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Saito2

Negativity about projects

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Have you ever spent time on building up an RC project, only to be completely unhappy with the results? Personally, I don't usually have issues with performance as I can hammer away at the technical stuff and work out any details there. Its usually aesthetics that catches me. I get it done and look at it and think to myself "Well, that looks dumb." Often times the whole thing gets torn apart and returned to stock and I waste a bunch of time. It feels at times that I see nothing but beautiful and awesomely executed projects here on Tamiyaclub (a testament to the skilled hobbyists here) while my stuff, at best. looks "off" and, at worst, looks like garbage. My own harshest critic I guess but it seems I have far more misses than hits. 

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Yep. Quite a lot actually. Spent a lot of time, effort, aluminium, and cash on building a walking beam axle for a 6x6 truck, including a custom front axle, only to think that the front axle did not have enough ground clearance and so abandoned it. That was after 3 attempts to get the walking beams to work properly. My 4x4x4 lunch box went through 3 rebuilds before I got it to where I was happy with it. I wanted to rebuild my 6x6 Scammel truck as i'm not that happy with some aspects of it, but my son won't let me touch it so I've started building another one now  (which I thought would be simple but is now causing some significant engineering difficulties).  I'm almost never happy with the aesthetics of what I build as scratch built models. In an ideal world I'd build a working rolling chassis (Which is generally what interests me, building things that are mechanically different) then hand over building a scaled, detailed body to someone else. I look at the War Rig I built, and I could spend another year at least putting more details on it, but it's never going to happen as I'm now more interested in the next thing I'm building. 

Don't forget you only see the end products of peoples successful builds. I tried making a simple axle rod on the weekend, should have taken me about 20 minutes, but I ended spending 4 hours making scrap with holes in whilst turning the air blue. You'll get to see the 1 finished item on Tamiyaclub, not the 6 mistakes I made before I got to where I want it, so don't be harsh on yourself. Even on TC, the internet is a filtered version of reality :)

 

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1 hour ago, MadInventor said:

 

Don't forget you only see the end products of peoples successful builds.

You only see the best photos of the best angles of the end products of the successful builds!

 

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Not so much for RC but yes for static models. I had f'ed up the build so much, got fed up, smashed a fist into it, then set it on fire. RC kits are too expensive to burn. 

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I've only had that problem with my Traxxas stuff, be it an old Rustler that broke its transmission or a Slash that flipped over easier than Clarkson in a Reliant Robin. Outside of RC I've had my share of art projects that I end up not being happy with.

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I have a few projects that felt great on paper but just didn't pan out, but by and large mine tend to go ok. If I don't like how something is going I normally put it away for a little while and come back to it fresh a few weeks later

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Oh my gosh, where do I start, @Saito2..  :lol: 

My whole life is garbage and I just do my best to live each and every day at a time to make it bearable and somewhat worthwhile.  I thought I was depressed, but it turns out, I'm just passion driven and just unhappy until I am not. 

That said, I have MANY projects that turned out like crap in my life time from music to 1:1 car, RC, etc etc it's just the way it is for me.  I just don't have the fundamental talent or smarts, just the drive. The ability to cope, learn, and try again x1000 is my only life line, pushing my limits until I get to a place I feel my project is presentable, reasonably acceptable, and worthwhile.  I just try my best..

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Perhaps we need a "terrible builds and bad mistakes" thread.

We learn more by observing someone doing it wrong than doing it right. :D

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16 minutes ago, Willy iine said:

That said, I have MANY projects that turned out like crap in my life time from music to 1:1 car, RC, etc etc it's just the way it is for me.  I just don't have the fundamental talent or smarts, just the drive. The ability to cope, learn, and try again x1000 is my only life line, pushing my limits until I get to a place I feel my project is presentable, reasonably acceptable, and worthwhile.  I just try my best..

The drive is the most important of those three elements! You could have the most smarts or talent in the world, but without drive where would your talents go?

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I have had several projects that have been stalled, filed, reopened then filed again never to se the light of day. I have half built yacht and 3 rc boats in different stages of repair, along with bits of plastic that were going to be custom parts or bodies. Having said that I always try and keep many of them as quite often the get repurposed. As @alvinlwh says it’s especially true with static models. I have boxes of bits from old models that I use to customise newer ones. As has been said you have to have failures to recognise success!!!

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6 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

The drive is the most important of those three elements! You could have the most smarts or talent in the world, but without drive where would your talents go?

Thanks, but my pops would say what do you get from an eager empty bottle of nothing?  1000 x 0 is still 0.  :lol:  

Well in my defence, I am in a much better place financially than my older sibling with the smarts, so I am with you.  

