Remote Control Toys

How warm do your batteries get when charging? I just charged this Venom up at 2A and it was a bit hot by the time it was finished charging (but not too hot to touch). I just did some googling and found that Venom batteries kind of suck and some have blown up for other people, especially with brushless motors. Hope this thing never explodes on me :(

EDIT:

So far, so good: The new Rustler is a lot of fun and very fast :thumbup:

The battery seems fine. I think next time I charge it, I may stop the charge when it gets warm so that it doesn't get quite so hot.
 
Last edited:
Got the stuff in. And built it already too.

IMG_0672.jpg


IMG_0673.jpg


IMG_0680.jpg


IMG_0682.jpg


And the other wheels I'll run too.

IMG_0683.jpg


Now for the hard part... actually painting the thing. It'll take me far longer to get that thing in the right colors than building it... fun. Organized the wires as well.
 
How warm do your batteries get when charging? I just charged this Venom up at 2A and it was a bit hot by the time it was finished charging (but not too hot to touch). I just did some googling and found that Venom batteries kind of suck and some have blown up for other people, especially with brushless motors. Hope this thing never explodes on me :(

EDIT:

So far, so good: The new Rustler is a lot of fun and very fast :thumbup:

The battery seems fine. I think next time I charge it, I may stop the charge when it gets warm so that it doesn't get quite so hot.

Batteries will get quite hot, but unless it hot enough that it's difficult to hold in your hand, you should be fine. If you do feel like the battery is dangerously hot after charging, or more likely after a run, unplug it and quickly put it somewhere outside that isn't flammable, like maybe the driveway or something. I've heard that socks are good for suppressing fires, but a hard-cased cell could grenade, and I don't think a sock would do well for that. That said, I've had cheapo batteries get extremely hot, as in the connector and wires were hot, and touching the battery for more than a few seconds would burn. I just let it sit for a while, and when it was normal-hot, I took it out, put it in a sock, and left it someplace safe. Well, a few times we really wanted to get the truck running again so we put it in the fridge, but that's probably very stupid.
 
Last edited:
Painted and running!

IMG_0692.jpg


IMG_0701.jpg
 
I still have a Team Associated TC-3 that I take out to the local track and have a go with every now and then. It's an AWD touring car with a Dodge Stratus (Eww!) body painted white. However, i've removed the driveshaft and drive it as an rwd car when racing. The TC-3 handles so much better when you can kick the ass end out around the wide, sweeping corner the local track has. I've thought about upgrading to a newer model, as this one is about 8 years old now, but i'm still rocking the original aluminum suspension bits and i'm only on my 2nd motor and I win a race every now and then, so I don't really see why I should drop 400+ dollars on a car that may or may not be as good as the one I currently run.
 
Batteries will get quite hot, but unless it hot enough that it's difficult to hold in your hand, you should be fine. If you do feel like the battery is dangerously hot after charging, or more likely after a run, unplug it and quickly put it somewhere outside that isn't flammable, like maybe the driveway or something. I've heard that socks are good for suppressing fires, but a hard-cased cell could grenade, and I don't think a sock would do well for that. That said, I've had cheapo batteries get extremely hot, as in the connector and wires were hot, and touching the battery for more than a few seconds would burn. I just let it sit for a while, and when it was normal-hot, I took it out, put it in a sock, and left it someplace safe. Well, a few times we really wanted to get the truck running again so we put it in the fridge, but that's probably very stupid.

I'll keep a close eye on it and try to get a better quality battery as soon as I can.

What brand would you say is the the best for NiMH?

Thanks for the advice man :thumbup:
 
And the other wheels I'll run too.

IMG_0683.jpg

So I'm guessing the tires are actually a rubber compound then instead of your crappy plastic tires you get on cheaper r/c cars (think radio shack)?

Now for the hard part... actually painting the thing. It'll take me far longer to get that thing in the right colors than building it... fun. Organized the wires as well.

Painted and running!

IMG_0692.jpg


IMG_0701.jpg

:cry:

I'd be very happy to have a mini Subbie hatch! Love the last shot too! :wub:

Can you PM me the link on where you got that? :shifty:
 
Last edited:
I'll keep a close eye on it and try to get a better quality battery as soon as I can.

