wtcc's RC10 40th (anniversary edition)

[wtcc5]

For some years now, I wanted to buy and build one of the legendary RC10 buggys. The chance never came. Then the classic Clear was released.

After AE brought the Classic Clear I had the hope, that the RC10 Classic kit will be re-released soon. And then AE announced the 40th anniversary edition  I closely watched which hobby shop would offer preordering. Hours later I discovered Tamicos preorder offer and pulled the trigger for one kit. Again just shortly after, Tamico announced, they stopped preordering, because AE only ships very few kits to Germany. My chance to get one faded after I heard from friends, that their preorders already shipped from Tamico, while I got no shipment notice. Another friend then made me aware that another shop still offered kits. I lost no time and ordered one. The result is, that I have two now  (Tamico could organize some more kits, the first batch consisted of only seven kits).

Oh well, better two than none:

 

I was also lucky and got nice comparably low numbers:

 

The 0688 will stay NiB for now. The 0990 is part of this build thread.

Building one of these isn't hassle free. It starts with the manual. There is none in the box. Therefore you find a QR-code that leads to a download page. Well it should. At first the link didn't work and yesterday the download didn't start. As I prefer paper manuals, I downloaded the Classic edition manual and printed it for my build.

The second hurdle are the tools needed for the imperial hardware. The last time I used inch tools was 2010 on my AE TC5. And from that time I have two sets of inch screw-/nutdrivers. There are some allen keys coming with the kit, but I am sure some of the buyers will have their problems if they want to build one of these babies.

Enough blabla! The build begins tasty with tub and nose. On the latter the front body mount gets attached to: 

 

Then tub and nose are combined with three screws:

 

Very clever, two of these screws are also the steering posts:

 

Overall the front has a simple, efficient design. It continues with the front suspension. Hub assembly:

 

Arms:

 

Shock tower:

 

Attached to the chassis:

 

 

 

 

[GTodd]

Dude, love it! Not helping me keep mine in the box while I finish the DS, JUGG2 and RC10 team car 

[IXLR8]

Very nice!  

The design is dead simple and it's meant to minimize the time necessary for maintenance and repair between rounds.   Simple is good.

By contrast, imagine if you had to replace a broken chain in your Optima before the mains begin. 

The RC10 is comprised of relatively few parts and assembles very quickly.

[toyolien]

15 hours ago, wtcc5 said:

Great build so far. I remember racing one of these in 1991 (second hand of course).

However, the angle of that serial number decal would really bug me 

[Jeepy2013]

I'm still trying to figure out how other countries have got these and a bunch of us here in the states that have pre-ordered directly from Ae still don't even have a shipping notification. AE is showing "sold out" on their pre-order now.  Just a little frustrating, as I figured ordering directly from them, I would have a better chance of getting it sooner.....guess not...lol.

[wtcc5]

@Jeepy2013:That is indeed strange. But in this globalized economy it is possible that the ship went to Asia/Europe first before reaching USA. I was very surprised of the short time between AEs announcement and the shipping to the customer here in Germany.

 

@toyolien: Thank you! Yeah, the sticker could've been placed better, but as this thing stays in the box for now, I don't care. I could remove it and place parallel to the bend line...but no, too lazy for that 

 

Next on this build is the gearbox. For me a new design I have never seen before. It makes sense, but seems unnecessary complicated. It looks tough:

 

The location of the differential is where I expect a slipper to be. The good thing here is, that you don't need to remove and disassemble the whole gearbox for maintenance :

 

Before the gearbox, the shocktower gets attached to the chassis:

 

A plastic plate then connects both to make the rear section strong:

[wtcc5]

 

Rear suspension build:

 

Attached to the chassis:

 

So far this build was a blast. Everything fit, good plastic and hole size. The white ballcups and turnbuckles are the opposite. With the borehole size these offer it was impossible to thread in the turnbuckles. I widened the hole to approximately 2,7mm in diameter and then used Tamiya classic silver turnbuckles. Also the hubs and axles were added:

 

Turnbuckles finished in front, too:

 

This car is a fast build:

 

The damper design then brought me back to 1996 when I build my RC10T2. Special is the lower sealing design that is inserted from above with this black tool:

 

Nice and smooth:

[Superluminal]

How are you finding screwing into the plastics? On the CC builds I saw some reports of the clear plastic being very hard and brittle and either screws snapping or parts cracking - it seems recommended to use a thread tap first.

Are the white plastics slightly softer?

[wtcc5]

@Superluminal: Yes. The matte white plastic is softer and has the perfect bore holes for the tapping screws. It is really a pleasure to build. It would be the perfect experience if AE would’ve added ball bearings and used other plastic for the cups.