 

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5 hours ago, Saito2 said:

I see nothing but beautiful and awesomely executed projects

That's the internet for you in a nutshell. The reason a lot of young people nowadays get burned out and depressed before their adult life starts is because of all the perfect images of the perfect life they get fed everyday on instagram/tiktok etc... We usually only share succes to get applause and appreciaton.   

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I get this a lot.  Right now I'm disappointed with the Element Enduro 6x6 project - when I started, my plan was to take the very capable Element Enduro platform, add an extra axle and some top-line components and make an even more capable truck.  But, the more I've worked on it, the more compromises I've had to make, both in packaging and in parts (either due to availability or funds available), and I'm starting to wonder if it'll ever be robust enough to drive on a proper crawler course.  Right now, it probably owes me not much less than an SCX10 6x6 RTR would have cost, and it doesn't even run.

Another great example was my Wild Dagger with the shortened chassis and kick-up.  It was a neat idea, but came out so heavy thanks to the 3mm alu chassis plates that it struggles to support its own weight.  I know way more about chassis and suspension now than I did when I finished it almost 3 years ago, so maybe I could improve it, but I've moved on.

The TLT-based monster truck I built was similar, too.  I'd previously built a 2.2 rock buggy type thing with a beat up Monster Beetle body, but it never hit a course because the props kept breaking.  A few months later I stuck in a faster motor and some monster truck wheels, and discovered it was an absolute hoot to drive around the garden.  So I set about a proper conversion, with a lexan pickup body and some new custom chassis plates for a more conventional upright shock angle, and since then it's never felt right.  It looks great, and it looks like it should work, but it just doesn't drive as well as it did when it was a pile of parts.  It's another truck I could probably improve if I put some time into remaking lighter parts and tuning the shocks and springs, but it feels like a lot of work for potentially no gain.

My loft space is absolutely full of projects that I was desperate to get started on and somehow just never worked out the way I intended.  There again, over the past 3 years, I've got a room full of stuff that I am absolutely, utterly proud of - and that's one of the things about being creative: not everything works out great, so when it does, it's a real treat.  And when it doesn't, that's no so bad a thing either - because that's something else in the "fun bank" - another project I can resurrect later, with far less outlay than a whole new kit, or, alternatively, a whole pile of parts I can reuse without feeling bad if the original project wasn't what I wanted it to be.

Actually, this fear of it not being as good as I'd hoped is kind of what's stopping me pulling the trigger on a 1:8 rallycross car to race locally.  I went to a race meet back in the summer and hired the club car, I did really well and finished good on the timesheets, and I had an absolute hoot.  But I'm afraid I'll put a huge outlay into new car, batteries and electrics, only to find it was a lucky first day, and I get fed up with doing the same thing every fortnight, just like every other regular race series I've entered.

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2 hours ago, Willy iine said:

Oh my gosh, where do I start, @Saito2..  :lol: 

My whole life is garbage and I just do my best to live each and every day at a time to make it bearable and somewhat worthwhile.  I thought I was depressed, but it turns out, I'm just passion driven and just unhappy until I am not. 

That said, I have MANY projects that turned out like crap in my life time from music to 1:1 car, RC, etc etc it's just the way it is for me.  I just don't have the fundamental talent or smarts, just the drive. The ability to cope, learn, and try again x1000 is my only life line, pushing my limits until I get to a place I feel my project is presentable, reasonably acceptable, and worthwhile.  I just try my best..

Your drive might exceed your talent, I don't know, but your talent sure exceeds whatever I could hope for! 

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1 hour ago, Nikko85 said:

Perhaps we need a "terrible builds and bad mistakes" thread.

We learn more by observing someone doing it wrong than doing it right. :D

I'd fill up the server in a day.........

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7 minutes ago, Mad Ax said:

I get this a lot.  Right now I'm disappointed with the Element Enduro 6x6 project... 

I suspect I won't be the only one reading that and thinking that your standards are also very high. I am in awe of the ingenuity and problem solving in this one already. 

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10 minutes ago, MadInventor said:

I'd fill up the server in a day.........

Yes, with my hopeless posts.  :D 

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Another good topic that obviously rings true with a lot of us, and I'd say most hobbyists in general.  I usually spend so much time planning out how the finished product will look that as long as I get close I'm happy.  To be completely honest there are only a few I've built that I disliked enough from the start to either part them out or rebuild them right away.  One was an SCX10 chassis 4-linked to Clod axles to make an "old school" looking monster truck.  I loved the body I did for it (Axial 67 Chevy), but the truck itself just looked off.  Before I even ran it I used the body chassis to make a mud truck and stashed the Clod axles away for another day. 

