RC-related things you'd love to do (but probably won't)

[Mad Ax]

Disclaimer: I started writing this thread earlier in the week, and I've been editing it here and there, it's been sat here unposted for a couple of days, now I need to shut down and clear out for the weekend so it's either post it or lose it.  Hopefully it makes as much sense now as it did when I wrote it.

OK, here's another random thread to get you thinking.  I actually typed something like this out over a year ago, and it's still cached in a Notepad++ tab, unsubmitted and unsaved.  That particular thread was asking about projects you'd love to build but aren't sure if you could - I talked about an amphibious build, a hovercraft and a tracked vehicle, and I'm sure there's loads more great ideas from the across the club - but this thread expands it beyond just things you'd want to build, so that it includes events you'd want to take part in, or things you'd want to do, places to go, records to break, unicorns to find, or whatever.

What mostly got me thinking was watching Hot Rod Drag Week and Sick Week on Youtube.  Now I'm a home worker, I love to have stuff like that on in the background just for some noise, and watching the live coverage of Drag Week is cool (even if it isn't actually live by the time I'm logged on).  In fact right now I've got the 12 Hours of Sebring playing away to itself, just over 3 hours in, and it'll probably take me until the middle of next week to finish watching it.

Anyway, I digress.  Idea 1: the RC Road Trip

I've absolutely love to do a Drag Week-style RC race tournament, where we hit a different track every day for a week and have to hit certain checkpoints and complete every event to qualify.  I love a good road trip, I love the excitement of constantly moving around, and I think it would be enormous fun.  Of course, it will never happen - plenty of people (myself included) can't afford to take a week away from work and family just to drive toy cars.  Of the few that could, most wouldn't want to spend half of it travelling.  Road tripping really isn't a thing here in the UK unless you're into the 1:1 car, bike or camper scene.  There is the Primrose Valley event every year, but that's just one place, and I can't even afford to do that, time-wise.

It also doesn't really make much sense - for the US drag events, the whole point is that the competition car must survive a week of racing and road-tripping (try that in the UK - there's no way those cars would be road legal over here!)  Nobody's going to actually drive their Schumacher buggy from RHR to BMR via a photo checkpoint in Nottingham City Centre, so the whole concept of "surviving the road trip" is pointless.

I have done my own RC road trips before.  Back in 2021, the Carlisle round of the Iconic Cup was on the same weekend as a Tamiya Junkies meet, which made for an epic road trip across the Midlands and into the North of England to take in both meets, and even see a little bit of the Lake District while I was there.  I took 21 cars with me, and had to take the passenger seat out of the van to get them all in.  It's not often it works out like that, but when it does, it's fab.

Idea 2: Endurance Racing

I mentioned in another thread earlier this week that I once endured 2 hours of badword coaxing a re-release Buggy Champ through a long race.  2 hours in the cold, wind and rain, with non-stop marshalling, spannering or driving, after an already long day of racing in the wet and with another long day's racing and road driving to follow.  And as I said then, I'd do it again tomorrow given the chance.

Actually, I'd rather it be on tarmac - take it steady and there's far less chance of damaging the car.  And I know these things are possible because I read reports of a 12 hour endurance in Europe a couple of years back, although there were issues with melting diffs, etc.  I know people have been quietly talking about running something in the UK for a while, but there's a lot of questions around what will survive.  Personally I think it's possible - stick to TT02s because they're cheap, run a small 2-hour event with a variety of motors to see what works best.  Then do a 4 hour event and see if anything fails.  With official limits on gearing, heat can probably be managed.  I don't know if it will ever happen and if anyone bar me wants to do a 12 hour race, but if it happens, I'm in.

And yet, despite being so up for endurance racing, I've never entered the Funduro, which is a 12-hour scaler event.  It appeals, although slightly less so than racing (12 hours on the trails is solo, a 12 hour race would have at least 3 drivers in the team), but it always takes place in an already busy time of year.  Maybe I'll do it next year, if I cut back on some other stuff.

Idea 3: Joint Builds / Challenges

I had this idea a while back, but it got no interest from other local RCers who might have gotten involved.  The original idea was to have a challenge set by a 3rd party, and then for me to build something to meet that challenge.  If I had the time to invest in growing a YouTube channel, this might actually work quite well, but most of my attempts to edit video have been terrible, and if my understanding is correct, it could take me a whole week to edit one day's workshop footage, which I just don't have.

