What's the philosophy behind your R/C collection?

[smog]

RC appeals to my escapist and creative self. The entire basement of my house is a shrine to my endless childhood. Snowboards, skateboards, a panoramic slot car track, art, a workshop, parts for my Tacoma and a dozen or so RC cars all sit there amongst many objects of potential.

For me, RC kind of falls in between the Aristotelian philosophy that ‘art imitates life’ and the subtle magic that pervades a great Haruki Murakami novel. RC takes my childhood fascination with cars and trucks and the characters who drove them and it allows me to make them magical. I find a well filmed RC video way more fascinating than it’s 1:1 counterpart.

The End

[Shinchu]

dude... that was beautiful.

[smog]

Deep and sentimental...

[smog]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Ah good ol' Phil-o and Sophy.

Ever since I was a kid remote controlled vehicles grabbed my interest. I started on toys that had wires connecting the controller to the vehicle. My dad purposely bought those in order to force me to walk to try to get my exercise tolerance up. Mine was low as a kid due to a health issue. I hated when he bought those wired toys, but now I understand why he did it.

Then I moved up to the kind where you had forward and you had turning one direction in reverse. You had one button. Plus, you couldn't be more than a couple of feet away or you'd lose single on the AM radio. Do you guys remember those? As kids we sure had it rough!

Eventually my father bought some used Tamiya Frogs from his brother for himself. That Christmas when I was in 2nd grade, I got a shiny, new Tamiya Hornet kit. My dad and I built that together and I have very fond memories there. I had built plastic models as a kid so I loved building this kit with him. It was a model that moved and one that I could play with. And then I drove that thing constantly and beat on it to no end. I still have it, but I haven't driven it since the 90's.

Then I got out of RC for years. That aformentioned health issue was fixed. I was a new person - shot out of a cannon. I went to college and got into bigger toys like four wheelers, motorcycles, sports and of course a little bit of partying and the ever so popular girls. Once my friends started getting tied down, which I had no desire to do, I found my way back to RC. I bought an RTR Jato 3.3 (hence the nickname) and that reignited my passion of RC. I went from a Jato 3.3 to a Revo 3.3 and some minis. I also bought an HPI Baja 5T and went racing 1/5th scale with a friend. What really ignited my passion was meeting a couple of cool guys on this site. They were getting into trailing with scalers and they were so into it that they started building a course at a local hobby shop. I stopped by, met them, and the rest is history. That night I went home and ordered an SCX10 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited kit and the required electronics. I built that and ran it a bunch and then I kept buying more scalers and that hasn't stopped.

I'm somewhere over 30 RCs into the hobby. A lot of them don't get used anymore, but I have a tough time parting with things especially when people don't like to pay fair prices. I'll keep them before I sell them at half price.

I think this hobby is the longest lasting and most addictive, for me, because it involves engineering (I'm a mechanical enginner by trade), building with your hands (building models and working on 1:1 cars with my father nurtured this), and then you can get out and test them out in the real world. Sort of like real cars, but much cheaper and much easier. And now 3D printing and the ability to design and 3D print my own parts and accessories added another fun factor.

I own RCs from 1/36th scale up to 1/5th scale. These days I mostly bash with AR60 based monter trucks and trail with any of my scalers, but I have raced 1/5th scale, 1/10th short course, 1/10th buggy, and I even dabbled in 1/10th Mudboss for a race.

It's a great hobby!

My current interests are:
-Building a TF2
-Constantly modifying my Axial SMT10 Grave Digger
-Upgrading an AX10 Monster Deadbolt
-Always evolving Ascender
-Two Sawbacks that get a lot of use and not much love
-A newfound love of on-road because of my trailing friends
-Looking for a new kit to build

Your dad story is priceless.

[Inspector86]

My RC philosophy is simple. Tiny trucks are cheaper than 1:1! I could buy a couple hundred rigs for the money I have tied up in my 1:1 toy.

[LSXGMC]

I remember when thinking that being able to remove the wheels was incredibly cool, any today's engineering is simply astounding that goes into these things. My first hobby-grade RC was a Traxxas Stampede (manual speed control and all), then I picked up a Team Losi stadium truck (anyone remember the blue tires??). My first real custom modification was converting my Stampede to a 4x4, I thought that was a pretty cool thing. I ended up selling my two trucks when I turned 16 to fund my 1:1 (plus being a 16 year old with "toy trucks" didn't make me the coolest kid on the block).



I jumped back into RC a few years ago with an SCX10 I found on the local classified's. I ended up selling that and buying a Yeti when they first came out. Once I got bored of that, I went through a few different truck including an HPI Savage HP Flux, Savage XS Flux, Slash 4x4, Vaterra Ascender, and a few SCX10-II's. I have found my niche now in scale trucks and have a CMAX project and an SCX10-II hard body project. I absolutely love this hobby, seeing the licensed scale parts that keep getting released, and even the truck platforms that have invaded the market over the last year or two. Not to mention the friends I've made through this hobby as well!