More often I'll build something and like it initially, then a few months (or years) later realize its ugly or just doesn't work and at that point either part it for other projects or sell it.  

Then there's the race trucks.  I still have old, non-competitive trucks lying around that I just don' t have the hear to sell or tear apart.  Not really the point of this thread, but bothers me that they just sit there unused.  

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I also get this a lot.

Lexan bodies are trimmed at a sub-optimal level.

There is always some paint bleed.

I'm scared of stickers.

My GCM Skeleton JK Jeep hasn't been my best introduction to the crawler world. I managed one decent run with my son last year and since then, I haven't been able to get it into a decent running state. Just when I think I have sorted the tyres and dampers, then the battery, the pinion mesh goes out. And the motor is pushing against the steering servo so out it goes. Then the body fell on the flor of the garage and the front mount broke. I'd be about ready to toss the whole thing if I hadn't 'invested' so much time and money.

I won't let it beat me...

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Oh, wow. Where to start!

My daughter called me a perfectionist recently. I had never considered myself as one before TBH. Just someone who like things done "well".

I have restarted things on my RC cars so many times to get them right its almost an OCD I think. Especially on my Bruiser. The Mountain rider body I did I could have carried on detailing for ages/ever.....

My 1:1 car(s) I am just a little obsessed with too. I could bore you all SO much with their foibles. Biggest bug for me at present is the interference on teh front speakers via the amp in the boot. Doesn't do it on rears from same Amp, and doesn't do it when th3e fronts are wired from head unit.

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I’ve never been unhappy with a car mechanically, if it works I’m happy, doesn’t matter how slow or crappy it works, if it sort of runs/steers I’m good with it. If I later decide I want it to perform better or differently I change things on it.

Looks wise you could definitely say I’ve been rather displeased with some of my results :lol:, however it’s only for a second or two then I just roll with it or change it. That’s why lately I have a handful of polycarbonate bodies painted on the outside with TS paints. I’ve just had the mindset of it’s not a waste if your learning/getting practice from it and it’s much better to spend the time and energy fixing a mistake or trying again than sitting around being unhappy about something. Can’t gain experience/skill without screwing up a bunch along the way :lol:

like others have said, most the posts are going to be the hits because that’s what everyone is proud of and worked to create, but in reality like most everything in life there were probably a whole lot of misses to get to that point.

Speaking of which, I’m getting my xv01 body ready for paint and I’m to lazy to run to the store for some proper tape to tape off nice lines and such, instead I just covered the whole thing in masking tape and I’m cutting out the lines/design freehand :blink:, can almost guarantee this thing will be a train wreck :D, but Im having fun doing it and plan on this body getting pretty beat up anyway.

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I have to say I have been drawn towards more RTR stuff as long as it’s upgradable. At least if I muck about with it the starting point should be good 🤞🏻

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31 minutes ago, Busdriver said:

I have to say I have been drawn towards more RTR stuff as long as it’s upgradable. At least if I muck about with it the starting point should be good 🤞🏻

As long as you know what to expect RTRs generally aren't a bad starting point for projects.

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Have you ever spent time on building up an RC project, only to be completely unhappy with the results? 

 

I would imagine that quite a few of us can relate to this.  @alvinlwh I hope you don't mind, but had to chuckle when I read: "I had f'ed up the build so much, got fed up, smashed a fist into it, then set it on fire."  I feel your pain.  I've certainly stared at a project in disgust while some long dormant primal urge inside me was tempting me to do something similar. 

Yeah.. advanced aging has depleted my fast-twitch reflexes and eyesight but thankfully those were replaced with patience and determination.  When a project isn't to my liking, I just keep at it until I get there.  I don't mind to show an example of such.  The green car in this photo was quite a challenge for me.  The body set was expensive and accompanying decals left a lot to be desired.  To top that off, I goofed up my paint scheme and ended up with a shade of green that I wasn't planning on.  Nonetheless, because I plopped down a big chunk of change on that body I wasn't about to abandon it.  I used paint pen and masking tape to try and get the window trim somewhat decent and then repainted the fender flares in a contrasting color to match the bumpers.  I still am not super excited about it, but it's decent enough to hold a spot in my little garage (and serves as a good reminder to plan more carefully:P).

ParkingWest.jpg

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Oh Gawd....bodies, painting, stickers, liuttle details......I have at least six that need doing....hang on, at least seven.

As long as everything is ticketyboo mechanically I'm generally happy, but yeah, I've been avoiding getting the bodies done for too long.

To actually answer the OP though. My Blitzer Beetle is the one that comes to me off the top of my head. The job I did with the stickers was just awful.

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