[F-150]

On 5/10/2024 at 9:03 AM, Jeepy2013 said:

I'm still trying to figure out how other countries have got these and a bunch of us here in the states that have pre-ordered directly from Ae still don't even have a shipping notification. AE is showing "sold out" on their pre-order now.  Just a little frustrating, as I figured ordering directly from them, I would have a better chance of getting it sooner.....guess not...lol.

Same...

Looking like I'm not getting mine, even after he said it would be sent.  

Looks like it is waiting for another batch that won't happen .. I wish they would just say so 

 

[wtcc5]

Installation of the shocks:

 

Then the unique design support braces:

 

More small pieces. Battery mount and antenna mount:

 

Servo mounts and link:

 

Now another tasty add: The motor. A tough choice and motors from that time are hard to come by. I decided to use Yokomos rerelease of their Offroad Esprit series. It has a fair price and a pink label:

 

The gear cover comes already cut and with rubber cover for the diff adjustment:

 

 

[wtcc5]

Pretty close to completion now. Last on the chassis build are the tires. I never build wheels consisting of so many separate parts:

 

On the car:

 

I definitely underestimated the expense finishing the body. My last competition buggy bodies were so easy to paint. But this thing additionally features a cockpit and lights:

 

... and my color reveal:

In hindsight, I should've painted the rear "windows", too.

 

Stickers attached:

 

Later I found it necessary to paint the wheels too. @Quincy talked me out of the idea to paint them golden  So silver it is. Making sunflowers first:

 

Painted and assembled again:

The wing is finished here and I added a slim white stripe on the rear and wing which isn't there stock.

 

Work on the cockpit. Cut:

 

...and painted:

I freely added some stickers to make it look like my driver "Roger Curtis" has sponsors 

 

And last, the light buckets. Two colors and a sticker:

And I painted the rear windows black. I like it better that way.

 

Now, it would be the perfect moment for a cliffhanger  But you guys were so nice and generous with likes here, that you deserve a sneak peek:

 

[Superluminal]

Really nice! Great choice of colour - what blue is it? I originally thought it was Tamiya PS Cobalt Green but doenst look as greeny as the Vaillant porsche I used it on. Its a really nice contrast with the gold.

[Superluminal]

On 5/11/2024 at 3:15 PM, F-150 said:

Same...

Looking like I'm not getting mine, even after he said it would be sent.  

Looks like it is waiting for another batch that won't happen .. I wish they would just say so 

Im wondering if you were just a little too late off the mark? Your order date says the 18th April and I recall from the other thread Jeepy mentioned his order was three days after release? I pre-ordered mine in the UK on the 16th April at around 6am which was the morning following the night it was released on my local retailers website and pretty sure within 12 hours their whole allocation of stock of kits they were getting from the distributor (less than 30) was then gone - as it was showing out of stock a day or two later.

I always assume on things like this that are limited that theyre given a heads up by the distributor so they can prepare the promotional and sales side before it goes public - in which time they will no doubt set aside a couple for themselves / friends / super loyal customers etc and whats left is then sold off on a first come first serve basis.

[wtcc5]

@Superluminal: Thank you!  This color is called „Urman Blue“ and is from Absimas line called „Spray Paintz“.

[GermanTA03Guy]

1 hour ago, wtcc5 said:

@Superluminal: Thank you!  This color is called „Urman Blue“ and is from Absimas line called „Spray Paintz“.

Nice. I also find it refreshing amongst all the yellowish orange box arts. Absima+Co. have some cool turqoise shades. It Seems to be the same product as hspeed and ghiant polycarbonate paints. I have the urman blue and the green-blue/turqoise cans sitting on my shelf for an upcoming leyton house build  . So the reference helps. On the Photos it looks perfect for leyton house, but in reality, is it green enough ? 

[wtcc5]

@GermanTA03Guy: Very hard to say... From what I see having the car in front of my eyes, I would say it matches pretty much the Leyton House March car  (I have only seen on pictures). I also think it has enough green. On the pictures it tends to be blueish depending on lighting and camera angle, but it is definitely on the green side.

 

Here is the finished car:

(the picture above comes closest to the real color on my screen)

 

 

Now some of the outdoor pictures that were made with another camera in direct sunlight:

[pastimesteve]

That is one of the nicest color schemes I've seen for the RC10, and as you know, there are tons out there. This is amazing! 

[Room335]

6 hours ago, wtcc5 said:

 

 

 

Doesn't get much better than this! The gold and blue look great together. Awesome job @wtcc5

[IXLR8]

Beautiful!

One of the nicest original, non box-art, RC10's I've seen yet.

Congratulations, that's a winner.  

[River19]

Lots of memories there for me.......was my first "real" car when I was 13 in 1988......remember the build and it seems so simple to me now looking at it.

 

Nice build, really looks good.

[tamiya3speed]

I liked the photos but have to make a post to say how great I find that color combination.  Absolutely fantastic job @wtcc5