Your Unpopular RC opinions

[Kowalski86 3036]

I know that everyone here is pleasently civilised, so I figured that I'd post one of my favorite types of threads that can stir up a bit of food for thought, heres my unpopular opinions, feel free to debate or post your own:

1. A Hornet would be a great $80 RC, it is a terrible $160 RC. I could live with friction shocks and toy plastic if more kits were priced accordingly.

2. Too many hop-ups can lead to burn out, I strongly reccomend to always build a chassis with just the "big three", only get into serious upgrades after driving it for quite a bit or if you plan on racing.

3. Outside of "scale" and playing bumper cars, stadium trucks are better bashers/racers than short course trucks. Some monster trucks even look more "scale", while being terrific bashers.

4. Models will always make for better shelf-queens/collector items than RCs.

5. I like 90% of Tamiyas touring car shells, I don't like cutting out 90 stickers!

[alvinlwh 5895]

16 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

1. A Hornet would be a great $80 RC, it is a terrible $160 RC. I could live with friction shocks and toy plastic if more kits were priced accordingly.

2. Too many hop-ups can lead to burn out, I strongly reccomend to always build a chassis with just the "big three", only get into serious upgrades after driving it for quite a bit or if you plan on racing

Tamiya are often overpriced for what they are. Some will compare them to an Audi vs VW, which I find quite funny.

16 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

4. Models will always make for better shelf-queens/collector items than RCs.

I often think about this and nearly started a thread about this. Never understood the concept of shelf queens. Any static model kits will easily beat any RC car (even Tamiya which are quite "good"), for details and accuracy. They usually also come with correct interiors, chassis, etc, instead of a generic TT, TA or whatever.

16 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

5. I like 90% of Tamiyas touring car shells, I don't like cutting out 90 stickers!

I can't stand calling those stickers decals. Those who call them decals obviously had never used real decals (in the modelling hobby).

[OnTheTrail 1152]

17 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

 

5. .... I don't like cutting out 90 stickers!

.....and the only stickers that are precut, are the ones that 99% of us don't use!

[alvinlwh 5895]

12 minutes ago, OnTheTrail said:

.....and the only stickers that are precut, are the ones that 99% of us don't use!

I had a thread about those before!

 

 

[svenb 3778]

28 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

I can't stand calling those stickers decals. Those who call them decals obviously had never used real decals (in the modelling hobby).

That'll be me then🙄

[AndyjcClod 389]

1 minute ago, alvinlwh said:

I had a thread about those before!

 

 

I used to use the “caution hot” sticker next to those olde skool white hot blocks, i still have a triangle scar from touvhing the corner of my Falcon onw when I was a kid. 😂

[OnTheTrail 1152]

9 minutes ago, AndyjcClod said:

I used to use the “caution hot” sticker next to those olde skool white hot blocks, i still have a triangle scar from touching the corner of my Falcon one when I was a kid. 😂

Soooooo...apparently the sticker didn't do you any good then?   

[bRIBEGuy 3050]

47 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

I know that everyone here is pleasently civilised, so I figured that I'd post one of my favorite types of threads that can stir up a bit of food for thought, heres my unpopular opinions, feel free to debate or post your own:

1. A Hornet would be a great $80 RC, it is a terrible $160 RC. I could live with friction shocks and toy plastic if more kits were priced accordingly.

2. Too many hop-ups can lead to burn out, I strongly reccomend to always build a chassis with just the "big three", only get into serious upgrades after driving it for quite a bit or if you plan on racing.

3. Outside of "scale" and playing bumper cars, stadium trucks are better bashers/racers than short course trucks. Some monster trucks even look more "scale", while being terrific bashers.

4. Models will always make for better shelf-queens/collector items than RCs.

5. I like 90% of Tamiyas touring car shells, I don't like cutting out 90 stickers!

I like the civil "Stir the Pot" threads... 

For the sake of conversation, I will play the devil's advocate here:
 

1. $80 hornet would be great... but unrealistic with inflation and such.  We can't pick a price point for an arbitrary item, and hold onto it forever.
2. I think hop ups can lead to burn out if you are buying them for the wrong reasons.  If you are realistic about what you are doing, then cool... nothing wrong with having a pile of fancy parts that make a car look and function better if it makes YOU happy.  But if you are doing it to keep up with IG posts or in belief that your DT-03 will become a B6 killer...... ya, you're in for burn out and frustration.
3. What if the scale looks and handling are what you WANT in a race or a bash session?  I honestly have more fun driving my Slash than any stadium truck I've owned, both on and off the track.
4. Depends what you want out of it again, IMO.  I used to do models, but got out of them as they brough me no long term joy.  The build was fun, but once finished, they just gather dust indefinitely.  Once they are done, they are done.  With RC, though, there is a mechanical art aspect to it, that brings me joy after the fact.  Even if I don't drive it, I can change my mind later and install electronics.  Or rebuild it into something else.  Models don't offer that long term satisfaction or potential for modification that I enjoy.
5. You're right. 