Edit: I forgot to mention (thanks to Jato’s post for reminding me) that I picked up a Vaterra Ascender for my Dad a few months ago. It was second hand but the thing was mint, he was pretty excited that he got one and just had me paint up a ‘66 C10 body in his Harley colours for it!

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by smog

Your dad story is priceless.

Thank you, sir!

[smog]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Thank you, sir!

It sounds like he was a cool guy. Those are great memories.

[gottorque]

I'm pretty much all crawlers these days. just not interested in the SC, bashers or monster trucks.

But my break down for my crawlers is basically a rig for every discipline under crawling...from scale crazy 1.5 hardbody to bone stock scx trail truck and hardcore crawling wraith and rock race bomber. Working on a 2.2 comp rig also.

I always got new build ideas, but dont ever do them unless i re-purpose a current rig.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by smog

It sounds like he was a cool guy. Those are great memories.

Thank you. He IS a cool guy, present tense, thankfully!

I'm not sure how I forgot to mention in my post that I got him back into RC a few years ago. A little while after I bought my SCX10 I gave him a Dingo kit for Christmas. He built it, came crawling with me and he's been hooked pretty bad ever since. RC has brought us closer for sure because we trail together and discuss RC even more often. He upgraded the Dingo a lot over the years and he even bought a few more RCs. I'll edit my original post with this info.

[jebster]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Ah good ol' Phil-o and Sophy.

Ever since I was a kid remote controlled vehicles grabbed my interest. I started on toys that had wires connecting the controller to the vehicle. My dad purposely bought those in order to force me to walk to try to get my exercise tolerance up. Mine was low as a kid due to a health issue. I hated when he bought those wired toys, but now I understand why he did it.

Then I moved up to the kind where you had forward and you had turning one direction in reverse. You had one button. Plus, you couldn't be more than a couple of feet away or you'd lose single on the AM radio. Do you guys remember those? As kids we sure had it rough!

Eventually my father bought some used Tamiya Frogs from his brother for himself. That Christmas when I was in 2nd grade, I got a shiny, new Tamiya Hornet kit. My dad and I built that together and I have very fond memories there. I had built plastic models as a kid so I loved building this kit with him. It was a model that moved and one that I could play with. And then I drove that thing constantly and beat on it to no end. I still have it, but I haven't driven it since the 90's.

Then I got out of RC for years. That aformentioned health issue was fixed. I was a new person - shot out of a cannon. I went to college and got into bigger toys like four wheelers, motorcycles, sports and of course a little bit of partying and the ever so popular girls. Once my friends started getting tied down, which I had no desire to do, I found my way back to RC. I bought an RTR Jato 3.3 (hence the nickname) and that reignited my passion of RC. I went from a Jato 3.3 to a Revo 3.3 and some minis. I also bought an HPI Baja 5T and went racing 1/5th scale with a friend. What really ignited my passion was meeting a couple of cool guys on this site. They were getting into trailing with scalers and they were so into it that they started building a course at a local hobby shop. I stopped by, met them, and the rest is history. That night I went home and ordered an SCX10 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited kit and the required electronics. I built that and ran it a bunch and then I kept buying more scalers and that hasn't stopped.

I'm somewhere over 30 RCs into the hobby. A lot of them don't get used anymore, but I have a tough time parting with things especially when people don't like to pay fair prices. I'll keep them before I sell them at half price.

I think this hobby is the longest lasting and most addictive, for me, because it involves engineering (I'm a mechanical enginner by trade), building with your hands (building models and working on 1:1 cars with my father nurtured this), and then you can get out and test them out in the real world. Sort of like real cars, but much cheaper and much easier. And now 3D printing and the ability to design and 3D print my own parts and accessories added another fun factor.

I own RCs from 1/36th scale up to 1/5th scale. These days I mostly bash with AR60 based monter trucks and trail with any of my scalers, but I have raced 1/5th scale, 1/10th short course, 1/10th buggy, and I even dabbled in 1/10th Mudboss for a race.

It's a great hobby!

My current interests are:
-Building a TF2
-Constantly modifying my Axial SMT10 Grave Digger
-Upgrading an AX10 Monster Deadbolt
-Always evolving Ascender
-Two Sawbacks that get a lot of use and not much love
-A newfound love of on-road because of my trailing friends
-Looking for a new kit to build

funny. the first hobby grade rc I got was a Tamiya hornet. my dad had me busting my ass an entire summer to earn enough money to get it (I was probably around 7 or 8 ). was into rc for a long time but got out in my 20s & 30s. got back in a few years back with the crawler and scaler craze. now I have a pretty large stockpile:
2.2s and 2.2m comp crawlers
2.2 unlimited class comp crawler
number of Tamiyas (boomerang, hornet, fast attack, sand viper, xv01)
kyosho scorpion, blizzard
twin hammers
a bunch of custom built rigs (half-track, mud-truck, monster beetle remake, tracked truggy, caged scx10 with trailer, pingauzer with PTO trailer, rock bouncer)
Tonka trucks converted to RC (works in progress)

so I have no philosophy beyond wanting to create different rigs. I try to make sure most have something unique about them. given I have more fun building than driving my shelves are filling up!

