What do you enjoy about RC stuff?

[novicelad]

Hi All

I am trying to figure out what I enjoy most about RC cars, and I genuinely think its the fiddling I enjoy running but I think the playing and toying on a bench actually makes me happier 

I am a motorcycle enthusiast but currently only have one bike, and as much as I love fiddling its my main form of transport so try not to fiddle too much.

If I could bring the bike into the dining room and start taking it apart on the table I would but I think my wife would protest to that, she doesn't seem to mine RC cars! 

Whats your fix? 

[Jonathon Gillham]

Its hard to say what my favourite part is, I enjoy racing, bashing, building/tinkering/fixing and also the researching and buying. I'm not so fussed on the modelling aspect, for me a single colour finish and bodged decals are par for the course.

If pushed I would probably say racing though - the track is challenging and its rewarding when you actually get around, trying to get my times down and the quality of the race kits is amazing. They require maintenance and the research to get the most out of them. The only thing missing is my son doesn't race with me, yet, but next year he should join me and then it will definitely be racing ahead of bashing

I do really like a new build though, but thats not a sustainable hobby, just buying and building kits, my wife barely understands the 7 cars we have now...

[moffman]

A fair few years ago I would have said racing (nitro especially) is the most enjoyable thing I liked doing RC! But I just fell out of love with everything RC about 7(ish) years ago but the last couple of years I've found a small flame in my belly (so to speak) and enjoy building the re-re's the more modern stuff I still have absolutely no interest in so I think that small flame is more of a nostalgic thing! Mind you I still and have always kept my subscription to a RC magazine and do enjoy reading it every month it drops through my letter box!

[Mad Ax]

I often wonder the same thing.  I don't really know what it is I love about it.  Lots of things together, I think.

I've always loved models of things - there's something about a perfect small replica of a big thing, especially when it has some functionality.  Things that look right, in right-looking surroundings.  I love dioramas, although I don't have space to make one of my own.  I had lots of plans to, but as family has come along the amount of space has gradually dwindled.  I might not even have any space for shelfers by the end of this year, which might even precipitate the selling-on of lots of my shelf-only cars.  I might never get to build my scale race workshop

I think this is why I enjoy RC trucks, scalers and drifting - where scale realism is more important than performance.  Getting everything to look just right on my TGX has been a real joy over the last year.  I'm often disappointed in my scale rigs because they never quite look right, or I never give them the time I need; the WRCC drift club has a fantastic scale track with scenery, buildings, road markings etc.. and everyone puts in the effort to make their cars look right.

I also love to do things differently.  I've got so much excetement to build all sorts of things that I haven't seen done before.  I'm not the most skilled at custom building, or at making my own parts, or at filling or painting, but I get stuck in and do it anyway.  I love finishing something that I made myself, even if it's not as good functionally as something I could buy.  I like the idea that I own a one-off thing, and that I put a piece of my soul into it.  The downside of this is much of what I make has lots of sentimental value and very little resale value  

I've done a bit more racing this year - I don't have time to race every week but I've done the Revival and one round of the Iconic Cup, and I'm doing the DT02 Challenge this month.  I don't take it seriously but it's great fun to compete with others, and with myself, to have a schedule and a timescale, to know that I have my 5 minutes of focus, 5 minutes of marshalling, then an hour to get the car cleaned, batteries topped off and food in my belly before the next heat.  It's a great way to test myself.  This year I put more effort into giving all my racers the same team colour for the event, and that added to the fun.

Beyond that, I just love knowing that I've got several months of projects lined up to get started, and that's if I get cracking on them full time.  I like to keep some unbuilt cars in my collection for "rainy day projects" - I don't collect NIBs, I'm just investing in future fun.  But like nursing a big savings account, it feels better to leave the fun in the bank than to withdraw it and watch it disappear.  I think my plan was that I'd stockpile these NIBs and projects in case of the ubiquitous "rainy day" - an unforeseen event like a road accident or illness that leaves me housebound and bored.  It's happened to me before and I had nothing to do but watch TV; now I've got a garage full of NIBs to build.  But hey, wait, now I've got a family - if I'm well enough to build a car then I'm probably well enough to look after a baby while my wife gets a well-earned break, so, maybe that fun-investment will stay in the bank until I retire...  Until then I can, with my greatly reduced disposable income, add to the pile of hop-ups and parts that will make part of these NIBs when I can eventually build them    

And I can't reply to this thread without mentioning people.  I'm not much of a people person, and I find some RC groups can be a little stand-offish to new faces, but Iconic RC has changed the environment for me.  After the local Tamiyaclub bashes died off, my RC playtime was either local club racing or going solo: Iconic now have fun, relaxed events throughout the year, so there's always something on the calendar, always old friends to catch up with and new friends to meet.  Long may it continue.

I love my hobby

[novicelad]

Wow what a great little story! 