 

[ThunderDragonCy 7886]

Unpopular opinion? Easy. The Thunder Dragon is amazing looking and the Grasshopper 2 and Super Hornet both look better than their earlier iterations. 

[mic drop] 

[Nick-W 1494]

While we’re airing the dirty laundry…

I really like the modern Tamiya kits but most of the re-re’s leave me a little cold. I didn’t like my Blackfoot build and don’t really enjoy running it. I’m desperately hoping the Top Force doesn’t disappoint. 

[Nicadraus 6201]

1 hour ago, alvinlwh said:

I can't stand calling those stickers decals. Those who call them decals obviously had never used real decals (in the modelling hobby).

Decals from models are called die-cut or water slide decals. There are many types of decals which also include some stickers found on RC kits. Some decals are also used for outdoor and more durable than normal indoor types, which are made from vinyl stickers. So there. stickers and can be called decals and vice versa.

You sound like a pro hobbyist. I'm curious. Can you show more of your work?

[Pylon80 2635]

1 hour ago, Kowalski86 said:

I know that everyone here is pleasently civilised, so I figured that I'd post one of my favorite types of threads that can stir up a bit of food for thought, heres my unpopular opinions, feel free to debate or post your own:

1. A Hornet would be a great $80 RC, it is a terrible $160 RC. I could live with friction shocks and toy plastic if more kits were priced accordingly.

2. Too many hop-ups can lead to burn out, I strongly reccomend to always build a chassis with just the "big three", only get into serious upgrades after driving it for quite a bit or if you plan on racing.

3. Outside of "scale" and playing bumper cars, stadium trucks are better bashers/racers than short course trucks. Some monster trucks even look more "scale", while being terrific bashers.

4. Models will always make for better shelf-queens/collector items than RCs.

5. I like 90% of Tamiyas touring car shells, I don't like cutting out 90 stickers!

Unpopular? I would agree with the above!

1. I am not sure what is going with the GH or Hornet type of kits. These are about 40$ in Japan which is fair... Everybody expects and understands that things get more expensive once exported, but these kits do not seem to follow the same percentage as others.

2. That has been discussed many times, it's a money making thing for Tamiya (and making money is the point of business'...come on) but I like how our very own @Willy iine summed it up recently: it's only a problem if you are fooling yourself. All that being said, hanging out on forums certainly doesn't help and would compel the most level headed modeler to sink a lot of money into hop-ups.

3. Stadium what?

4. @Kowalski86 this is funny as I had the exact same thought this morning. We just bought a shelf for books (and a few of my models). I don't have any 'shelf only' models because I do not see the point. Even when built skillfully, a lexan body makes for a lousy model. Something you want to look at from at least 6ft and with your eyes squinted. And it costs a lot of money. And it takes a lot of spaces. Oh you promise you will run it? Then you will damage it.

5. We like Tamiya either because we have never seen offerings from other manufacturers  or because we like building the cars ourselves. Where do we draw the line then? The stickers are certainly annoying to cut. They are also annoying to apply. The waterslide decals of my early 80's youth didn't even need cutting so I want to say it would be way better and the DIY aspect of Tamiya would not suffer from pre-cut decals. Tamiya, please?

[alvinlwh 5895]

51 minutes ago, bRIBEGuy said:

The build was fun, but once finished, they just gather dust indefinitely.

This I agree with. I just build more. I got more than a lifetime worth of kits in the loft ready to go. However, shelf queens also gather dust, and that I cannot understand.

[Nick-W 1494]

54 minutes ago, bRIBEGuy said:

or in belief that your DT-03 will become a B6 killer......

…looks nervously from side to side… 

You’ve gotta have faith 😂

[alvinlwh 5895]

35 minutes ago, Nicadraus said:

Decals from models are called die-cut or water slide decals. There are many types of decals which also include some stickers found on RC kits. Some decals are also used for outdoor and more durable than normal indoor types, which are made from vinyl stickers. So there. stickers and can be called decals and vice versa.

You sound like a pro hobbyist. I'm curious. Can you show more of your work?

I know that the word "decals" are used often in 1:1 scale cars and even buildings.  However where I draw the line (in modelling) is, can modelling decal set solutions work on them? If no, then they are not modelling decals.

EDIT: The distinction between stickers or decals does make a difference in some sector of the modelling hobby. Gundam supply stickers for their basic kits but decals for their high end kits. They even sell decals as hopups for some of their more popular basic kits. Therefore IMHO, these words should not be used  interchangeably in the modelling hobby. But that is just my view.

