Do you keep your first hobby grade build?

[2Dover3D]

Some people get rid of their first hobby grade cars they have built after learning more about the hobby and moved on to better and faster cars. I feel your first build is when you are introduced to the hobby, still learning the does and don'ts so you don't go all out with brushless motors and expensive parts, well at least I didn't. Well I went back to mine and just showed it some love by replacing all the bearings, replaced the Tamiya tble brushed system with an Onyx brushless comb,replaced the king blackfoot wheels with some wider deeper wheels, and swapped out the HPI racing tires with some more grippy prolines tires. I can't wait to test it out this weekend! LETS SEE THOSE VERY FIRST BUILDS!

[Willy iine]

My first hobby grade RC car was the original Tamiya Brat so it's been  40 years.. I sold it back when I was still young.  

[mtbkym01]

Still got my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (3rd is in the restore queue)

1st was a Fox

2nd was a Big Bear

[TurnipJF]

I kept mine:

...sort of.

I still have all the original bits, but now they are split between this:

...and this:

 

My first F103 was a new build,  which saw a fair bit of racing before being joined by a second one that was very much used and in need of restoration, but came with some nice period hop-ups. My original one got the hop-ups and some new parts, and some of its used but not worn out bits went into the restoration, giving me one pristine hopped up F103 and one race-worn stock F103, both containing bits of the original. 

[GToddC5]

I only managed to keep remnants of my first - Blackfoot. There's a sad box of parts somewhere in my garage. I may take a pic of the parts, but it might be NSFW 

[2Dover3D]

46 minutes ago, Willy iine said:

My first hobby grade RC car was the original Tamiya Brat so it's been  40 years.. I sold it back when I was still young.  

That is a lot of stories I hear too often of people selling off RC cars when they were young and some fully regretting it. We all have been there one way or another lol I bet it was bad ***!

[2Dover3D]

11 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

I kept mine:

...sort of.

I still have all the original bits, but now they are split between this:

...and this:

 

My first F103 was a new build,  which saw a fair bit of racing before being joined by a second one that was very much used and in need of restoration, but came with some nice period hop-ups. My original one got the hop-ups and some new parts, and some of its used but not worn out bits went into the restoration, giving me one pristine hopped up F103 and one race-worn stock F103, both containing bits of the original. 

Beautiful!!!

[2Dover3D]

38 minutes ago, mtbkym01 said:

Still got my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (3rd is in the restore queue)

1st was a Fox

2nd was a Big Bear

Niiiiice bro!!

[Badcrumble]

No photo of my TL-01 Bowler just now as it is feeling sorry for itself after I robbed a steering hub for another project .

I have toyed with the idea of turning back into a rally car, restoring it to its former glory (and better than when I bought it second hand).

[Willy iine]

34 minutes ago, 2Dover3D said:

That is a lot of stories I hear too often of people selling off RC cars when they were young and some fully regretting it. We all have been there one way or another lol I bet it was bad ***!

For a kid it was a superb dream car for sure.   My grandma bought it for me when I visited her in Japan after moving to the USA due to my pop's work.  He was a rotation staff for a big corporation and it was still considered pretty elite and unique to live in the USA.  Did you know JPY was still at 360?  Imagine that today..  even 142 is weak.    haha     

I've never regretted selling the car because I drove the thing to the ground.  I sold it cheap to a local kid just starting out.  I also had a Frog a bit later which I cherished.. until it got eaten by a Fox.     Then my HotShot ate the Fox.      

So I got a re-re HotShot for good memory..  

[Kpowell911]

I wish I kept it, I dont know what happened to it but it went. however I did pay over the odds for a brand new in box one nearly 20 years later and built it up

[Saito2]

Still got it.

Sorry, I've posted these pics before. The body's on its 3rd paint job and the side window is half broke, but she's still with me. I'll probably restore the body properly but leave all the rest of the battle scars intact. Those tires last a long time,

[alvinlwh]

.

[2Dover3D]

2 hours ago, Willy iine said:

For a kid it was a superb dream car for sure.   My grandma bought it for me when I visited her in Japan after moving to the USA due to my pop's work.  He was a rotation staff for a big corporation and it was still considered pretty elite and unique to live in the USA.  Did you know JPY was still at 360?  Imagine that today..  even 142 is weak.    haha     

I've never regretted selling the car because I drove the thing to the ground.  I sold it cheap to a local kid just starting out.  I also had a Frog a bit later which I cherished.. until it got eaten by a Fox.     Then my HotShot ate the Fox.      

So I got a re-re HotShot for good memory..  

Lmao great story bro! And you had the RC car dream life to be able to go back and forth to Japan! Epic!!!

[2Dover3D]

35 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

Mine produced offsprings. Now it is a grandparent.

 

Sick!!!!

[2Dover3D]

38 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

Still got it.

Sorry, I've posted these pics before. The body's on its 3rd paint job and the side window is half broke, but she's still with me. I'll probably restore the body properly but leave all the rest of the battle scars intact. Those tires last a long time,

Awsome bro just Awsome!!!

