The RC Cars/Planes/Boats/Helis thread

Eh, I don't have the disposable income to risk my airplane with off-brand electronics. It may cost more up front but genuine Spektrum stuff is less likely to cock up. Besides I'm only flying Spektrum while I'm training, once I'm well and truly capable of flying on my own I'm going Futaba.


Hrm...you've already got pre-load in the rear shocks...tried a higher hole on the mounts? Lower one on the tower? So long as the angle remains the same the only thing you'll change is ride height.
 
I should get a pair of these for my truck:

444907d1240517537-team-associated-sc10-short-course-racing-truck-sc10-014.jpg
 
Compensatory devices for people who can't afford compensatory devices!


http://dagobah.net/flash/Facepalm.swf


I know you're just joking, but man, if I ever saw someone with a pair of those on their SC truck I'd suddenly switch from "Must win race!" to "Must bash that guy's truck until it's nuts fall off!".
 
I just thought it was hilarious that someone would actually install a pair on their RC truck.
 
Not bad. Bright enough to drive at night?

Nope lol. It's aimed completely wrong, and there's only two of them. Honestly right now they're just used to orient myself to the the direction in which the truck is facing, nothing more. That picture is intentionally overexposed... haha. I intend to get a full lightbar for the roof, but the light controller took up the majority of the room in the truck, there wasn't much to begin with.

Those truck nuts... yeah, I agree with the whole ramming them until their nuts fall off. You just have to.
 
How are you powering the lights atm?

I'm having thoughts of getting one of these:

LosiXXX-SCB-3-400x297.jpg


Saw one on a forum and it looked fantastic in the photos. Approx $350 landed.
 
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Nope lol. It's aimed completely wrong, and there's only two of them. Honestly right now they're just used to orient myself to the the direction in which the truck is facing, nothing more. That picture is intentionally overexposed... haha. I intend to get a full lightbar for the roof, but the light controller took up the majority of the room in the truck, there wasn't much to begin with.

Ahh. Well, I want to run at night...I've found a nifty seat of head/tail lights specifically for fuel powered cars on Tower. Comes with bright white LEDs + buckets for the front, and two red rears in buckets for the back, along with a switch to toggle the brightness(They don't hit full brightness until you hit the brakes! :D) and a 9V alkaline connector. You reckon if I get the aim right I'll be able to drive at night?
 
It looks like it got into a fight with a fuel tanker before it was fitted.


Oh, and I've swapped the AR6110e into my NTC3. No more stupid antenna mast, no more interference, no more "REceiver barely wedges into the box". It's nice. I'm using the rudder channel for steering and elevator channel for throttle and brakes.
 
So are you still planning on getting an SCT of some sort?
 
Yup. It's either going to be a Traxxas Slayer with a reversing gearbox from a Revo and a four stroke engine, an AE SC8 with the center diff locked using silly putty, or a Ofna Hyper-SC10.

Edit: Just got done running my NTC3. Engine ran happily, but the glow plug is absolutely fried. I rolled it and it stalled, and afterwards, I never did get it to idle again. It was also a bitch to start, I had to prime fuel down the carb to get it to fire. So yeah, needs a new OS 8. Plug's got three gallons on it though so it's had a long life indeed.


As for the radio, I'm beyond pleased. I now have proportional control of my brakes! With the pistol grip radios I could not modulate them very well, my left index finger was on/off in that regard. With the stick radio I can easily modulate them. The little AR6110e is a wonderful match, and I have a toggleable channel for headlights or onboard glow or something similar. I'll probably do onboard glow.
 
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If it was my choice it'd be the SC8.

I have however driven a Hyper 10 SC electric and it was great fun.
 
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The main attraction to the Hyper 10SC is that I can have an RTR nitro SC for 330 bucks. The Slayer will be kissing six hundred(closer to 800 if I decide to throw a four stroke in it!!), and the SC8s are five.

There's negatives to all three. The SC8, as mentioned, is fucking expensive. Five hundred bucks, and it's not exactly a difficult vehicle to make. All AE did was throw a cage, truck body, Short Course wheels and mud flaps on the RC8 and call it a day. I could quite literally buy a used RC8, install those parts, and get an SC8 for about the price of the Hyper 10, and that's likely what I'll end up doing.

The Slayer...well...It's Traxxas. The engine isn't going to be the best in the world. The 2.5, 2.5R and 3.3 engines have weak rods that like to fail if you follow the instructions during break-in and EZStart blows. So I'd likely rip that out and trade it on another engine. It's another lazy one, all TRX did was take a revo, throw Short Course wheels/tires/shell/control arms/pushrods/driveshafts on and call it a day. BUT This is the ONLY vehicle here I can have reverse in, because thanks to that laziness the Revo's reverse-capable gaerbox just drops right in.

The Ofna doesn't have any of those flaws. It's a well built, well priced, reasonably sized machine with a reliable engine in it. It would serve me well for many years spinning donnuts in the yard and chasing possums away. HOWEVER, it shares a problem that my CEN has. NOBODY STOCKS OFNA PARTS! :sidyhbjthkdotbgrysdhkry;kshnj CEN, Kyosho, Ofna, Hot Bodies, they all have this same flaw, nobody can locally source parts for them, and that is VERY annoying. CEN and Hot Bodies, at least, let you order direct with an easy to use interface, but Kyosho's site is a nightmare to surf and Ofna's is cryptic at best. So while the Ofna may empirically be the best of the three, I'm more or less on my own if I crash the thing, and replacing normal wear parts...yeah.

Oh, and what are your thoughts on slipping a four stroke in?

