Therapy

[Josie]

..is exactly what i got  whilst building my first rc car. 

The build its self was just so daunting and challenging, yet relaxing, de-stressing and therapeutic. 

I was so happy to finish and happy with the end result,  yet sad that my therapy session was over! 

Yes, this may be an expensive hobby but the learning and understanding of a new kit far outweighs that. x

 

 

[TurnipJF]

The build process is indeed therapeutic. I owe much of my remaining sanity to the Monster Beetle and Audi Quattro that I built during the Coronapocalypse. (And to my lovely wife who encouraged me to build them.)

[Saito2]

Great experience isn't it? I'm happy to hear you found it so enjoyable. Working at my RC bench relaxes me and recharges my "batteries". I look forward to it everyday.

[Josie]

5 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

The build process is indeed therapeutic. I owe much of my remaining sanity to the Monster Beetle and Audi Quattro that I built during the Coronapocalypse. (And to my lovely wife who encouraged me to build them.)

Still makes me smile when think of Toilet roll gate, during lockdown. Hilarious!

[Josie]

4 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

Great experience isn't it? I'm happy to hear you found it so enjoyable. Working at my RC bench relaxes me and recharges my "batteries". I look forward to it everyday.

Yes definitely, thankyou. Its that 'me' time that is just so addictive! And healing.

 

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, Josie said:

Still makes me smile when think of Toilet roll gate, during lockdown. Hilarious!

Not as funny as those Q people with their conspiracy theories. That was some funny stuff. 

[Big Jon]

Without getting too personal, my hobbies have helped me to manage sometimes crippling depression, and racing/meetups encourage me to interact with people in a social setting. Therapy indeed.

[Bill_23]

I restarted rc hobby after 15 years and I have already built four Tamiya models with hop-ups (XV02 pro and rs pro and 2 tt-02 type-s rally).

+ building is relaxing (if you have the correct tools tbh)

+ optimizing is very satisfying

+ customizing (mechanically) is extremely satisfying

+ generally dealing with this hobby develops skills even for my 2yo son

+ it really helps think less of everyday problems - and we have many in Greece

- it is too expensive

- mrs complains a lot

 

positive outcome 

[Rinskie]

I am still recovering from my brain surgery in February. RC has helped out a lot and I'm thankful to have it. 

[alvinlwh]

The best thing when I am building, be it RC or static or lego, I will not be smoking or even vaping. 

[Juggular]

It's very relaxing... or maddening, depending on your point of view.  

 

[urban warrior]

9 hours ago, Josie said:

..is exactly what i got  whilst building my first rc car. 

The build its self was just so daunting and challenging, yet relaxing, de-stressing and therapeutic. 

I was so happy to finish and happy with the end result,  yet sad that my therapy session was over! 

Yes, this may be an expensive hobby but the learning and understanding of a new kit far outweighs that.

Your approach is making me reconsidering my own one. At some point I "burn" for this hobby ... I wouldn't ever have accumulated so much stuff, nearly worth a 1/1 car, when this hobby wouldn't mean anything to me. But sometimes some builds tend to develop to somekind of burden, even though I love the models. I guess its my approach to build them as perfect as possible (at least in my imagination) but lacking some key capabilities to do so.

7 hours ago, Bill_23 said:

- it is too expensive

- mrs complains a lot

Expensive ... yes. But I guess I have found the right wife. She is always curious about my cars.

4 hours ago, Juggular said:

It's very relaxing... or maddening, depending on your point of view.  

 

Wow! I guess I am quite patient and persistent on the mechanical side. But I never tried opening these little ball bearings. Cudos!

[No Slack]

Agree, therapy. My brother was diagnosed with cancer last year and we are going to build the same kits together as a therapy. At the moment his condition is ok so we will be making some good memories.

[ChrisRx718]

Wish you and your brother all the best @No Slack

I find every part of the build therapeutic - particularly oil damper assembly. But sometimes, painting / cutting and finishing bodies can be stressful! Especially if it's a rare and expensive body.

[magnumcyclonex]

10 hours ago, Josie said:

..is exactly what i got  whilst building my first rc car. 

The build its self was just so daunting and challenging, yet relaxing, de-stressing and therapeutic. 

I was so happy to finish and happy with the end result,  yet sad that my therapy session was over! 

Yes, this may be an expensive hobby but the learning and understanding of a new kit far outweighs that. x

 

 

Every therapy session costs money. Sometimes there's additional (but optional) add ons. Then there's extra fees for doing therapy at an established location alongside people with the same track of mind. When the therapy session reveals some broken parts, you need to invest more to restore back to 100%

[mtbkym01]

I absolutely agree with all above. Sometimes just time spent in my Hobby Shed tinkering around rather than actual kit building or maintenance is enough to lift any stress levels from life in general. Its just a great place to sit and soak it all up

[Wooders28]

On 6/13/2025 at 10:46 PM, Josie said:

I was so happy to finish and happy with the end result,  yet sad that my therapy session was over! 