The idea evolved into something that would need a team of 3 people.  Person 1 is the Challenger.  He writes down a challenge, and keeps it secret.  Person 2 is the Builder.  She chooses a donor chassis, without knowing what the challenge is, and keeps the decision secret.  Person 3 is the Coachbuilder.  He chooses a body, without knowing what the challenge or the chassis is, and keeps it secret.

Day 1 is Reveal Day.  The team get together (physically or on webcam) and the Challenge is revealed.  It could be, for example, achieve a minimum speed of 40mph, or carry a box of eggs around my back yard in under 30 seconds without dropping or breaking them, or climb up the steps at the local park, or whatever.  No doubt the reveal will cause some laughter, relief or panic in the builder.

When the challenge is revealed, the Builder reveals the chassis.  They didn't know what the challenge was before they chose, so it could be perfect (a TT01 for a speed run or a Clod for carrying eggs) or it could be completely wrong (an M03 for climbing steps).

Once the challenge and chassis are revealed, the Coachbuilder displays the body they chose, without knowing what the challenge was or what it was going to fit on.  How are they gonna modify that lexan Beetle body to carry eggs..?  Would they really choose that heavy 1:8 ABS truck body for a speed run on an M01?

The Builder then has a set amount of time to modify the chassis such that it should be able to achieve the challenge, before it's sent to the Coachbuilder for the body to be fitted and customised.  Depending on the challenge, there's the possibility that the coachbuilder's role would be minimal, but I think it's fair to insist the finished product should at least make an effort to look "good and proper".  If they chose a 1:8 body but the chassis was an M-chassis, and the chassis builder chose not to lengthen it, knowing what body was going to be fitted, then the coachbuilder will have to shorten the body or in some way make it look right on that short chassis.  If it turns out to be a speed run and the body is ABS, there's no reason they couldn't chop and lower the roof for aero and build a wedge-shaped nosecone to help cut through the air.  Whatever works.  Throwing on some paint and graphics would probably be a necessary part of this stage, for the look of the thing.

Once both car and body are complete, they're posted off to the Challenger, to try to complete the challenge.

Once that challenge is finished, the team switches around (challenger becomes builder, builder becomes coachbuiler, coachbuilder becomes challenger) and a new episode begins.

I think this would really work well as a YouTube channel.  The hard part is finding another 2 people with a big and eclectic supply of old donor bodies and chassis that they're willing to cut up, or pockets deep enough to buy them when it's time to start another build, and the spare time to commit to completing the project in a reasonable timeframe.

Idea 4: Joining an RC Scale Model Group

I know there are some around, some used to demo at the Bristol Model Expo every year.  While I'm not massively into the super-scale stuff (at least in my own builds), it would be nice to meet up from time to time to demo those more scale or technical builds in person, and see what others have been working on.  One group had a neat scale fire engine made from a Tamiya big rig kit, but also had a super-shiny Tamiya Hilux on display that was towing a home-made trailer with a really detailed Mini build on it.  That's the kind of stuff that gets built, photo'd, demo'd online and then sits on shelves for years, and sometimes it's nice to actually take it out and show it off, and get feedback, and give feedback on others' projects.

Idea 5: An RC Car Expo

I know, there are model expos all over (although lots have disappeared over the years) but I wanted to do something more specific to RC cars and land vehicles.  I envisioned doing it somewhere that has a permanent track, perhaps without official racing but maybe running open practice with active timing, so people can enjoy being on track if they want to.  Maybe even with some demo races taking place during the day, for attendees who have never raced and want to see what it's about.  I wanted to avoid it being a proper race day though, because racing is a full-time job, and I wanted people to have the opportunity to wander the displays and have a slower-paced day.

As for the displays - well, let's put up a marquee and make it like the big model expos.  Invite various local clubs along - let the big rig club have some layout space, let race clubs show videos of their races and display their cars, let the crawler groups build a small course on the grounds.  Get a shop in to tempt us with cars and parts, and offer table space for sales and swaps.  And for those of us with big collections, who aren't necessarily affiliated with a club but just want to show off what we've got or what we've built, give out table-space so we can stand around and talk about our cars all day.

 

OK, peeps of TC, what would you love to do?  What's out there that you haven't tried, or what project would you love to build, or what rare car or transmitter do you wish you could find..?

