How the rest of the hobby views "us"

[lsear2905 1279]

I like to think of the difference between Tamiya and Traxxas, by looking at the way they approached the concept of "self-righting."

The Tamiya T3-01 'Dancing Rider' uses a very clever steering system, where the body leans to steer, using a servo in the rear axle. This means that when the vehicle tips over, a simple 'jiggle' of the steering should bring it back onto all 3 wheels.

The Traxxas X-Maxx, and subsequently the Maxx and some other Traxxas offerings, just apply more of everything to get it back onto its wheels - more power, and larger wheels, provide the centrifugal force required to move the behemoth the right way up.

They are completely different companies, offering completely different products, for completely different customers.

[Kowalski86 3034]

1 hour ago, lsear2905 said:

I like to think of the difference between Tamiya and Traxxas, by looking at the way they approached the concept of "self-righting."

The Tamiya T3-01 'Dancing Rider' uses a very clever steering system, where the body leans to steer, using a servo in the rear axle. This means that when the vehicle tips over, a simple 'jiggle' of the steering should bring it back onto all 3 wheels.

The Traxxas X-Maxx, and subsequently the Maxx and some other Traxxas offerings, just apply more of everything to get it back onto its wheels - more power, and larger wheels, provide the centrifugal force required to move the behemoth the right way up.

They are completely different companies, offering completely different products, for completely different customers.

Thats an interesting take, if it means anything the Traxxas method of self-righting likes to chew through gearing if you use it too much.

I personally prefer the Tyco Rebound method.

[Nikko85 3452]

1 hour ago, Kowalski86 said:

Thats an interesting take, if it means anything the Traxxas method of self-righting likes to chew through gearing if you use it too much.

I personally prefer the Tyco Rebound method.

I've always thought it odd that no one has put a large lever on a servo on channel three, so when the car flips the lever can flip the car back again. It could be mounted to on the bumper or something our the way? A car that self rights would be awesome, and make racing much more equal if there's no stewards to self right.

When I made my Heavy Dump with the working bed I hoped if it landed on its back the tipper might open to force the car up on its wheels, but my design and servo are not strong enough - but it could be done! 

Tyco rebound was great - I had a Kenner Ricochet - 2 x 370 motors and tank controls, that car was a beast for me at 10 or so. 

 

 

[Gebbly 588]

2 minutes ago, Nikko85 said:

when the car flips the lever can flip the car back again

In the days when I used to watch Robot Wars I remember self righting mechanisms were seen as incredibly important and I think most were some form of lever arm that would flick out and flip the robot.

[after writing most of this I would like to retro-actively apologise in advance as it was a bit longer than I originally intended]

Regarding the original question, I see more and more discussions these days about the problems and divisiveness of "tribes" and the "them" and "us" mindset. A lot of the time people are grouping together into cliques and looking down on some other group. This mindset seems to lead to negativity a lot of the time. It would be much nicer if everyone were happy with accepting that they and everyone else is an individual and as long as everyone was happy it doesnt matter what someone else does to be happy in turn. The tribalism over manufacturers can also be seen in areas like PC building where some people may be "Intel fanboys" or perhaps "open-source software only". Some people suggest (and I agree) that rather than being a die-hard supporter of one manufacturer it is better for you to be open to all brands and when a competitor comes out with a better product for your purposes just get that.

An illustration in point is "this hobby". Everyone views what they do for fun in a slightly different way with no 2 opinions being exactly alike. If someone wanted to spend their free time racing an RC car competitively they may well be interested in whatever is the most competitive car. Even then one person may want to race cars that look like F1 cars from personal choice and another may want to race off-road circuits.

I have seen groups who get together to re-enact(ish) world war 2 tank battles with RC tanks even with sacrificial tanks in which they place tiny pyro charges. Their "group" isnt interested in a particular brand of RC, but rather, RC Tanks that perform well in that scenario. Alternatively some are interested in playing tank "matches" rather than re-enacting historical battles so they may all get Tamiya tanks for the Battle System. I have seen groups who are interested in RC that re creates in scale building sites with trucks and diggers etc. I have seen groups who love to sail RC boats together with sub-groups interested specifically in...well...subs. There are many ways of looking at why someone is interested in their particular RC vehicle and I would suggest basing it purely on a manufacturer is rather uninteresting.