[joeling]

My first is a Hotshot bought in 1986 as a gift to me from my parents. I remember not knowing anything about painting and painted the the body on the outside & probably not using PS type paint. As a result, the metallic green () painted started to peel off real quick. Anyway, over the years, this kit moved with me from Singapore (studied there for 7 years) to Australia (migrated) then to Malaysia (back to birth country for work). Fast forward to present day. Decided to do a fairly thorough restoration a couple of years ago.

Before the restoration. Not sure why I painted the mid section of the chassis like there's a hatch there all those years ago. Now the re re kit has an actual hatch in that same spot .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[El Gecko]

Yep, got it secondhand without a bodyshell when I was a kid, and it drives way better now! (after some new electronics and other recent tuning)

Still working on giving it the body it's never had, but until then this Frog runs in the nude

[lentner3]

My first build was actually a hornet from when I was about 8yo however it has become a bit of a triggers broom so I’m not sure what’s original anymore. 

[Gebbly]

I would suggest to anyone who sees this thread and knows of anyone else who is dipping their toes into RC to strongly encourage them to always keep hold of their first RC car.

I got my hotshot around 1987 and built it with my dad. I kept it for many many years. I must have had a clear out about 15 years ago when I wasnt thinking about RC at all because I now cannot find it anywhere. I have a terrible feeling during a clear out I decided I'm never going to use it again and just took it to the tip. It annoys me every time I think about it.

[Edit]

I've just had a thought. I could buy a re-re hotshot kit. Visit my parents and get my dad to help me put it together. I'll have to do the fiddlier bits as he is starting to get arthritis in his fingers. hmm, yet another RC project for my queue...

[markbt73]

Oh no, it's long gone. But that's fine. It was a Grasshopper that I bought with my own money that I saved up for most of a summer. Finally got it just about this time of year in 1986. I spent the rest of the summer driving the wheels off it (literally - I completely wore out two sets of tires), breaking stuff, rebuilding it, adding hop-ups where I could. By Christmas it was already a "ship of Theseus" and nearly worn out again. For my birthday in January, I got a Blackfoot kit, robbed the Grasshopper of its radio, and after that it sat in the closet.

Five or six years later, after my parents got divorced, my mom sold the house and cleared everything out. My Grasshopper went into a dumpster, along with the Marui Big Bear and Tamiya Falcon that my brother built and then abandoned, the AYK 566B Super Trail that I bought at a garage sale for $50 and then never did anything with (that one still stings), my Tyco slot car track and all the cars, and the dozens of model kits I had built over the years. I had taken the Blackfoot with me to college, but sold it when I got involved in racing indoor carpet oval cars; I bought a Bolink Eliminator with the proceeds.

The way I see it, if everyone had held on to everything, none of the old stuff would be special today. It'd just be old. We're not meant to just acquire and accumulate; once you're done with something, it's OK to get rid of it and move on. I now have two other Grasshoppers anyway, one re-re that I've been gleefully thrashing in various ways for sixteen years now, and one NIB re-re that I'm saving for a rainy day.

[Super ally]

My first build was the Hornet then the Blackfoot which i still have in my brothers shed at his house.They would need restored but i will leave them as they are.I have the re re Hornet and want to get the re re Blackfoot as well.

[2Dover3D]

On 8/3/2023 at 9:00 PM, joeling said:

My first is a Hotshot bought in 1986 as a gift to me from my parents. I remember not knowing anything about painting and painted the the body on the outside & probably not using PS type paint. As a result, the metallic green () painted started to peel off real quick. Anyway, over the years, this kit moved with me from Singapore (studied there for 7 years) to Australia (migrated) then to Malaysia (back to birth country for work). Fast forward to present day. Decided to do a fairly thorough restoration a couple of years ago.

Before the restoration. Not sure why I painted the mid section of the chassis like there's a hatch there all those years ago. Now the re re kit has an actual hatch in that same spot .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epic!!

[2Dover3D]

On 8/4/2023 at 4:33 AM, Gebbly said:

I would suggest to anyone who sees this thread and knows of anyone else who is dipping their toes into RC to strongly encourage them to always keep hold of their first RC car.

I got my hotshot around 1987 and built it with my dad. I kept it for many many years. I must have had a clear out about 15 years ago when I wasnt thinking about RC at all because I now cannot find it anywhere. I have a terrible feeling during a clear out I decided I'm never going to use it again and just took it to the tip. It annoys me every time I think about it.

[Edit]

I've just had a thought. I could buy a re-re hotshot kit. Visit my parents and get my dad to help me put it together. I'll have to do the fiddlier bits as he is starting to get arthritis in his fingers. hmm, yet another RC project for my queue...

Well said brother and thats a great idea for sure!

[naturbo2000]

First was a Hornet that I sold to fund the second, a Madcap that I still have. Last year it got the full Super Astute ++ treatment and goes racing like I dreamed to have done when I was 12.