Yes, this may be an expensive hobby but the learning and understanding of a new kit far outweighs that

New kits are great, but there's also joy in a restoration, be it a full concorse restoration, where everything is original and perfect (although, then new kits look cheap..), or the more Restomod which I go for, which is getting an old neglected car up and running, with all modern electronics, without worrying too much on originality, find car X driveshafts fit on rare car Y chassis ,or shocks etc. Joining Facebook groups for said chassis, and getting tips and heads ups, all brings a different satisfaction when its up and running.

There used to be loads on eBay, usually listed as 'old remote car' or 'vintage toy car', but eBay's Ai now tends to put suggestions forward ,looking at the pictures and a suggested price (they are still out there though). Market Place and good old car boot sales are a good source too. 

Being known as 'the RC car guy' has brought cars my way too (our club has been given around a dozen now, which I've cleaned up , repaired and sold on, which is a different satisfaction/joy again , as the club can now order a new tannoy system etc. ).

 

On 6/14/2025 at 12:45 AM, Big Jon said:

racing/meetups encourage me to interact with people in a social setting. Therapy indeed.

I said this to people when they say they don't want to join a club, as they're not into racing and/or not good enough.

It's not just about the racing aspect, you've a load of RC nuts gathered in the same place, who are more than happy to talk about shock oils, Tamiyas/Kyosho/Schumachers new release, lend you circlip /E ring/ Shock pilers and help you with anything you're struggling with.

I'm not what you'd class is shy, but in a normal group setting, I'll say hello etc and that's about it, but at an RC public open day ,with club fliers in hand, I will quite happily talk to 1000 people! 😁

 

[Josie]

18 hours ago, Big Jon said:

Without getting too personal, my hobbies have helped me to manage sometimes crippling depression, and racing/meetups encourage me to interact with people in a social setting. Therapy indeed.

Sending you a virtual hug! x

[Josie]

10 hours ago, No Slack said:

Agree, therapy. My brother was diagnosed with cancer last year and we are going to build the same kits together as a therapy. At the moment his condition is ok so we will be making some good memories.

A virtual hug for you and your brother too. x

[Tbird232ci]

When I clicked this thread, I thought it was going to be a thread about how we all need therapy because we are insane for his hobby. 

[2qwik]

It's about  switching off the "worldly clamours", shifting focus and creation being great for the soul. I get alot of therapy from my Street cars, my motorcycles both road as well as enduro for the bush. This one is for later at night in my workshop as the wind down.. I'm well taken care of.

[Josie]

10 hours ago, Tbird232ci said:

When I clicked this thread, I thought it was going to be a thread about how we all need therapy because we are insane for his hobby. 

Ha, i was already insane and bonkers before starting this new hobby!

[simensays]

On 6/14/2025 at 11:36 PM, Tbird232ci said:

When I clicked this thread, I thought it was going to be a thread about how we all need therapy because we are insane for his hobby. 

Yet, it turns out to be one of the most honest and inspiring post in the forums. After 20+ years on here I find this is such a positive and relatable post - both from a personal level and as a clinical psychologist.

[magnumcyclonex]

I've replied once in jest. So to offer my own personal insight. I cannot agree more with you. When it is late at night, when everything is quiet, or if it is a lazy weekend afternoon with no other agenda, making progress on a kit, whether it's new (I've never done that chassis) or old (yet another TT02) is quite relaxing and therapeutic in a way, just like you described.

Even for me, I will start a build, while waiting upon a hop up. When said hop up arrives, depending on what it is, I may have to go deep and take the whole thing apart (I'm looking at you MF-01X Aluminum Motor Mount!). But even then, THAT can be therapeutic because I now have to work backwards to get the new part installed, and then once again reassemble the components to bring the chassis back to working order.

Lastly for me, I'm not the best at multi tasking. I might start having a show on while building, but if my mind ends up concentrating too much on what is being said, my mind is not reading the instruction manual and actively thinking about how to fit Tamiya's oddly shaped pieces together, so I will often pause the show or turn on some light instrumental music that I already have heard a million times before in order to move forward with the build process, especially on a new chassis I've never done before. In many cases, I will just pause everything and have complete silence, no distractions while building.

I think it is this full, pure, 100% concentration on the task at hand is what makes building Tamiya (and for other people Lego) so relaxing and therapeutic. You can physically visualize the progress you are making and when it is all said and done, you can be proud of the result.

Two things to note. At the end, after doing a body, I almost always vow to myself "never again!" But guess what, with most new kits, I will end up doing a new body anyways. Drilling the holes, cutting the body along its contours, washing, masking, double masking for certain areas, then painting multiple colors (even a simple 2 or 3 tone color is a bit of work). The second point is that after a completed build, there is slight tinge of "emptiness" or feeling a void. Like we need something new to keep us going. After all, that is the dopamine rush we get whenever we see a new kit announced, place the order, physically receive it, open the box, cut up all the pieces and begin/continue the assembly process. Tamiya knows this, which is why one kit is never enough!

[MadAnt]

3 minutes ago, magnumcyclonex said:

 

I think it is this full, pure, 100% concentration on the task at hand is what makes building Tamiya (and for other people Lego) so relaxing and therapeutic. You can physically visualize the progress you are making and when it is all said and done, you can be proud of the result

101% 

I get in my little zone and make cool stuff happen. I try to achieve a vision and it's so rewarding when I do.