[Twinfan]

I'd quite like to do a retro race day - Tamiya re-re buggies with brushed motors and NiMH packs on a proper off road track as per the late eighties/early nineties.  I had no awareness of racing back in the day, so I'd quite happily grab one of my cars and a few battery packs and give it a go for a laugh  

Thinking about it, that's the Tamico Offroad-Cup, but somewhere here in the UK...

[Nikko85]

All my cars are 1/12 scale. I would love to build a 1/12 4x4 Clod that would fit this scale, as well as a King Cab, as these are my favourite looking Tamiyas. They wouldn't have to be exact scaled down replicas, but something close.

I've now idea how to make either. The Clod body I could maybe get from Team Blue Groove at around 210 mm wheelbase but the chassis gets tricky, as I would like them to be Tamiyas. I've seen some tiny wheelbase based on the Jugg, but I don't know enough about four links or monster trucks to really start.

I am also planning on making an RC/Engineering club for work for local families, to try and encourage people from all backgrounds to get into engineering, science and perhaps motorsport and RC - this will be a pretty cool project, so this will have to be enough for me.

 

[Frog Jumper]

Me???  I'd love to explore the world of vintage Associated RC-10L pan cars.  But I don't have the time, money, or space to do any of that...

Terry

 

[Guest]

51 minutes ago, Mad Ax said:

Idea 5: An RC Car Expo

This one I have been wanting for a long time. A weekend maybe to meet some like minded people, sell, build and bash. There is just nothing like that in the south (or anywhere in the UK as far as I know). There are some 'model shows' but they seem to be more towards the north. 

The other one, which is more of a dream really, is to have a space to display my collection without going into the loft and sorting through a load of boxes for the one part I know I have. 

[simalarion]

14 minutes ago, Hairyjon313 said:

This one I have been wanting for a long time. A weekend maybe to meet some like minded people, sell, build and bash. There is just nothing like that in the south (or anywhere in the UK as far as I know). There are some 'model shows' but they seem to be more towards the north. 

The other one, which is more of a dream really, is to have a space to display my collection without going into the loft and sorting through a load of boxes for the one part I know I have. 

What he said

Edit: Oh but please add Beers

[Gebbly]

1 hour ago, Mad Ax said:

Idea 3: Joint Builds / Challenges

If this were a thing I would subscribe to the channel in a heartbeat. It sounds awesome. Like the old top gear challenges but much more educational as we could see the teams problem solving. Where is "local"? Perhaps you would get interest from people here on TC?

27 minutes ago, Nikko85 said:

planning on making an RC/Engineering club for work for local families

This sounds like a brilliant idea too.  Same question, where is "local"?

18 minutes ago, Hairyjon313 said:

nothing like that in the south

Its a bit of a tangent but it may help. There is a place called Weald and Downland Living Museum (bare with me here). And throughout the year they have events. Last time we went, one of the events was a load of RC enthusiasts. There was a RC boat club that were sailing their boats on the duck pond, a RC tank club that built a model french town and then re-enacted a battle between allied and axis tanks including little pyro charges. Both of these groups were gathered together and also had models on tables on displays and you could chat to them and they would show you how they were built and the mechanisms. I saw a fantastic "fire boat" with working water cannons. If I see the event happening again I'll try and remember to post something on TC.

 

For me:

1. I am planning to build a Tamiya tank. I would love to find a group of people that use the Tamiya battle system in their tanks to have battles. But looking around those groups seem to be disappearing.

2. I would like to find the time to finish my GF01 body and find somewhere spacious enough to try and join in with the Race By Post that gets run on TC as it looks like great fun.

[markbt73]

Honestly, my biggest wish is just to set up the perfect workshop. Right now I'm crammed into a 10 ft x 10 ft spare bedroom that's half workshop and half office/study. I've built a huge workbench along one wall, and a huge desk along another, and covered almost every available inch of wall space with shelves, and it's still bursting at the seams.

Ideally, what I'd like is a room about 4 or 5 times that size, so I can dedicate spaces to tasks, and have room for some specialized work areas I can't have now: a paint booth, a woodworking/sandblasting cabinet, a place for a small CNC router table, etc. That way I can keep the mess off the desk/office area, have a proper place to store and display finished models, and have enough workbench area so that I can have multiple projects going at once without having to stop and put everything away before switching like I do now.

