OT: RC cars/boats/planes

J

jsl6v8

New member
Well I'm pretty much completely stocked on all my tanks and can't find room in the house to put another one so I am in need of a new hobby so I was thinking RC cars/boats/planes more into the cars and planes than boats, so basically I would like to find something relatively simple that I can upgrade into something nicer as I get more into the hobby so if someone had suggestions on starter kits or something of that sort, I know radio shack had those RC cars for a while that you could upgrade but other than that I know pretty much nothing expect that people have these RC Vehicles and upgrade them into pretty awesome machies and I wish to do the same :-)
 
lol no there seriously is no more room for another fish tank, well I don't do small tanks, if I were to get another tank I would want to do atleast 200G but thats not gonna happen. So I figure RC cars get something fast.
 
lol.. what most reefers do when they run out of space do it.... get a bigger tank... lol

you know you want a 240.. admit it
 
shoot man I figure, I get rid of an aunt(my roommates :-)), sell my car, get a 2000g. Tis the dream Tis the dream...
 
Anything more specific you'd like to know? Some basics I would say, pick one, cars, boats, or planes. I like planes, but never got into them, I always would have that fear that one nasty crosswind and everything down the drain lol. Cars are my fav. From there, it's either electric (battery) or nitro (nitromethane gas). Electrics are easy and straight forward, and a few years ago I'd only recommend one for starting out, but nitro's have advanced sooo far in the last couple of years, it's down right simple.

The best thing you can do, is join a couple RC forums ;) and start a subscription to a magazine (how I got started, saw the mag at Publix one day and got hooked). It was Radio Control Car Action, http://www.rccaraction.com/

Here's a pic of about half my cars,

copyofpicture013ck6.jpg
 
I've been thinking cars, for pure simplicity and useability for me, I just don't think I would get as much use out of a boat or plane, what is the real difference, as far as performance and jazz, from electric and nitro. I want something that I could eventually have going fast not like super fast but like 40mphish, granted the faster the better but I'm new lets not get too far off track.
 
having checked out that link, I think a 1/10scale electric AWD touring would be more up my line for now but if I could find a simliar nitro for around the same price that would work too, I think it would be best to buy a kit so I put it together myself and have a better understanding of how it all works, I'm not at all worried about making my own repairs or building stuff in general, its kind of in my blood I'm more worried about spending a lot of money on something premade have something go wrong with it and I having no clue whats wrong.
 
http://www.gettingstartedinrc.com is great too, if you didn't see it on RCCA.

Cool, as long as you know a nut from a bolt, you're good to go. Yea, the initial costs of nitro will be higher, but you'll probably at least that amount in battery packs. While it may be tough, going by dollars is not the best method in RC. It almost always pays out in the end to spend more now instead of later. Same as reefing, but even down to the stainless steel screw kit instead of standard screw degree.

The thing is not to get attached to a company from someone just telling you XY is better then YZ. and review each. Having just said that, ;) look into http://hpiracing.com Nice for beginners and a great forum as well.
 
any suggestions on an electric kit? Yeah that site you posted, I read the whole thing on RC cars the difference between electric and nitro, and man does nitro sound nice, but I still think a electric might be better for me to start off with. I completely understand the cash now and not later thing
 
Hmmm.... it's been a while, esp. for electrics. The thing is different hobby shops (LHS's if you will) usually carry different brands. I haven't gone to too many up here in Orlando, but swing by Superior Hobbies on Howell Branch & 436. Go with the intent not to buying anything, just looking (however hard that maybe ;)). You'll also get an idea of what you like, etc...

Otherwise you'll be stuck ordering online, which stinks. You usually just winding up buying another kit for parts....
 
went to some place today on mills and colonial but the guy was busy with people so I didn't bother him and I had errands to run anyway, I might run up there tomorrow see if I can pick his brain. Looking at the 1/10th scale on-roads or maybe the buggys
 
Yea, superior is decent sized. Oh snap, they usually hold races there, the 2nd Sun. I think, so if you get there early, you could see that. try around 11?

EDIT: it's the first Sun. sorry for the extra hype..
 
lol, 11am? That sir is funny. The last time I was up at 11 am was ...well it was a good while back, I don't do mornings, if McDs is still serving breakfast I'm still asleep. where do they hold the races in there anyway??
 
I've been racing electric cars and buggies for awhile. The biggest difference between Electric and Nitro is that Nitro is usually 1/8th scale (although you can get them as small as 1/16th scale but most places don't race smaller than 1/8th) The Nitros have substantially more power and are tougher built but they are EXTREMELY noisey and messy. They are also far more diffcult to maintain than electric but still very managable. The other draw back to nitro is they are far more expensive with a decent kit costing around $800-$900 versus a good electric kit is around $5-$600.

As far as a car that will go 40ishmph you can do that with an electric touring sedan but you will need a modified motor or preferably brushless. 40 is really fast though, most of these cars are built for 10th scale racing so it is more important to have great handling and a good hole shot. Some of the most common start kits for 10th scale sedans are Losi XXX-S or Team Associated (don't remember model) there is also a Losi JRXS which is a step up but the higher end racers are all using X Rays or Coralley Sedans.

Putting together one from a kit would give you a better understanding of how it is put together but one trip to the track and in your first practice you will break just about everything that will usually break....lol Just the way it is when your a new driver. Even a 30mph car is amazingly fast around a track.

Superior has one of the biggest inventories of stuff but there is also a good shop called Fast Track Hobbies on 436. If you did get a car there is a great track in Daytona called Strickland RC Park. Look them up on the internet to find the schedules.

Personally I am an off road guy, I usually race 2WD RC Trucks and 4WD Modified Buggies. If you decide you want to get a Losi XXX-S touring sedan I have a couple extras I could sell you, then you would just need to add your electronics which is where the biggest expenses come in. You can spend anywhere between $300 and $3,000 to put electronics in a car.

Let me know if you have any questions but AquaKnight is right about getting a subscription to a mag and checking out the stuff. You can also go to Horizon Hobbies and Tower Hobbies online and request cataloges. If you are serious about racing you should go to the track and check out what every body else is running.
 
I tried to go to superior and the place on mills and colonial, colonial camera and hobby I think its called, but apparently hobby shops are pretty much universally closed on sundays so I wasn't able to get more information to figure out what exactly I'm looking for, but I'm pretty much decided that I like the idea of the touring sedans or the 4wd buggies, I'm not completely decided on weither I want to go electric or nitro, the low maintenance and cost of an electric is obviously nice, with me being a beginner, but the power and speed of the nitro is all about the jollys. So unless I can find a good deal on a nitro I think I will be going with an electric, which I understand a generally a 1/10th scale, which sounds fine to me, I don't expect to be going 40 anytime soon and in fact I am pretty sure if I got a car that could do 40 I would become afraid of the power and do something stupid and break something that shouldn't be broke :-)
 
Lol, I bought some stuff in 1999 and am still getting Tower hobbies magazines lol.

What you could do, is get a 1/10th elec. kit, and build that up with decent stuff, and then later on, buy a used nitro off ebay. That way, a lot of the stuff will transfer back and forth, like servo's, a nice radio with multiple car memory, etc.
 
ok now a question that is probably relatively stupid but here we go, I notice that they have your 4wd truck catagory your buggies and then your touring sedans now in my mind and from what little I've read the only difference is longer shocks and bigger wheels. So couldn't you just have like 2 sets of shocks and different sized wheels and run whichever you wanted by just switching out the shocks and wheels?
 
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