fault, we make it right no matter the lengths. (We are an online store though so...hmmm). It's nice to be an industry leader/giant and have recognition. The local shop I gave ~3 years of my life to was an excellent stocked store. The reputation was mixed as far as what customer service was concerned but you could always know they'd have your parts in stock.

In other news! I ordered an Axial EXO buggy kit. Should be a good time to build this weekend! They dropped the price some time ago, I had a 550 ballistic motor kicking around so why not?!

# ¿ Oct 23, 2012 23:43

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

We called our racing 'Wednesday night worlds' when people were getting too serious and over the top. I've stopped racing because carpet stuff died locally. I raced electric off road for a few good years quite regularly. Then I went to nitro sedans. When that died off it was back to electric off road, then carpet sedans for a year. It ruined me, off road became boring. It also didn't fit with my schedule as newly married (carpet was Saturday mornings; I was done by 1 in the afternoon. Off road was like Saturday afternoon to 1-2 AM). Now that I'm a new dad, electric off road is even less appealing. I sold my FT RC10B4 and bought my EXO this week. For me I get almost as much enjoyment building as I do racing. I love the competition, but now it is branching out and trying new aspects of the hobby on what I consider a purist level. I've been into hobby class R/C's since I was 9, and have made it my career since I was 16 (excepting a year and a half). If carpet racing started up again though I would be first in line with all new gear. That is the most addictive racing I've ever done.
The EXO is such a sick build! Photos to come!!!

# ¿ Oct 30, 2012 21:00

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Colonel, how much are you interested in spending? I would sell of my TC5R roller w/ a good amount of spares/hop ups/brand new tires for a reasonable price. I've been planning on just listing it locally. I could sell it with a savox .07 second servo (forget the model) and 13.5 ballistic motor.

# ¿ Oct 31, 2012 23:27

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Mcqueen posted:

Is A-main hobbies usually pretty slow to ship things? I got a Axial Exo and a battery pack with their black Friday %10 off thing and haven't received a shipping update yet.

If they had any kind of response like we did with our Black Friday sale it's going to take a couple of days. We will be caught up tomorrow from all the orders we got :stare:

it has been quite the week for us. You're going to love your EXO. I had a blast building mine. I would suggest painting your body panels first before building. The cage is an integral part of finishing the car and having to stop the build half way through to paint sucked balls and ended with me having the most half assed paint job I've done in a looong time. Did you do any upgrades? I did the axial hard ano f/r towers and steering rack. Also know it only comes with a 12T pinion with the 3mm bore. If you're using a 1/8 motor (I'm using a novak 4.5T ballistic 550) you'll need to get a 5mm bore pinion. I'm using 2S and using a 12T pinion for what it's worth.

# ¿ Nov 29, 2012 05:18

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Mcqueen posted:

I purchased the 4.5Y version under the impression it would be simmilar to a 4.5 turn, or maybe some dude in China just made a mistake with his Y's and T's. Does that sound right? My buddy hooked me up with a couple 3300 NiMH packs until I decide on the LiPo setup I want, not ideal, but hopefully ok for just dicking around.

It will be similar compared to a 4.5 turn. The 'Y' is actually not a typo. In motor speak, you have a 'wye' winding technique and a 'D' or delta technique. Generally speaking, plebeians like us will not notice a difference for the most part, but delta winds need a lot more precision to operate correctly so apparently that makes for a 'better' motor. For what you're doing the motor speedo combo you got will work great. You'll need lipos soon though! It's the only way you will really unlock the power

# ¿ Nov 29, 2012 23:51

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

ColonelJohnMatrix posted:

I'm going to be comping my scx10 in various events this summer in the 1.9 tire class....and here she is with new tires & wheels and the bronco body. I'm pretty excited with how it turned out. Here's a shot of it at our club track today. We are nearly finished with our scale off-road park!

This popped up on my newsfeed when RPP (and I think Anderson R/C) was tagged in it...great looking ride!

# ¿ Jan 20, 2013 07:27

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

Has there been any decent online coverage of the toy fair? My initial googling has been fruitless. It doesn't appear any of the mags are doing anything with it.

# ¿ Jan 30, 2013 19:39

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

powderific posted:

This blog always has lots of pictures from the Tamiya booth: http://tamiyablog.com/

Ah yes, they always show off cool stuff. Looking at all those make me happy I don't have the space/money for Tamiya kits because I would own them all. Even the farm truck wheelie kit is awesome. :allears:

also good is that the Porsche was a plastic model kit because I would no doubt have to own one were it radio controlled.

# ¿ Jan 30, 2013 22:40

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 19:25

Somewhat Heroic: Oct 11, 2007; (Insert Mad Max related text)

You Am I posted:

Tamiya did a RC 935, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their first RC car (which was also a 935). Based of a short wheelbase TA05 if I remember correctly.

Pretty sure it was the limited release 934 Turbo RSR that was using the modified TA05 chassis. I had a chance to buy one of the black edition when at HRP but decided I didn't need it. I'd slap 4 year ago me right now.

# ¿ Jan 31, 2013 00:00

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > R/C cars: try not to say the words "scale speed"

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