Ideally, just outside this room would be an open area of land where I could set up a small crawler course, a short but interesting paved track, and a small dirt track, all permanent and all maintained. I'm kind of a hermit when it comes to RC stuff these days; I don't really want to join a club or go do group activities, but I would like a place I can run my cars by myself when I want.

It's a retirement goal of mine, and if I can get even halfway to what's in my head, I'll be satisfied.

[Gebbly]

Someone reminded me of another one. Tamiya mini 4x4 were mentioned in another thread. The first time I heard of them I thought they were tiny versions of real RC cars. Something I would like to do but probably never will is to figure out how to cram all the necessary tiny components into a mini 4x4 shell to turn it into a fully controllable RC car.

[alvinlwh]

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[Mad Ax]

1 hour ago, Hairyjon313 said:

This one I have been wanting for a long time. A weekend maybe to meet some like minded people, sell, build and bash. There is just nothing like that in the south (or anywhere in the UK as far as I know).

Iconic RC and Tamiya Junkies are about as close as I know of.  They're not full-on expos, but there's plenty of bashing, a fair bit of trading and lots of like-minded bants.  Iconic used to do open bash events, generally they were just one day at a proper RC track, you could turn up, pay your entry and drive as much as you want.  Much of the time was just spent checking out each other's collections and shooting the breeze.  Often people would bring things along to sell or trade.  Sadly it all died out around 5 or 6 years ago when Iconic's dedicated race events got more popular - that's not to say Iconic racing isn't fun, most people come more for the social and the atmosphere as much as for the racing, and you'll often find people set up an awning and put out a table full of stuff to sell.  I've got some great bargains over the last few years.

Tamiya Junkies is still going strong but it's usually at Robin Hood Raceway.  Bashing goes on all day in the same spirit as the old Iconic meets.  Usually it's just one day but sometimes in the summer they're able to organise a full weekend with camping (yes, beers too).

From time to time I talk about putting on a Junkies event at a local track, maybe Mendip RC Raceway, sometimes I get a really positive "yes, we'll do this" response and sometimes it's a bit less committal.  TBH I think that's the way to start it - get a regular bash meet running, then do a midsummer 2-dayer with camping, then think about bringing in the marquees and displays.

[Willy iine]

I would like to have a dedicated air filteration system for paint booth vs my super ghetto portable paint booth...although my junk setup has been very effective and painted many bodies and garage accessories using it with success all through the year. 

My house has plenty of room to accomodate, but not sure how much more RC I would build...  honestly after I completed the Kyosho Legendary Series this week, there is not many other RC that I want.. if only painting here and there, my existing junk setup is sufficient.  Like my garage.. has plenty of room to do a 2 post, but I've been okay not having it installed so far... the same applies to RC.   Not like I'm going to live forever anyway.  

 

Another is building a track in the backyard.   I have enough space to do it, and my wife is okay with me putting down track surface. .but how much will I use?  I don't even drive my RC cars on my big driveway.. I usually just watch my cars go around my tiny EVA foam test track and it's been plenty.   

[Gebbly]

Holy Moly! That mini 4wd RC conversion is amazing! He's even made a FPV version. Now I have to add something else to my to build list

Great tip Alvin thanks.

[ThunderDragonCy]

@Mad Ax +1 for spec class endurance race. I reckon something broadly Iconic Stock class, but allow TT02 as well, and as I'm wish-listing, toe in rear hubs because TT01E and TT02 are so much better/easier/more fun with some rear toe in! Core RC21t brushed, 2s lipo, scale shells, I'd even ban tyre warmers and all that *******. Outdoor obvs. Maybe not 12 hour, as that would be loooooooooooooooong. 6 hour could be cool. I know that one you read about. I remember it too, and they were racing in the dark with only lights on the cars. Sounds amazing in theory, but in practice I think it would be pretty hard/not very enjoyable. I know keeping the car running was part of the interest in the race, but maybe teams of cars too? Each driver runs their own car. Dunno. I'm just trying to think of ways I could run my FF01 without completely destroying it ;-)

 

[ThunderDragonCy]

3 hours ago, Hairyjon313 said:

This one I have been wanting for a long time. A weekend maybe to meet some like minded people, sell, build and bash. There is just nothing like that in the south (or anywhere in the UK as far as I know). There are some 'model shows' but they seem to be more towards the north. 

