Uh oh, I don't like RC cars?!

[Saito2]

I got to run RCs with a coworker the other day. He brought in his RC10T4 and let me drive it around a bit. I was great. I got bored quick. This isn't another "lack's Tamiya's character" thread but I did ponder it for a bit. I came to the conclusion that I have to care about the little car/truck I see buzzing about out there in my field of vision. To me, this means it must come from my youth or be in the 1st 100 Tamiyas. There are a very select few vehicles that escape this like the TXT-1/2 etc. New RC10B-whatever = don't care. Classic 6-gear RC10 = awesome. 

This extends further to classic vehicle paint schemes. I don't like watching non-boxart cars from behind the transmitter. Its gotta look like the classics I dreamed about in the catalogs as a kid. Those are dreams come true. I know, sounds too purist. The fact is, I love to look at how others customize their cars. I wouldn't mind to have a few on my shelf myself, but if I'm driving it, I want to see original. I think only the Clod Buster escapes this rule of mine but I still have to have an original runner first and foremost. I've modded dozens of cars and wound up returning them to stock or at least, stock appearance (a few period accessories excepted). Weird isn't it? 

[87lc2]

I don't think that's odd at all.  Funny enough, I'm the exact opposite.  I love looking at posts by fellow TCers that restore cars to box art, and original box art cars always catch my eye.  However, when it comes to my own RCs I like to modify and paint them so they're my own.   Pretty much the opposite of what you're feeling, to each their own.  As long as you;re enjoying the hobby in some way that's all that really matters.

[tamiya3speed]

I am a huge fan of box at for Tamiyas.  Alternative schemes just seem out of place to me.  I think because they go to such great lengths to design the box art scheme.  I do agree to some extent on having to have a connection to the car I am driving.  I bought and sold a Slash 4x4 without ever using it, I just couldn't see myself enjoying it even though it did everything better than most Tamiyas.

[Nobbi1977]

I had no childhood dreams as such so my taste is eclectic and ever changing.

I did grow up repairing and restoring cars and motorcycles so I always enjoy the build more than the drive.

[Ray_ve]

Sounds to me like you enjoy the build to box-art part of the RC experiance a lot, other people like driving, I myself like building how I want them which usually means some modifications... and the occasional recreational drive. 

So we all like RC, just different aspects of it.

[Juggular]

It's what you identify with it.  

For some people, it's the smell of baking, for some people, it's the taste or texture, or for some people, it's the look of the cake.  We all have the same thing, but identify different aspects of it.  

I'm split.  When there was no re-release, I wanted them exactly like the box art.  If it's not the box art, I'd feel like "uh... I don't have THE SAME Tamiya..."   But now that re-releases are abundant, I don't mind "ruining" them with different color schemes.   

It all started with the Pink Dragon.  This abomination could not be forgiven.  When I used blue-violet on the image, it looked (slightly) better to me.  I thought, 'hey, I don't have to live with the color scheme Tamiya decided.'  That was the start of the disease... One day, the Boomerang started to look too bland.  I'm testing out some colors...  What I learned is that Tamiya had really picked the best color for each car.  It's really hard to improve upon them (except for the pink).  

 

[Saito2]

40 minutes ago, Juggular said:

What I learned is that Tamiya had really picked the best color for each car.  It's really hard to improve upon them

I think that Tamiya put a ton of thought into the colors and decals for alot of there buggies and trucks. Its amazing that on a conscious level we mostly agree the cars look good (everyone has opinions on which looks best however) but there's a almost subconscious level of why these things look good. This extends to the body shapes of the "animal" themed cars subtlety looking like the animal. Now buggies like the Zahhakk, I have no earlier connection with so the sky's the limit for customization in my book. However, as great as the car drives (I have its big brother, the 201) its not vintage which limits its appeal to me (unless it gets a retro-themed paintjob perhaps, hmmm...) I have on rare occasion done other colors on cars like the Boomerang. I too, find it bland so I painted it light blue. Why? RC Car Action painted it light blue in their review of the car back in the day. Years of rereading those magazines over and over made it look "familiar" enough to me to accept it as "ok" in my brain.