Even on this "Tamiya" forum we can see so many people taking their hobby in so many different directions its brilliant. Another easy example is @Willy iine and his amazing workshop. Such a thing had never even occurred to me but as I am more interested in the creativity aspect I found it fascinating, I certainly dont see @Willy iines hobby as purely a "Tamiya" hobby but more that Tamiya RC cars are part of their wider hobby.

For me personally, from a wee nipper I have always loved playing with "building" toys, lego, mecano, static model kits, painting miniatures and my interest in my GF-01 stems mostly from that root. I loved the idea that I could build and paint something and once I had finished it it would actually "work" or move in some way. I'm not really interested in only buying from one manufacturer. Once I had decided to build an RC car I looked around for something which was a fun building experience. I decided I wanted something from WW2 and from films and museum visits and then reading about the founders of the SAS I was fascinated with the Willys jeep as one of the first vehicles used by the SAS. So choosing my RC car was a simple matter of, where can I get an RC Willys jeep that is a fun build and easily customisable to turn into a WW2 SAS variant that would have lots of useful info and perhaps a community around it. It was a happy coincidence that I also found this forum which then led me to the GF-01 which could be used as a 4wd chassis and then the Wild Willy will be a fairly simple alteration (the whole, converting into an SAS desert rat jeep is a veeery slow work in progress).

In the back of my mind I'm also fascinated by the complexities of RC ships and subs and one day I may build one of those and it doesnt bother me in any way that it probably wont be a Tamiya kit.

In my queue of kits at the moment I have static models (airfix, tamiya and others), lego, sluban and gundam. It never occured to me for a moment to worry what someone else thought about what I do in my spare time. If someone has a preconception about a particular toy/model/kit/manufacturer thats their loss.

[Mrowka 494]

15 hours ago, ChrisRx718 said:

Whilst those RTR Kyosho and MST cars look fantastic, they're definitely a product for the younger 'must have it now' generation and will ultimately be thrown away rather than treasured. That ability to maintain them will be taken away when the support from the manufacturer ends, they have maybe 5-6 years, at best. 

Tamiya know their market and exactly how to extract money from them - and I'm grateful for it!

Have you ever tried to get Tamiya parts? At least in the US, Traxxas parts support is much better, and even Kyosho, sometimes. 

[Willy iine 18805]

@Gebbly Thanks for your comments on my pretend RC shop and recognizing the theme.  

[Gebbly 588]

1 hour ago, Willy iine said:

Thanks for your comments

Your very welcome @Willy iine. The world would be such a happier place if everyone accepted that something may not float your boat but if it is making someone else happy then alls good. And a lot of the time it may turn out that that thing which we do for fun which we think makes us odd or weird turns out to be something that other people out there are fascinated or amazed by. I would encourage everyone to have confidence in that thing they enjoy and maybe even put it out there. Dont worry about what other people might think and just ignore any negativity because in all likelihood there will be others such as the people in this forum who will enjoy sharing in your experiences.

[Kowalski86 3034]

6 hours ago, Nikko85 said:

I've always thought it odd that no one has put a large lever on a servo on channel three, so when the car flips the lever can flip the car back again. It could be mounted to on the bumper or something our the way? A car that self rights would be awesome, and make racing much more equal if there's no stewards to self right.

When I made my Heavy Dump with the working bed I hoped if it landed on its back the tipper might open to force the car up on its wheels, but my design and servo are not strong enough - but it could be done! 

Tyco rebound was great - I had a Kenner Ricochet - 2 x 370 motors and tank controls, that car was a beast for me at 10 or so. 

Same here, the main issue with using a Robot Wars style of self righting is that most Traxxas models are quite heavy, so you'd need a really good servo.

I've considered running metal wire around my Slash just so it roles back over easier, or even Frog-style posts.