What brand would you say is the the best for NiMH?

Thanks for the advice man :thumbup:

Well, I haven't bought batteries in a long time, but last I knew Intellect Batteries were the favorites, and maxamps.com was one of the best places to get them. cheapbatterypacks.com seemed good too, and they'll custom make packs pretty much however you want.
 
I'm thinking of building an rc car this summer as a fun little project. I'm really interested in the actual building of the car, so I'd like to get a kit that is more than just "put the wheels on, glue some chassis pieces together, put body on, paint, done", or maybe even find resources to scratch build my own.

So my questions.

1) How much work do non-RTR kits require?
2) Are there kits that aren't for a specific car and give you freedom in what the final product is (mechanically).
3) Do people scratch build cars? If so, does it end up being cheaper/more expensive and is it insane for someone new to the scene.
4) Where is a good place/website to find these kits?

I don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money, but I may be willing to spend up to $250 thereabouts on the car. I don't currently have a preference as to electric or nitro, so any tips are welcome. I've read nitros require more attention and tuning, can anyone expand on this?

I'm not looking for a beginner product. I'm looking for something that can end up being a challenge that will take time and thought to complete and will teach me all the workings of the car.
 
Last edited:
Well, for $250 you might have a lot of trouble getting everything you need. Kits are typically All of the components of the car minus power plant and sometimes radio, along with all of the hardware you'll need. I'm pretty sure you won't find a hobby grade kit that allows you to go all erector-set on it and make something up, though that'd kick ass.

Nitro engines require tuning just like a performance petrol engine. They must be initially broken in and tuned properly, and have that tune maintained. Depending on the engine and the environment you drive it in it may hold it's tune for weeks at a time, or need a tune almost every run. Nitro is typically cheaper to start because you don't have to buy batteries or a charger, but nitro is something like $30/gallon, so it gets expensive. You will get much more run time in a day with nitro unless you have several battery packs and a fast charger.

All of the scratch-built rc's I've seen are rock crawlers, be it scale or otherwise. Well, not all some people do make some crazy stuff. If you want to build from scratch, you'd better have a lot of patience, fab skill, and be prepared to do a lot of research as well as trial and error to find out what will work for your build.

Towerhobbies.com is probably the largest online rc retailer, so they should give you a good idea as to what you'll find in your price range, but if something is only a bit out of budget, look around for better prices as tower is not always the best, eBay is great for this.

My recommendation would be to get something used that fits what you want, find the manual(usually downloadable from the manufacturer) and do a full teardown, cleaning and inspection, and rebuild. This will give you a good understanding of how your car goes together and rc kits in general(even if you buy something that's only available as an RTR) as well as the satisfaction of putting it together yourself.

Check out the forums on the Radio Control Car Action website. They have a buy/sell/trade forum, though unless you have a reputable eBay account you may have trouble getting sellers to be confident you aren't a non-paying jerk of some sort since you'll be a new and unknown member. I'm a member there as well, though I don't go over too often.

If you want to see some crazy custom builds, check out rccrawler.com.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:
1) How much work do non-RTR kits require?

It all depends on how much you want to do. I built that car up there in a little over 4 hours, not including the time it took to paint and prep the body. Most shouldn't take that much longer, depending on your expertise.

2) Are there kits that aren't for a specific car and give you freedom in what the final product is (mechanically).

Most hobby grade RC kits are not for a specific "car" if you will, because all these are are plastic (lexan) bodies that are simply mounted to the chassis, allowing flexibility in choosing your car. It's quite easy get a body mounted simply by checking the wheelbase (most in the 10th scale touring class are 257mm, though some are a bit shorter at 251mm, which are easy to adjust on the chassis. This is not including smaller chassis designed to accommodate smaller bodies, such as the Mini or Fiat 500 etc)

You could have a simple bathtub type chassis, or go all out and have a full carbon/aluminum race car and still have the same body attached to it.

3) Do people scratch build cars? If so, does it end up being cheaper/more expensive and is it insane for someone new to the scene.

Yes, people do, but I have not heard of many doing so in the touring car scene. Offroad, however, has expanded greatly, and I see people making parts from scratch for those like Smib said.

