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Kowalski86

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The Top Force Evo body is ugly and looks ridiculous.

 

It looks like a ******* ramp not a buggy or car.

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5 hours ago, Elbowloh said:

The Top Force Evo body is ugly and looks ridiculous.

 

It looks like a ******* ramp not a buggy or car.

For me it looks like a fancier Nikko Dictator, at least the large wing on the Dictator lets it double as a handle.

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My unpopular RC opinion is that this is a hobby for old men.   

The vast majority of us are born in the 60s, 70s and 80s. We've seen Tamiya in its heydays (i.e. first 100 or so).  Partly, we leave the hobby in our 20s and maybe 30s and come back later.  I hope that's the case for younger generation as well.  But gaming industry is already much larger than movie industry (365 billion vs 30 billion).  I'm afraid that people who spend more money on RC than games are very small in numbers.  

 

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1 hour ago, Juggular said:

My unpopular RC opinion is that this is a hobby for old men.   

The vast majority of us are born in the 60s, 70s and 80s. We've seen Tamiya in its heydays (i.e. first 100 or so).  Partly, we leave the hobby in our 20s and maybe 30s and come back later.  I hope that's the case for younger generation as well.  But gaming industry is already much larger than movie industry (365 billion vs 30 billion).  I'm afraid that people who spend more money on RC than games are very small in numbers.  

 

I play video games too, PC and on Switch, but currently spend more on RC!

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On 3/19/2023 at 7:29 PM, Elbowloh said:

The Top Force Evo body is ugly and looks ridiculous.

 

It looks like a ******* ramp not a buggy or car.

I really don’t like the box art work on the Evo. The angles look all wrong and the whole thing seems flat.

I love the look of the finished buggy though, especially in profile. 

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2 hours ago, Juggular said:

My unpopular RC opinion is that this is a hobby for old men.   

The vast majority of us are born in the 60s, 70s and 80s. We've seen Tamiya in its heydays (i.e. first 100 or so).  Partly, we leave the hobby in our 20s and maybe 30s and come back later.  I hope that's the case for younger generation as well.  But gaming industry is already much larger than movie industry (365 billion vs 30 billion).  I'm afraid that people who spend more money on RC than games are very small in numbers.  

 

This is not an opinion, it's a fact. We're going the same way that model engineering did as a hobby. Give it another ten years and the hearing aid stands will be appearing next to the Tamiya stand at the Nuremburg toy fair....

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After watching some RC rally cars in action, I have to say that they can look a bit goofy when they bounce and skip over rough terrain.

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21 hours ago, Juggular said:

My unpopular RC opinion is that this is a hobby for old men.   

The vast majority of us are born in the 60s, 70s and 80s. We've seen Tamiya in its heydays (i.e. first 100 or so).  Partly, we leave the hobby in our 20s and maybe 30s and come back later.  I hope that's the case for younger generation as well.  But gaming industry is already much larger than movie industry (365 billion vs 30 billion).  I'm afraid that people who spend more money on RC than games are very small in numbers.  

 

I think thats just a fact. I look at the birthdays on here at the bottom and its rare a member is under 40. Its also why this forum is quite busy, as most ‘younger’ people have moved on to using social media as opposed to forums.

Ive said before, I think Tamiya is going to be in trouble in the future. Theyre surviving off Nostalgia, and us oldies still reminiscing about our first Rc that was a Tamiya, keep buying stuff. Most start with an Arrma or a Traxxas  etc nowadays, as there is simply no reason why you would start with a Tamiya RC these days looking at their current line up. Even the ‘latest’ BB-01 is clearly aimed at the older generation.

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Oh well, lets enjoy this quiet great place then, almost without hysteria & C*** comparing. Do not think i will miss Tamiya when im 10 feet under anyway(depends on how long they decide to dig me down ofc).

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18 hours ago, MadInventor said:

This is not an opinion, it's a fact. We're going the same way that model engineering did as a hobby. Give it another ten years and the hearing aid stands will be appearing next to the Tamiya stand at the Nuremburg toy fair..

The medium sized city I live in has always been a rail-yard town. It actually has multiple thriving model railroad shops . 
I feel extremely young when I pop in the one down the block from me . 

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13 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

After watching some RC rally cars in action, I have to say that they can look a bit goofy when they bounce and skip over rough terrain.

That’s why SFX artists have filmed model in slow motion for about 100 years now . 

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On 3/20/2023 at 6:55 PM, Juggular said:

My unpopular RC opinion is that this is a hobby for old men.   

The vast majority of us are born in the 60s, 70s and 80s. We've seen Tamiya in its heydays (i.e. first 100 or so).  Partly, we leave the hobby in our 20s and maybe 30s and come back later.  I hope that's the case for younger generation as well.  But gaming industry is already much larger than movie industry (365 billion vs 30 billion).  I'm afraid that people who spend more money on RC than games are very small in numbers.  

