[Closed] Darling, for Christmas I would really like a r/c toy...

Gaz - is 1/8 electric rallycross going to develop into a new class to go along side 1/8 IC do you think? I think RCRacing or RedRC had video of a demo race at the Neo invitation race, and the electric cars looked rather good.... If time or funds permitted (neither of which is likely at the mo....) I might have a go at this, as my reactions aren't up to touring cars.....

I always wanted one of these:

Tamiya Avante
[img] [/img]

even though they were meant to be cak.

My semi-realistic hope was for one of these:

Tamiya Boomerang
[img] [/img]

A friend had a Kyosho Optima Mid that was pretty quick, with great suspension.

Avante was stupidly expensive and mechanically complicated. A bugger to set-up as well as everything was adjustable. Spares very expensive too. Optima Mid (if you were minted, you got the "Custom Special" version, or just bought the bodyshell!!) or ProCat for the win in those days 😉

oooh, all this talk of RC makes me want to complete resurrection of my traxxas nitro RC. The faff / breakage ratio rivals MTB to be honest but the hardest thing is disguising yourself to look less like a middle-aged gadget fan 😉

Original kyosho optima here - i was much better at rc racing than biking - with regular wins at the local club.
Still got a ministock and mardave meteor somewhere I think..

Avante was stupidly expensive and mechanically complicated.

But it looks bloody brilliant!

But it looks bloody brilliant!

Yeah, fair enough 😉

bristolbiker - not sure, i'd hope so. have raced the 1/8th ic rallycross before electric 1/8th came about, it's definitely my preferred class as cars are nigh on indestructible, v fast and i prefer the size/style of tracks. if i can get the chance to go to a track with the 1/8th electric i'll be there with a big grin...

Surely there can be no finer RC model than this baddest of bad boys:

cougar - you can still get nicad/nimh packs in stick layout that should fit

That's exactly the thing I need, I think. Anything specific I should b e looking for? I have a 'high-speed' charger, though whether it'll work with newer packs or not I don't know.

Assuming my existing ones are dead, anyway. Might juice 'em up tonight and see what happens.

love this thread! i had an avante when i was a kid. My dad got it second hand from someone he worked with.It took most of my paper round money to keep it running as I had a habbit of either smashing it into things or destroying tyres / suspension with skids & sweet jumps!

Gingerbloke, that tamiya is proper old school, looks brand new.
I quite fancy a Schumacher Cat or an Associated RC10, as they were the dogs goolies when were a lad.

All I will say is don't bloody "drive" them on a place for bikes. At Western Park most weekends I used to get there to find a group of sad middle-aged men with their RC cars going all over the jumps and getting in the way. Annoying.

I quite fancy a Schumacher Cat or an Associated RC10, as they were the dogs goolies when were a lad.

Compare the speeds of the CAT in 1987, when Masami won the first worlds

....

With the brushless kit of today (well, 2006)

Or, the speed and skill of the TC's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7IIlDUwhxw

(oh, and the quality of the video 😉

Or, the speed and skill of the TC's

Cool vid. Scale speed of 600mph plus!

 

I managed to find out that Lipo is a type of battery, yay!

I've had a rummage on fleabay and there seems to be loads of used stuff on there, but as I've got no real idea what I'm looking for I think I'll take gazc's advice on board and head for the nearest geek shop and <shudder> ask for help. 😉

Any firm pointers for particular models built up and ready to run for sub 200 quid would be superb.

I also presume I need a "few" batteries on the go at any one time - and a rapid charger. I've never used one of those trigger style controllers either - are they easy to get used to/better than the old across 'n' up type?

I got myself this for chrimbo a few years back.

[url= http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2210/2151291121_c81a1b5bc6_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2210/2151291121_c81a1b5bc6_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Great but noisy fun. I struggle to find places to use it as its fast and very loud and i live in the city. And i feel like a bit of a geek. Never broken anything on it yet!

Or, the speed and skill of the TC's

Just not cool in yout thirties

Well, that's f'ked it.

Found my car, but not my bag of bits containing the charger, batteries and two controllers.

I aquired a scrap car at one point for spares and have the bits for that - questionable battery and a cheap charger. Might be enough to at least test it. Juicing now.

My buggy was cheapish, an XTSR Pro, but I had to spend far too much sorting all sorts of issues. It killed an ESC in 20 mins, snapped a motor axle, munched three standard plastic spur gears so got a steel one custom made. Half of it is a annoying but half is small scale fettling so quite satisfying. Killed another ESC recently so need to fit my spare. When it works, its a lot of fun. Will post a vid of it if I remember. It flips backwards on full throttle!

Just watched the videos. Christ. Maybe I do just need to start again.