4) Where is a good place/website to find these kits?

Like mentioned earlier,

www.towerhobbies.com
www.hobbypeople.net
www.rcmart.com (Hong Kong company, very very good prices but may be a lot more for shipping; besides that it is the cheapest place I know of, even after shipping)

There are probably a lot more, but those are the places I get from the most.

I don't know of places to gain experience, but there are forums on this type of thing.

The manufacturer sites are also decent places to ask questions/find out info.

www.tamiyausa.com
www.hpiracing.com
www.kyoshoamerica.com
www.traxxas.com
www.losi.com
www.teamassociated.com

Plus I bunch I can't remember.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the input, guys. It's been helpful. Buying a blank chassis and getting all the necessary parts seems what I'd want to do, but after looking around it seems I slightly underestimated the costs. Instead, I think I might go with the Subaru as chaos (inspired by the Kyosho DRX coming in september).

For radios and receivers, any recommendations? Are servos that come with radios workable for steering?

Specifically, will this combo set be any good for recreational use or am I wasting my money?
http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/rc-ra...a-yeah-racing-1800ma-p-29012.html?cPath=36_47

And what should I look for in batteries. Reading forums, it seems a 4600mAh battery works well, but how much of a difference is there between a Li-Po and NiMH? Is a new recreational user going to notice/care about the difference? Other than voltage and current, is there anything else I should be looking at?

Is a $40 charger/power supply gonna be regrettable? Any recommendations?

That should be the end of my questions...perhaps :lol:
 
\And what should I look for in batteries. Reading forums, it seems a 4600mAh battery works well, but how much of a difference is there between a Li-Po and NiMH? Is a new recreational user going to notice/care about the difference? Other than voltage and current, is there anything else I should be looking at?

I just got my first electric RC (I had a nitro years ago) and NiMH is more than fast enough for starting out with. I have an 8.4V 5000mAh and my Rustler is very quick and does wheelies off the line with ease. Personally, I'm not sure that I would really want it any faster than it currently is. Any faster and it would get away from me way too quickly, especially on pavement. Right now it seems that if I hold it wide open, I have to let off after just a few seconds otherwise it's so far away I can barely see it well enough to get it turned around :)

I bought a good NiMH charger for $40 (Prophet Plus), with the power supply built in, so that's pretty reasonable and it seems to do that job nicely. I've never used LiPo, but I would think that if you are going to go with LiPo you would probably want to invest more to get something with better features, more safety, etc.
 
Last edited:
I guess you could use that radio, as it's a beginner version and the most basic option. Though you don't need the combo.

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/rc-ra...control-system-2phkaam-p-742.html?cPath=36_47

You only need one servo and the receiver pack is unnecessary.

And for batteries... any pack is fine. The higher the mAh rating, the higher the capacity. Most escs can run off 7.2-8.4 volts, so a 6 or 7 cell battery is good. Unless you're looking into a LiPo, which is a bit different. Most users are going to notice the difference, but it's not entirely necessary.
 
I'm getting a Micro RS4 in the mail!

The micro Losi DT should be coming on thurs, so I will put a pic up.
 
Got a customization question.

Are suspension sets open for ride height differences? If I end up getting the Subaru kit, will I be able to use the stock suspension to raise the car up for dirt driving, or does that require buying another set of suspension?

I'm dangerously close to getting to a final decision :mrgreen:
 
You might need different suspension, but if it's within your budget, you can get a rally cat kit and drop it for when you want to do on road stuff.
 
The TT01 chassis is a touring chassis. At the tub, you only get around 18mm of clearance.

IMG_0752.jpg


That nickel won't even fit under there. It's good for most on-road surfaces and maybe a light dirt, but not much. It's possible to mod this to get more ground clearance, but it's pretty easy. You just need some longer shocks and a bit of the chop to the chassis.

This other Subaru kit is based on a buggy, giving it much more ground clearance, but is a bit more expensive.

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/rc-tamiya-58430-df03ra-impreza-2008-wesc-p-28674.html?cPath=420_1167
 
My desert truggie came in the mail today!

The Team Losi Micro Desert Truck
http://img190.imageshack.**/img190/7748/p1010003tik.jpg
 
Top