The other one, which is more of a dream really, is to have a space to display my collection without going into the loft and sorting through a load of boxes for the one part I know I have. 

The Tamiya Junkies thing are RHR is super easy to organise. We just agree to pay James the track owner for the day when the track is free, then charge people £8 flat rate. Electric only, 10th maximum scale, everyone has to have BRCA.

It's got it's own FB group now, but I first saw it on here a few years ago. People either bring cash or pay Paypal. If you have a local track, see if they'll hire it for the day then put the word out. All we do on the day is get everyone to sign in and put their BRCA number. It's really not that hard or stressful to organise.

[Willy iine]

2 hours ago, Gebbly said:

Holy Moly! That mini 4wd RC conversion is amazing! He's even made a FPV version. Now I have to add something else to my to build list

Great tip Alvin thanks.

Keyence had a matchbox car sized full function RC.  Not sure, maybe they still do.  

[yogi-bear]

I'd love to completely (apart from electronics, servo etc) scratch build a scale RC car, something from the 70s or 80s probably, making every part.

[Willy iine]

Just now, yogi-bear said:

I'd love to completely (apart from electronics, servo etc) scratch build a scale RC car, something from the 70s or 80s probably, making every part.

Would that be using 3D printing or in my case.. balsawood?  

[yogi-bear]

Just now, Willy iine said:

Would that be using 3D printing or in my case.. balsawood?  

actually, mill and lathe mainly!

[Willy iine]

Just now, yogi-bear said:

actually, mill and lathe mainly!

Nice.. like a true man!  

[ThunderDragonCy]

14 hours ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

The Tamiya Junkies thing are RHR is super easy to organise. We just agree to pay James the track owner for the day when the track is free, then charge people £8 flat rate. Electric only, 10th maximum scale, everyone has to have BRCA.

It's got it's own FB group now, but I first saw it on here a few years ago. People either bring cash or pay Paypal. If you have a local track, see if they'll hire it for the day then put the word out. All we do on the day is get everyone to sign in and put their BRCA number. It's really not that hard or stressful to organise.

Additional: I think RHR only charge about 80 quid for the day for hire. I know that's not chump change, but personally I would take a punt on it and even if no one turned up, would consider it a fairly good value day out if I got to razz all my cars all day long on a proper track. 

Get involved. Build it and they will come etc 😉

[alvinlwh]

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[Dakratfink]

16 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

Take early retirement, start a local business, kind of model cafe club thing. Have a build service for people too lazy/cannot be bothered to build (not just RC) so that I still can enjoy building while making money from it.

Just that retirement is still over a decade away.

Funny you mention this. 
I am “semi retired “  I collect military pension , but I’m currently working full time in retail at stool shop. 
the neighborhood I have settled in is a nice little park side community, but on the edge of a rail yard / industrial zone with a lot of old 1:1 car repair businesses.

My low key “dream” retirement plan would be  starting a retro/ used RC shop in that neighborhood, possibly branching into slot cars and static models/ die cast too. 
My problem is  two fold . One taking the risk to start a business , 2 having the focus and vision to know what to focus on vs branching out into “everything “ 

 

[alvinlwh]

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[Saito2]

I'd love to get into 3D modeling and printing. I've seen many ideas I've had since the 80's brought to life by creative, knowledgeable enthusiast. Its awesome. I am also a complete and utter moron with computers with no one around to teach me slow enough, nor the time to sit down and learn. I relieve myself of some of this guilt by telling myself 3D printing still isn't quite up to the durabiltiy and finish standards I'd prefer. I'd like to invest in a mill and lathe combo which my feeble mind can comprehend and would produce satisfactory parts. Sheer lack of time, money and energy at my age mean none of this will happen. I always tell myself, I'll wait for retirement, but lets face it, in the US, low income folks like myself work until we drop dead, lol.

I wish there was vintage racing nearby, but then again, I'm too introverted to be around people anyway. As such, I've always wanted an off-road track of my own, built to more 1980's standards and not likely to shatter plastic-fantastic Tamiyas with huge jumps and hard packed clay. My wife finally gave in, but we only plan on living here for 8 more years until my daughter graduates and then its time to get the heck out and move to Maine or Delaware (looking like Maine as Delaware is not a classic car-friendly state), so I don't want to tear up the backyard too badly.  Maybe someday when we move to our "final" house. I'll still be in my 50's so its possible.