[TooOldForThis]

Originally Posted by jebster

I try to make sure most have something unique about them.

Yes, that's key for me as well. For each one I try to do one thing (or combination of things) that I haven't seen before. It might be as simple as a paint job, or something more involved. It adds an element of creativity (or art, even?), not to mention it really feels like yours when its done.

[ThatJeeper2017]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

My RC philosophy is simple. Tiny trucks are cheaper than 1:1! I could buy a couple hundred rigs for the money I have tied up in my 1:1 toy.

Awesome Camaro! Is it better for track or the drag strip? I think I see drag radials.


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[ThatJeeper2017]

I also love rcs so much because of how much cheaper they are than my 1:1 Rubicon.


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[Shinchu]

Originally Posted by ThatJeeper2017

Awesome Camaro! Is it better for track or the drag strip? I think I see drag radials.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

track for sure. i know a pro touring Camaro when i see one.
the real question is: what suspension is under it? DSE? Chris Alston?
always wanted a 69 Camaro.
I'm looking at a few options for my late father's 66 vette. (technically left to my son)

[DukeMinnix]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

My RC philosophy is simple. Tiny trucks are cheaper than 1:1! I could buy a couple hundred rigs for the money I have tied up in my 1:1 toy.

That is perfection

[JSterrett]

I also try to make sure everything I get gives at least a slightly different experience than what I already have, with the exception of a couple of beater crawlers I keep around as loaners (rough Wraith and 2 Redcats) and 3 or 4 1/16-1/18 vehicles. I also have limited myself to a budget of $50 a month (because I WILL spend ridiculous amounts of money if left unchecked, lol) so I have to think about what I'm buying for a while and/or sell off something else to fund it. The only exception for me is if I can trade a laptop for one, I refurbish computers for a living so I always have some trade possibilities, lol.

Count me in as another guy who started with the cheapo wired and forward/reverse-turn ones in the 80's. Had a couple of Tycos, the black Fast Traxx pickup and Valvoline Indy Car that was pretty much the favorite toy of my childhood. Got out of it for a while because learning to play the guitar sucked up ALL of my free time and money. While stationed in Germany in 2002 I wandered into a hobby shop there and bought a Tamiya TA-04S Kit (the one with the C5R body). That was my main car for probably 10 years, and has probably $1500 dumped into it over the years that I could never get back out of it so it's a permanent car, lol. A few years ago I discovered crawlers. Bought a Redcat Everest 10 because it was cheap (still have it as a loaner), then moved up to an SCX10, then a used beater Wraith, then a Bomber kit, then a 10.2 kit, then a TRX-4, then a ... etc, etc....

Here's a couple pics. Bomber was in another state at the time, which is why there's an empty spot next to the TRX-4, lol....

[ThatJeeper2017]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

track for sure. i know a pro touring Camaro when i see one.

the real question is: what suspension is under it? DSE? Chris Alston?

always wanted a 69 Camaro.

I'm looking at a few options for my late father's 66 vette. (technically left to my son)

Either way that is one nice car.


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[Inspector86]

Originally Posted by ThatJeeper2017

Awesome Camaro! Is it better for track or the drag strip? I think I see drag radials.


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I drag raced that car all through the 70's but eventually just got tired of the constant in your face attitudes. I have been completely over drag racing since getting out of it back in the early 80's. The car is now strictly a corner carver both on street, backroads and road courses and no those are not drag radials they are BFG Rival S autocross/road course tires.

[Inspector86]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

track for sure. i know a pro touring Camaro when i see one.
the real question is: what suspension is under it? DSE? Chris Alston?
always wanted a 69 Camaro.
I'm looking at a few options for my late father's 66 vette. (technically left to my son)

The car is pretty hard core Pro-Touring. It's equipped with a complete DSE subframe, CA Chassisworks canted 4 link rear suspension controlling a Moser 9" floating hub rear end. It is running a custom built set of AFCO remote reservoir coil over shocks at all four corners with Corvette C6 Z06 brakes and Forgeline 18x10 275s front 18x12 335s rear. The power comes from a 383 stroked SBC driving a T56 Magnum 6 speed w/dual disk Centerforce clutch. It will cruse happily all day long but will keep up with any C6 Corvette and spanks modern Mustangs at any track day.