Loads of Newbie (ish) questions!

[Plasticbadger]

Hi, I'm new but have read plenty on the site, but still I'm a bit lost! Any help on the questions below would be great. To explain me and some more about me:

I live in the Uk and used to race RC years ago (probably 1990-96). Since then I've been in to 1:1 racing and crawling. I build and spanner on an Ultra4 Europe race team and run a Toyota Landcruiser 80 chase truck. So I know old school rc and I know 1:1 crawlers well. I've just bought my 7 yo son his first hobby rtr buggy and fancy getting a crawler to play myself. So questions...

I like the scale look and have narrowed my choice to Axial SCX10, Wraith or Vaterra Ascender. The ascender looks like my favourite, but the Wraith seems to be faster and more likely to keep up with my boys rtr out of the rocks. HOWEVER, I've just gotta build up with a LC80 hard body eventually, but would that be possible with a wraith? Can you strip it down and put a regular chassis on it?

Brushless and lipo is all new to me. My boys rtr has regular nimh sticks, and a sealed 540, which I'm familiar with and I still have some old school chargers and a few tuned brushed motors etc. How much better are lipos and brushless? Is it all worth the money and complexity? Should I just man up and go brushless and lipo from day one?

Thanks for any help, please go gentle on an old man!

[mikebecher]

There's no reason not to go LiPo if you're staring anew. Everything about LiPo is better but you will need a new charger and a low voltage alarm or ESC with LiPo cutoff.

Brushed motors still have their place for pure crawling. The only way to match the low speed control is with a good brushless sensored setup and that gets pricey fast. If cost is not a great concern then that's the way to go and you should be able to keep up with a brushed buggy.

I can't really speak for the hardbody on the Wraith. It looks like a nice body but might take some love to get it to work on a Wraith chassis.

[Plasticbadger]

Thanks Mike, I haven't heard of a sensored esc and I'm watching a couple of used rigs on eBay with brushless setup and neither mentions that. Does that help with progressive power delivery or something?

[Ditchrat]

Well I guess you now have to go back to the thought drawing board, as Axial has released an updated scx10. Other than a release date and some product information I don't think there is a whole lot known. I would also suspect that scx10 with drop in price and be found used as people go for the latest and greatest.

[mikebecher]

Sensored ESCs receive feedback from Hall sensors in the motor to detect the rotation of the rotor and improve low speed control. If you're looking at brushless you definitely want it to be sensored for any type of crawling. If you post your ebay watches we can probably determine if they're sensored or not.

[mikebecher]

You might also consider buying a star here so you can get access to the classifieds and support the site. There are a few upgraded, RTR rigs listed now. IMO, it's definitely worth $20/yr, especially if you plan on sticking with this hobby.

[Plasticbadger]

Got you, makes sense. Things have moved on a bit since I used to hand wind my own race motors! One of the two brushless setups I'm watching definately has a sensorless setup, the other conviently doesn't list any details :(

What percentage of the classifieds are in the UK?

[mikebecher]

Ah, I hadn't considered UK. There's not a lot of stuff to choose from in that case and ebay is probably a better source.

[Plasticbadger]

Well at least a couple of my questions got answered... I got trigger happy on eBay and I've bought a used Vaterra Ascender. It's got a Savox servo, the rtr esc and a brushed 27T motor, plus nasty Boomerang internal spring shocks, otherwise it's used and un messed with.

Time to start planning a shopping list...

[waw]

a suggestion: go with Axial scx10 II >> this one

[new2rocks]

You made a good choice. The Ascender is an excellent platform, even in stock form. I have a Blazer with GCM forward motor conversion and rear shock relocation, and a Bronco with GCM forward motor conversion, rear leaf conversion, and full interior kit. They are both lots of fun. Among GCM, SSD, RC4WD and a few others, there's now a very healthy Ascender-specific aftermarket to go along with all of the other non-platform-specific options for making it your own. Check out the Ascender section for some build ideas and post a thread with yours. Natedog hangs out there all the time and will be more than happy to offer suggestions.

[Plasticbadger]

Cool, thanks. I'll start a thread once I get into the rebuild and mods (about 10 seconds after it arrives!).

Here's a pic of my 1:1 that will be my inspiration, though since this pic was taken its gained a winch and some more battle scars!



And a pic of my old race RC, this in 1992, it's a Mardave Meteor with esc, 1750 batteries and 17D motor. Hot in its day!