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[evssv69]

I've  had/have lots of rc's from different manufacturers...if its not a tamiya I'm not too fussed on box art looks and or doing loads of upgrades..but it obv has to look good none the less...but my tamiyas  have to b box art....like i remember them in beatties window at 7-8-9 years old ect and in tamiya's glossy books found on the counters in the shop........I must admit i dont really run my tams compared to the other rc's...or do upgrades on them....maybe a period fancy motor but that's it tbh...

[markbt73]

It's funny; I'm actually almost the opposite when it comes to paint schemes. I get bored seeing the same thing over and over again, and if you show me 20 identical vehicles and one minor variation, there's no question which one I'm going to be drawn to. I have noticed this with 1:1 cars as well as RC; if there's a line of nut-and-bolt restorations at a car show, and one tasteful resto-mod, it's the resto-mod that I'll hover around. 

I do appreciate a good box-art job, but I rarely do them myself. In fact, I have a new body for my Kyosho Optima sitting on a shelf, along with all the paints to do a box-art scheme, and I can't quite bring myself to do it. (Partially because that paint job is a technical nightmare, and I'm a little afraid to screw it up...) I kind of like the "box-alt" idea: stock stripes/decals with a different base color. Silver Hornets, red Boomerangs, and blue Hotshots I think look particularly good.

But I also have virtually no interest in the newer (meaning less than 20-25 years old) vehicles, except for scale trucks, and even then, I only really like models of old trucks. 2017 Ford Raptor, bleah. No thanks. 1972 Ford F100? Now you're talking.

[TurnipJF]

For me, it depends on the subject being modelled. If it is a representation of a real car, especially a real race livery, it has to be either box-art or a similarly realistic alternative livery that the real car would have sported at some point. However when it comes to model cars with no real-world fullsize equivalent, I am all for changing the box-art scheme if done tastefully. Tamiya choose good schemes on the whole, but theirs aren't the only good schemes.

[Saito2]

21 hours ago, markbt73 said:

I get bored seeing the same thing over and over again,

In a way, I agree with this. My runners and shelfers may need to be boxart and from my youth, but I do get tired of seeing the same ol' online. I love seeing other's creations and how people modify and customize rides. Racing buggies like old RC10s and JR-X2s  (along with Clods) are another group that I would probably skew from boxart if I ran one. Nobody really did them boxart back then so I really enjoy studying the the ways they were done up back in the day. 

I'm going to try to go outside my comfort zone with the 4wd basher I'm putting together. Its going to be a hodge-podge of Hot Shot, Super Shot and Boomerang parts so the body will be (gasp!) something other than boxart . 

[Bromley]

I've currently have 7 cars but I only  built 2 off those box art, Lunch Box and TT-02 Lancia Delta. The Lunch Box 'cos it's the one I always wanted as a kid and the Delta because the Martini rally livery looks so right.

My tt-02 VW Polo rally car is a bits and pieces build, so no set plans to follow. My DT-03 Racing fighter is a Hornet replica. The CC-01 Defender box art I don't like, so it went white roof and blue body. I have a TT-02 race truck which is plain white, as I don't expect the shell to last that long. And my Christmas build is a Blitzer Beetle which again won't be box art, as again I don't like it. It's going to be plain VW Brilliant Orange with white wheels.

I do like some cars box art though, mostly really iconic ones...My favourites are Bruiser, Avante, Top Force and Sand Scorcher. trouble is I only buy runners, no shelf queens and I don't think I could bring myself to run any off those after spending all that time making them look as they are supposed to.

 

[markbt73]

2 hours ago, Saito2 said:

I'm going to try to go outside my comfort zone with the 4wd basher I'm putting together. Its going to be a hodge-podge of Hot Shot, Super Shot and Boomerang parts so the body will be (gasp!) something other than boxart . 

A Super Hotshoomerang? 

[Saito2]

1 hour ago, markbt73 said:

A Super Hotshoomerang?

Bingo!