[MadInventor]

I enjoy my scratch built models, the challenge of making something work well functionally, and having some resemblance to it's full scale counterpart. However, the last few builds I have done have encompassed at least 2 years each, and it's really too long to work on one project. By the time they are done they become more of a job that just has to be finished, the enthusiasm for them has waned and gone, and I now find myself getting more fun from running bashers with my son in the garden or at the beach. It's also been fun this year getting involved in @Jason1145's speed run thread, and following that. I've no real interest now in the relatively modern cars, (The exception being the sons GF-01 Dump Truck I built for him last year, which is great fun to drive), so once the War Rig is finished, I see my hobby time being put more into doing mods to my existing vintage models, like the alloy wheels I made for my hotshot recently, which are short little projects I can do over a couple of weeks.  

[qatmix]

The community is the best part of the hobby. It's friendly and positive. Lots of people always trying to help and give advice.

As an actual activity it is racing, it encapsulates every facet of the hobby from building and maintenance to refining the chassis and your thumbs. Importantly it is also creates face to face friendships as well.

[Klausen]

I love building cars, and especially rere's, as they make me able to build a lot of the kits I wanted back then. But also love the hunt for a new car, or at least the decision on what to build next. I used to be heavily into 1/8 brushless monsters, and have built more than 10 custom E-maxx's. These are all gone now, and I only have Tamiyas and Kyoshos now, except from my just aquired Catxls. Driving is also fun, but not my main interest in RC.

[Driveforfun]

I think the most satisfying part for me is getting an out of service or poorly running car fixed up again - even if it's just something that broke two days ago. I might at first put off the fix, but once i get into it, provided i don't strip a screw or something, getting the RC back to tip top is very satisfying.

 

Lately, creating videos of my RC's has become a bit of a passion as well. It's satisfying to get a really good shot of a car in action or just a good looking static shot.

 

[markbt73]

My three favorite RC activities:

1. Restoring old cars. I almost never restore them back to stock, because plenty of other people do that. Instead, I start with something rough, and go for the "resto-mod" idea.

2. Scratch-building. Kind of a new area for me. But I really enjoy making something that's absolutely one-of-a-kind. It just feels more like "mine" than something that I just assembled.

3. Tuning. I really love driving a bit, changing something, driving a bit more, seeing if it's better or worse. Because of this, I used to think I liked racing, but I don't, really. I prefer the preparation.

And I know some people have said that the community is their favorite aspect, but for me it's almost the opposite. I really like the online community, kindred-spirit sort of thing, but when I'm really into working on something, I like the solitude. We don't have many opportunities for peace and quiet in which to really concentrate on something, and a good labor-intensive RC project is a good excuse to have some.

[TheMidnight Pumpkin]

Its a distraction from my otherwise hectic daily life.

[wilsonian]

Difficult to nail it down really. Personally I don't race. I know of a few clubs that are near me (Manchester) that race but looking at the site it seems they race high end buggies which cost a lot of money. That being said I may have spent that on my wild dagger chassis.

I like bashing cars around, sending them into "testing" terrain and seeing what they can manage. I also enjoy stripping them down and servicing them. I think that comes from the love of general tinkering - idle hands are the devil's playground :-) lol

[nowinaminute]

Fiddling! Upgrading, altering, converting, repairing. Anything that makes me think and try to solve problems. I can now solder to a basic standard, I am not terrified of opening a gearbox. All the fiddling has gotten me using my hands and brain together like I haven't in years and it extends beyond RC. I now fix toys and other items that I would have just thrown away before I caught the bug a year ago.

Researching. Researching the best mods and alterations, researching what cheap stuff is actually decent to make my money go further. A year ago I knew NOTHING about RC, I don't know it all but it's amazing how much you can learn in a year when you're inspired to. My head has soaked up useless knowledge like a sponge!

Building kits. This one is obvious I guess but it's incredibly satisfying and enjoyable. If I buy a second hand Tamiya I'll usually strip it down and rebuild it just for the experience.

Converting toy grades for peanuts PURELY BECAUSE I ENJOY IT and then listening to people with zero knowledge on the subject tell me why I shouldn't as if I've unwittingly purchased a Radio Shack and I'm aspiring to make it compete with a £1000 hobby grade.

And of course bashing, although it's fair to say I probably devote way more time to fiddling!

[Wooders28]

Small and light enough to work on in the house, is a massive plus, laying under a 1:1, on a cold concrete floor with gearbox oil running down to your armpit, reminds you of this plus! 

Driving in 3D, great feeling when you hit a triple nose high, pull the brakes, drop the nose and hit the down ramp perfect! 

Engineering, the technical advances in recent years is astounding, especially the electronic side (and the cheap cost compared to bitd!) 

Speed, from 3 speed IC car's to brushless power, rc car speeds are awesome!! 