Much as i like buggies you've got to check out the rc boats, they are FAST...
[url=

rc boat(well briefly anyway!)[/url]

if you're going to go LiPo you'll need a LiPo-specific balancing charger, they can get a tad expensive if you go for the all-singing all-dancing ones.
You may as well also get a new brushless outrunner motor & speed controller - again not cheap - unless you get one with the model.

3S LiPo batteries were about £25 for 2000mAH the last time I looked, you'll need 3 or 4 fully charged before you start any session; when battery 1 has been used up, stick it on the fast charger & it should be ready by the time you've finished battery 3. You [i]will[/i] need to let the motor cool down a bit in between runs, as brushless motors can run a lot faster - and therefore hotter - than the older type of motor.

www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk should be a good place to start looking

Jerome - that race is fantastic! I had to watch to the end!

if you want to have a fast car/buggy, with easy maintenance go for an electric powered one, the new lipo batteries and brushless systems are very good, nitro was never of any interest for me, but they are good when they are running ok, and tend to take a bit more stick.

looking at the pictures, they take me back, started with a tamiya hornet, and never looked back, and the avante, was a proper pain in the a**e to setup.

Bristolbiker, did you ever do the BRCA nationals? spent many years doing off road, racing for Tamiya/Schumacher/Associated, before moving over to Touring Cars, with HPI and finally Xray, good times, but not something i miss now, i can throw myself off a bike better than when i was a kid...........

[img] http://images.fotopic.net/?id=53062421&noresize=1 [/img]

A bit of practise and you could do this with a heli.

If you have a bit of spare cash you could buy this...
[img] http://images.fotopic.net/?id=49737971&noresize=1 [/img]
[img] http://images.fotopic.net/?id=49737889&noresize=1 [/img]
[img] http://images.fotopic.net/?id=49738597&noresize=1 [/img]

I think you can even buy a real-time live camera feed thing to fly them remotely now.

I miss my r/c racing days back in my youth!

Got a bit peeved off though. I was the little kid on his BMX with his R/C car in his rucksack, competing with grown ups who would turn up with their campervans and setup mahoosive tents and whatnot.

Never did get my hands on a Losi XX or an Associated RC10. bleh.

Next daft question - for primarily off road use would I want 4wd or 2wd? 2wd was alluded to earlier on as being wikkid fer skidz and presumably power slides?

So why would I want a 4wd for general tooling around?

great thread..watching with interest without alerting Mrs Rock. I had a tamiya optima (I think) and it was great on the table top jump on the local bmx track.
Thinking Rock Jnr's next birtday pressie might soon be sorted..!

pacemaker - Member
...If you have a bit of spare cash you could buy this...

Is the hornet the best for around £100 ish? Quite tempted 🙂

Best thread ever innit?

I used to have a tamiya midnight pumpkin thing, but like other 15mins of run time then dead.

I wonder how cougar is getting on? I would of thought he would of been called in by his mum for dinner by now...

dave

Can you buy those big planes ready made?

Unfortunately not. 😀

The C17 has just sold second hand for £25k,all the big stuff (over 20kg) has to pass CAA airworthy checks and the pilots need to pass LMA proficiency.(which means having years of experience flying smaller stuff)

The guy who is flying the C17 in the photo is the uk top show pilot (who also owns a large hobby shop chain).

Have a look at my website [url= http://www.rcmodelphotography.fpic.co.uk/ ]here[/url] for more r/c flying photo's

Can you buy those big planes ready made?

I wonder how cougar is getting on? I would of thought he would of been called in by his mum for dinner by now...

*snort*

Got a battery charged, but it's a knackered one. Wire's loose where it goes into the pack.

I really need to find my bag of bits; can't even begin to think where I've put it.

Up in the loft - behind the xmas tree?

Maybe the wife has chucked it out...which means time for you to get your butt to model shop tomorrow and spend spend spend.

Don't tempt me. (-:

It lived in a cupboard for ever. I've obviously removed it at some point cos it's not there now, but I'm cocked if I know what I did with it.

Just checked my model rocketry kit (yes, I have too many hobbies) and it's not there either.

Swearwords.

Clock is ticking....

You have until Sunday 9PM to post yout00b movie of said buggy.

over and out.

dave

Who sir, me sir?

you sir.

less forum checking more hunting.

Good gravy.

I can probably manage a photo of the offending item if that'll help?

www.cougar.org.uk/rc/IMAG0004.jpg
www.cougar.org.uk/rc/IMAG0006.jpg

(I think this should work)

I was chating to nico Voulioz and he said he was an RC nut, he said he would spend hours tuning and repairing cars etc... and he had to lock up the stuff as it was detracting from his rallying and biking!!!

His friend that was with him said he raced a world RC champ and beat him!!!!

Awesome