 

Hey what about those of us born in te 50’s, don’t forget us!!!!!!

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On 3/20/2023 at 7:55 PM, Juggular said:

My unpopular RC opinion is that this is a hobby for old men.   

The vast majority of us are born in the 60s, 70s and 80s. We've seen Tamiya in its heydays (i.e. first 100 or so).  Partly, we leave the hobby in our 20s and maybe 30s and come back later.  I hope that's the case for younger generation as well.  But gaming industry is already much larger than movie industry (365 billion vs 30 billion).  I'm afraid that people who spend more money on RC than games are very small in numbers.  

 

I see different reason. Not all parents have money to buy RC kits, which to be honest, are not cheap. Maybe in high developed countries it is not a big deal but in many it is rather expensive hobby.

I started now, I am 33 years old. I have good job and time, so can spend money on hobbies ( Cycling, previously static models, now RC).

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On 3/20/2023 at 9:10 PM, Nick-W said:

I really don’t like the box art work on the Evo. The angles look all wrong and the whole thing seems flat.

I love the look of the finished buggy though, especially in profile. 

Unpopular opinion = I think the standard Top Force looks much nicer than the Evo.

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I am not sure if it is unpopular opinion but:

I really do not understand "shelf queen" models. It is RC. It should be run. 

Maybe very rare models should not be bashed around like "daily" RCs, but all models should be run from time to time.

It is similar situation to car collectors: some of them buy cars and even do not touch them. Another take care but drive them. It is car, should be used. The same with RC models.

I have quite a lot experience in cycling. There are many people who have more bikes than they can ride. Difference is, to be honest, I have not heard about anyone who owns bike and did not ride them.

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1 hour ago, skom25 said:

I really do not understand "shelf queen" models.

I had pointed out before in the early pages of this thread, shelf queens are not really models by the true standards of model making and will probably be laughed out of any real model competitions, no matter how well they are built. It is nowhere near the standards required of a display model. A model should be a reflection of the real thing, and at the highest standards, down to the nuts and bolts.

For example, the wheelbase the 225mm M-chassis was made for the Jimny with its real wheelbase of 2250mm. However, Tamiya also sell the Swift shell with the 225mm chassis and a that has a real wheelbase of 2430mm, making the RC car 18mm too short on the wheelbase. And then the suspension... absolutely nothing like the real car! And then something that even my wife can spot, quite often, shells have these lines across the front and back. I understand these are the manufacturing process but they are not there on the real thing, so having them on a model is also wrong. Example below, line across just Infront of the windscreen and across the rear of the roof. Don't exist on a real car, and if it exists on a display model, it will be filled and painted over to the point it disappeared.

ChoDruS.jpeg

Finally, the stickers. Some RC builders will call them decals just to sound more grown up but they clearly had not seen what decals works in the modelling world. Decals can be made to "disappear" to the point that they appear to be painted on while stickers will look like stickers no matter how well they are cut. Stickers on a shell just look like a model of a badge on a real car.

IMHO, a static kit of 1:20/24 at 1/4 or smaller the size of a RC car and costs far less makes a better model than a RC car. Some of the better static kits even build up almost like a real car with chassis, frame, etc and measurements down to mm correct.

I often build the same static and RC side by side (when possible and available) and can clearly see the difference between the two. In fact I recently bought a Tyrrell P34 RC and will be picking up the 1:20 one as well and build (and paint) them side by side in an upcoming build thread.

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1 hour ago, skom25 said:

I am not sure if it is unpopular opinion but:

I really do not understand "shelf queen" models. It is RC. It should be run. 

Maybe very rare models should not be bashed around like "daily" RCs, but all models should be run from time to time.

It is similar situation to car collectors: some of them buy cars and even do not touch them. Another take care but drive them. It is car, should be used. The same with RC models.

I have quite a lot experience in cycling. There are many people who have more bikes than they can ride. Difference is, to be honest, I have not heard about anyone who owns bike and did not ride them.


Some people enjoy the build more than the actual running itself, or maybe they don’t have a place to run the cars (live in the city or have to travel far to run RC). Yes scale models are more accurate, but they also require more skill and patience to build compared to RC. Another reason could be cost. If you have amassed a collection of cars, it’s expensive to equip each one with a servo, ESC and receiver especially now that Tamiya has been shipping more kits without ESCs anymore which is a bummer. Yes you can swap electronics from one car to the other, but it’s a tedious process. Removing the servo, ESC and receiver and cleaning off the gunk from the leftover servo tape is not fun at all. Imagine having to do that every time you want to run a different car. To me, building a shelf queen is better than collecting sneakers or those funko pop collectibles. At least I got to build it and tinker with it, unlike those shoes and toys that will not get any use at all. 

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3 minutes ago, one_hit said:

and cleaning off the gunk

Which is why now I use heavy duty velcro tape for my Rx and ESC. Makes positioning them straight or even just shifting them slightly to an better position after the build easier too.