I've always wanted to, and OS made a couple of car-specific four strokes. One, for smallblock apps, is the FS26SC-X, and for big block cars an FS40 got similarly converted. OS put a car carb, new cam(The car variants would rev to 22K and 20K, respectively), and a car-specific crank that facilitated a pull starter in the aircraft equivalent, then just chucked it onto market. I've always wanted to, and I've seen youtube vids of the FS26SC slinging a Tamiya onroad around a track pretty handily(They had a three speed on it, sounded neat), I've seen numerous videos of an RC10GT with the same engine embarrassing both it's driver and everything else there, and I've seen FS40SCs(As well as a couple of Saito 52s that were home converted) slinging 1/8 buggies, truggies and MTs around like ragdolls. Even saw a Revo with an FS26 in it, was pretty cool.
 
I can see an RC8Be in my future actually now that you bring up the RC8. I'm no expert on nitro/gas cars, so I'm not sure about four-stroke engines in RC cars. From my experience what I'd say is the Slayer is a boat and everyone I've spoken to so far didn't like the way it drove, whilst the OFNA's are really tempting and affordable but parts are a bitch to come by. I should know, since I was really hoping to pick up an affordable 1/8 buggy and the OFNA's were cheap from amainhobbies, but I just couldn't find many spare parts or upgrades.

Personally, I wouldn't even bother trying to convert the RC8 and just keep it as a buggy since it looks awesome. Where the hell are you finding RC8s for so cheap though?

The LHS around my area are all pretty rubbish when it comes to stock levels and price, so I tend to buy everything online anyway. Still, its always better to have multiple online sources than just the one or two shops to rely on.

Speaking of 1/8 stuff, I wonder what 1/8 shocks would fit on the SC10. Also recently saw that Castle creations is bringing out a Sidewinder SCT Race ESC/Motor combo which looks interesting. As for wheels and tyres, I might stick with SCT-style designs now that more tread patterns are available in the correct sizing, so theres less of a need to run 1/8 wheels...
 
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I can see an RC8Be in my future actually now that you bring up the RC8.
lol.

From my experience what I'd say is the Slayer is a boat and everyone I've spoken to so far didn't like the way it drove.
Well, see, I'm not racing, so a bit of boatyness isn't going to turn me off of it at all. Matter of fact I want a little boatyness. I want to be able to slide all over the place, I want it to soak up the bumps like a '75 Lincoln, I want it to hike the front tires when I nail it on exit. My touring car is F1 stiff...I need to find better springs for it.
Personally, I wouldn't even bother trying to convert the RC8 and just keep it as a buggy since it looks awesome.
I think they all look bland and samey. I can't tell the Ofnas from the Kyoshos from the AEs from the Redcats because of it. Every single bloody 1/8 buggy looks the same! OTHKJRYKIHYI

I'm sure you could say the same about touring cars if you popped by a track, but they have the advantage of body selection. Sure I could run a Stratus body like everyone else, but I don't have to. With 1/8 buggies you have one body style available.

Where the hell are you finding RC8s for so cheap though?
RCs depreciate insanely fast. Put just one gallon on an RC8 and, despite being immaculate, it's now worth half what it was when you bought it.

As for brand new, Tower's got the RC8B FT kit listed for 499.99. The SC8s list, brand new, for ten dollars less, and in RTR format. The RC8 RTR is 482.99.


funnily enough, so is the Slayer. Crazy overpriced. Someone at Traxxas is pretty stoned if they think a Revo with shorter suspension can compete with an RC8.

I'd likely buy a used one with a busted engine and/or busted gearbox if I went the Slayer route.
 
Well yeah, its Traxaxs. The pricing on the Slash 4x4 is pretty damn high for what you're getting...

I can always find an RC8 roller then get the conversion kit and throw in a Castles combo to make it go like a stabbed rat. The B4.1/T4.1 RTR is also reasonably affordable, though I'm unsure how suitable a 1/10 buggy/truggy would be for bashing. From all accounts the B4.1 is really setup more for racing than bashing.

Fucken wish Losi made an electric 8ight 2.0 buggy - I've driven the nitro and loved it, and from the types of jumps and shit I've seen people do with them they're built like a tank. They sell an electric race roller for about $599, and for $699 I could get the RTR Nitro with a DX3s with telemetry, starter box and other good stuff. The alternative is the Truggy version, which retails for $599 RTR. Not too sure what the differences between the buggy and truggy are beyon tyres and body, but either way the electric race roller is a rip off. Even the buggy/truggy nitro kits are only $100 less than the RTR - now thats fucked up pricing.
 
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Well they take paypal so they can't easily rip you off. Paypal is notoriously biased in the buyer's favor to the point many sellers don't want to use it. If you think you can find somewhere to run it and you're willing to take up a dispute if they don't send an authentic RC8T(Or a junk one) then go for it. I honestly think you'll have a blast with nitro, there's just something special about hearing the engine scream...



Edit: 50/50 chance you'll get an authentic RC8T, by the way. It's coming from mainland China, it could be a Redcat or something.
 
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Yeah, got a friend who's going to order a Baja from there ($500ish for a Baja!!!!), so if that turns out legit then it could be a way to go.

And good news - I have managed to find somewhere not ridiculously far away to run a nitro. I've been there several times now to run my SC Truck.
 
Sweetness. Time to get you indoctrinated! By no time I'll have you wondering why you ever bothered with those silly lipo batteries :p :p


In all seriousness I will help out if you need help getting it going or tuning it. I run nothing but nitro, it's my niche.


As for that RC8T, sit on it for a while. If your buddy gets an authentic 5B, then drop your coin, if he gets a clone, I'd steer away. Luckily for him the Chinese 5B clone is so damn close that authentic Baja 5B parts actually fit it! So he'll be fine if it breaks.
 
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