I have some of my work in the static thread although I had not uploaded for a while.

[simalarion 2196]

34 minutes ago, Nick-W said:

While we’re airing the dirty laundry…

I really like the modern Tamiya kits but most of the re-re’s leave me a little cold. I didn’t like my Blackfoot build and don’t really enjoy running it. I’m desperately hoping the Top Force doesn’t disappoint. 

Hehe Top-Force (Evo) will Not!, in any way, im blown away by how well it handles. Its not even a point to compare T-F to our old/first RC Retro Tamiya gems (like BlackFoot & T-G-H) when it comes to running/handling, but for my part thats just pure nostalgia. 

 

[Twinfan 1253]

My unpopular opinions?  Wheel transmitters are utter rubbish and LiPos are a waste of time, effort and money unless you're a top class racer.

*Gets coat and heads for the door...*

[markbt73 5316]

Sure, I'll throw a couple out there:

- Tamiya alloy pinions are fine if you just don't slather them in grease. Only once or twice have I seen the crazy wear that others complain about. One teeny-tiny dot of grease per gear meshing pair is plenty for the life of the model.

- 540 motors are plenty of power and speed for 95% of us. Learning how to drive well is more rewarding and engaging than blasting around halfway out of control.

- (I've taken heat for this one before) If you didn't build it, or rebuild it, yourself, it doesn't count.

[BuggyGuy 1106]

Tamiya missed a trick by not putting a different spin on the rere buggies

Look at what Kyosho did with better support for modern electrics and power and improved parts. Tamiya could have done the same - they have some great composite plastics on their modern high end kits that could have been used for wishbones and hubs without taking anything away from the originals.

I know they have made some changes on the ReRe cars - but not enough in my unpopular opinion 

 

[simalarion 2196]

12 minutes ago, Twinfan said:

My unpopular opinions?  Wheel transmitters are utter rubbish and LiPos are a waste of time, effort and money unless you're a top class racer.

*Gets coat and heads for the door...*

Naah Lipos are the way if you are tired off fast volt dropp, nimh are terrible in that department. But you must be ready for a bit more work taking care off Lipo.

for my 4wd Rc Lipo is a must, nimh just dont do the job (for the volt dropp reason)
 

 

[alvinlwh 5895]

6 minutes ago, markbt73 said:

blasting around halfway out of control.

But that is fun! 😁

7 minutes ago, markbt73 said:

(I've taken heat for this one before) If you didn't build it, or rebuild it, yourself, it doesn't count.

This I agree.

[alvinlwh 5895]

6 minutes ago, BuggyGuy said:

I know they have made some changes on the ReRe cars - but not enough in my unpopular opinion

Popping dogbones on the Frog springs to mind.

[Kowalski86 3036]

1 hour ago, bRIBEGuy said:

1. What if the scale looks and handling are what you WANT in a race or a bash session?  I honestly have more fun driving my Slash than any stadium truck I've owned, both on and off the track.

I can understand that, pretty much everything in my RC fleet is scale (other than an M05Ra Beetle). Between paint sessions on my latest build I would drive my Slash.

28 minutes ago, Pylon80 said:

Unpopular? I would agree with the above!

1. I am not sure what is going with the GH or Hornet type of kits. These are about 40$ in Japan which is fair... Everybody expects and understands that things get more expensive once exported, but these kits do not seem to follow the same percentage as others.

3. Stadium what?

1. I can only guess that the "nostaligia fee" is higher in the States. Granted, we get ESCs in most of our kits. Shipping the larger packaging for reres does add cost though, learned that the hard way after I sold my Lunchbox. Can't say if it adds $120 in cost though.

3. Stadium truck, think buggys but truck bodies and bigger wheels. Like the Stadium Blitzer.

7 minutes ago, markbt73 said:

- 540 motors are plenty of power and speed for 95% of us. Learning how to drive well is more rewarding and engaging than blasting around halfway out of control.

- (I've taken heat for this one before) If you didn't build it, or rebuild it, yourself, it doesn't count.

Pretty much all of my Tamiyas have silver cans or some sort of "tuned" variant, and I like it that way. Much easier on the wallet and better run time.

-Thats a very important part of this hobby imo, just popping a battery in doesn't really "get" anyone into the hobby.

[Kowalski86 3036]

6 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

Popping dogbones on the Frog springs to mind.

Good thing theres an expensive hop-up to fix something that shouldn't be a problem!

[Guest]

TT02 ... enough said. Granted its not terrible to drive but it is the most boring and tedious build. And for some reason every shell seems to use it (or the TT01 Type E, which is only slightly better).