 

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On 3/20/2023 at 9:34 PM, MadInventor said:

Give it another ten years and the hearing aid stands will be appearing next to the Tamiya stand at the Nuremburg toy fair

I think perhaps the RC kit hobby is going through a bit of a transition, partly fuelled by so much entertainment being virtual or online such as computer games. Nothing wrong with these other interests, I play computer games too and some games are free so people with little disposable income can join in which is great.

I think if companies like Tamiya handle things well then RC kits will transition into a hobby similar to static models and model railways. These are hobbies that have been going for many decades with no sign of disappearing. They have just changed the demographic they appeal to, generally speaking, to adults with more disposable income that are after some form of creative outlet or parents that want to encourage their children into creative experiences and build the kits together.

1 hour ago, skom25 said:

I really do not understand "shelf queen" models. It is RC. It should be run. 

I can certainly understand the view point. I suppose it depends why an individual built an RC kit in the first place. For example, personally I really enjoy the peace of creating a static model. I'm also fascinated by how things work and love creating things that do something and I'm always trying to learn new things. Whether thats wiring a circuit board that lights some leds, programming a Raspberry Pi computer or building a lego kit which moves in some way when I turn a handle or operate a lever. So for my particular interests I loved the idea of moving from a static model to an RC kit in which I can build something, learn some mechanics, learn some electronics and soldering, learn about remote control devices and at the end of it have a model which actually receives a radio signal and moves in response. I would say something like 90% of my enjoyment of my RC kit was in the very careful construction and learning of new skills and the pinnacle of my RC build was the first time I powered it all up and it moved in response to me controlling the transmitter. Running the car around the garden is fun but the vast majority of my enjoyment was from the creativity. So once created the car will spend a lot of time on the shelf as I move on to my next creativity project. (In my case a Tamiya Centurion Tank to add more complexity and have a chance to learn more things with more moving parts)

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1 hour ago, skom25 said:

I am not sure if it is unpopular opinion but:

I really do not understand "shelf queen" models. It is RC. It should be run. 

Maybe very rare models should not be bashed around like "daily" RCs, but all models should be run from time to time.

It is similar situation to car collectors: some of them buy cars and even do not touch them. Another take care but drive them. It is car, should be used. The same with RC models.

I have quite a lot experience in cycling. There are many people who have more bikes than they can ride. Difference is, to be honest, I have not heard about anyone who owns bike and did not ride them.

Yes, I agree. 

I doubt I'll ever have any shelf queens and certainly won't keep any NIB.

I'm also a cyclist, I have a number of bikes (mainly road), but they all get ridden.

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33 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

Which is why now I use heavy duty velcro tape for my Rx and ESC. Makes positioning them straight or even just shifting them slightly to an better position after the build easier too.

 

I’m using the clear “nano” type double-sided tape now, so far it’s been easy to remove but I’m curious if it will still be the case years down the road. I’ve tried velcro before and didn’t like it, too much play and wiggle and I just couldn’t trust it on the kits that I race

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1 hour ago, one_hit said:

I’m using the clear “nano” type double-sided tape now, so far it’s been easy to remove but I’m curious if it will still be the case years down the road. I’ve tried velcro before and didn’t like it, too much play and wiggle and I just couldn’t trust it on the kits that I race

3M VHB tape is another option that comes off cleanly. Tip: use a little heat from a hair dryer to get tape off easily.

The velcro I use are the "heavy duty outdoor" type and since I don't race, it is not so much of a problem for me.

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4 hours ago, skom25 said:

I am not sure if it is unpopular opinion but:

I really do not understand "shelf queen" models. It is RC. It should be run. 

Maybe very rare models should not be bashed around like "daily" RCs, but all models should be run from time to time.

I agree, it is entirely possible to have fun with an RC without harming it. I never got the paranoia around just taking one for a spin.

In my fleet I have a handful of "highly flawed" models, two of them made from very old ABS plastic. They hold up because I know their limits.

3 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

I often build the same static and RC side by side (when possible and available) and can clearly see the difference between the two. In fact I recently bought a Tyrrell P34 RC and will be picking up the 1:20 one as well and build (and paint) them side by side in an upcoming build thread.

I look forward to your comparison! And the part where you have to apply 100s of stickers to it that will peel off in time.

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50 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

I look forward to your comparison! And the part where you have to apply 100s of stickers to it that will peel off in time.

Ah, you see, the P34 is a hard body shell and I can get around that problem by applying thick clear coat over the stickers. Similar idea as sealing real decals in on models. I did the same with my girl's GH2 and my own LB. The plus side is, when applied thickly enough, with self leveling thinner, it could almost make "step" of the sticker disappear making it looks better. Something that cannot be done with the PC shells.

Now thinking about it, I could even copy and print the stickers onto real decal sheets for this chassis. Hmmm....🤔 White is the problem...no common home printers doe white. Got to think about this.

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