[Wooders28]

1 hour ago, wilsonian said:

Difficult to nail it down really. Personally I don't race. I know of a few clubs that are near me (Manchester) that race but looking at the site it seems they race high end buggies which cost a lot of money.

I'd go and have a look anyway, rc guys are rc guys, they love to talk rc. Chances are,(pretty much guarantee!) they'll have other car's and may have a vintage night/event that's not posted online.(RC guys spend more time updating their car's than they do their websites 😂) 

The club's by me have 'club cars', which they lend out to people who turn up and fancy a try, for free! 

[Theibault]

I enjoy both building and running them. In recent years, making videos has become a hobby, so my YouTube channel fits perfectly with the hobby (shameless plug, go subscribe to my channel if you haven't already!). Thirty plus years strong now and Tamiya is the company that started me on this mad journey lol.

[Jason1145]

I love the nostalgia, reliving those youth yearnings with Tamiya... dreaming of cars I could never afford back then but realising they are all pretty much attainable with an adults disposable income.

Ive tried to go back to a few things from my childhood but none of them have lived up to the hype, apart from RC. 

Video games, no

Skateboarding, no

BMX'ing, no 

RC'ing , yes

OK RC'ing only requires the dexterity of a wardrobe but still, immeasurable fun.

[berman]

16 hours ago, TheMidnight Pumpkin said:

Its a distraction from my otherwise hectic daily life.

An escape from life for me. I get to switch off from reality and do something for myself, if the wife and kids let me! I usually have to wait until all three are sleeping 😒

[Wooders28]

1 hour ago, Jason1145 said:

I love the nostalgia, reliving those youth yearnings with Tamiya... dreaming of cars I could never afford back then but realising they are all pretty much attainable with an adults disposable income.

Ive tried to go back to a few things from my childhood but none of them have lived up to the hype, apart from RC. 

Video games, no

Skateboarding, no

BMX'ing, no 

RC'ing , yes

OK RC'ing only requires the dexterity of a wardrobe but still, immeasurable fun.

The wife calls it some kind of 'crisis ' , but with you totally mate ! 😁👍

[Jonathon Gillham]

1 hour ago, Jason1145 said:

I love the nostalgia, reliving those youth yearnings with Tamiya... dreaming of cars I could never afford back then but realising they are all pretty much attainable with an adults disposable income.

Ive tried to go back to a few things from my childhood but none of them have lived up to the hype, apart from RC. 

Video games, no

Skateboarding, no

BMX'ing, no 

RC'ing , yes

OK RC'ing only requires the dexterity of a wardrobe but still, immeasurable fun.

This is a good point, the nostalgia is huge. I only bought 1 new kit first time around, the rest were secondhand. Luckily i don't have to read through the 'trade and exchange' paper every thursday to find them this time either.

 

Funny you say video games, we had awful rain yesterday so was playing Super Mario on my Wii with my 4yo. It was just as much fun as it was BITD...is that saying something about me...

 

15 minutes ago, Wooders28 said:

The wife calls it some kind of 'crisis ' , but with you totally mate ! 😁👍

My wife doesn't call it that for me, but I think she thinks it and is just happy that my crisis is toy cars. A mate is talking about either buying a classic 1:1 car which also means building a garage, so the best part of $100k crisis. His alternative is to sell up and move to a small village in Europe, arguably more drastic than a couple of toy cars! I also use this to gloss over the neverending purchases, 'you should be thankful I play with toycars, just imagine if I bought 12 real tyres...'

[Wooders28]

2 hours ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

A mate is talking about either buying a classic 1:1 car which also means building a garage, so the best part of $100k crisis.

I'm, yeah, that too! 🙄

(Ps, I wish it was only $100k 🤔 lol) 

[Country Mike]

Tinkering, modding, hotmelt glue burns, no money and the scale fun.

[Supercoolnothing]

For me it's building and painting closely followed by tinkering with the end product.  

[Jonathon Gillham]

3 hours ago, Wooders28 said:

I'm, yeah, that too! 🙄

(Ps, I wish it was only $100k 🤔 lol) 

Haha yeah cars are a money pit. My wife let me get one of my lotto garage last car (Jaguar XF) and so if I want my F Type or 911 I have to sell my XF. As much as I would love to trade the XF for an F TYPE there is no way I'm giving up the XF for our 9hour trips to see her parents. Check mate, my toy 1:1 car is a diesel family sedan - she won that one

[Nitomor]

^ Having other people to share and fuel a mid life crisis with  .

Could be worse, a friend of a drinking pal of a workmate, just left his partner of 18 years with whom they had three kids (but never married) disappeared for a week with 'work' said to london but actually went to the Ukraine (she clocked the abroad ring tone so he's rumbled anyway but then lied and said that work moved him abroad!!) to meet a woman he had met on the internet and returned a married man!! The partner and kids know nothing yet! Er, explain that one away! Should find out more next week! Maybe he should've just bought a Hornet or somehing!!