The RC Cars/Planes/Boats/Helis thread

High wind speeds means a grounded fleet for me right now.

Fail.



You need more cars :p
My most recent acquisition.

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HPI Mini Trophy, handles and looks great. Its pretty heavy and not that fast but it's so much fun right now, especially in light dust/ dirt situations because the rear end is so easy to slide out and hold.
I want one of those things. I can excuse the electric propulsion because of how damn realistic it looks...and the fact that you can drive it. Quickly.
 
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lolz...it'd be safe to run that shell-less too, roll cage is functional.


I can't run my NTC3 without a shell if I value the life of the shock towers and cooling head...speaking of which, driving that thing in a light rain is an absolute blast. My driveway was wet enough to facilitate drifting and I got plenty of practice in before the Rx batts got weak.
 
..I'm thinking AE RC10. You can have it in gas or electric, kit or RTR, better build quality, better handling, and I believe a bit cheaper to boot.


Also, on a somewhat related front, I now have a Hobbico NexStar in the mail! It will be a few months before I have it flyable, seeing as I can't afford the engine and radio at the moment(Currently I have my eyes on a Futaba 4YF 2.4ghz, which I'll run on Mode 3, and an OS .46AX to power it), but I do have the plane itself. I even have someone local who's willing to train me on how to fly it with one of his own electric trainers, which I'll probably do this weekend.
 
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I'm not too sure I know of many places that sell Associated in Australia though.

Get yourself a sim - Great way to learn how to work the sticks before flying for real.
 
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I'm not too sure I know of many places that sell Associated in Australia though.
Tower Hobbies ships internationally, and I believe AE themselves will ship internationally as well.

Get yourself a sim - Great way to learn how to work the sticks before flying for real.
I've got someone who's volunteered his electric Tower Trainer for that purpose. I should be okay there. Besides....RealFlight costs as much as an engine and some support equipment. Tower's got an OS 46AX for 150, and I'll need some aircraft fuel and a tach to get that running properly. Not sure if I'll grab a starter, though, if my .18 CV-RX is anything to go by I should have no trouble flipping by hand.
 
So what would be a good complete setup? I noticed Tower hobbies has some combo packages.

RTR kits from Team Associated are US only http://order.aeteam.net/
 
All you need when buying an AE nitro RTR from Tower is fuel, AAs, and a little patience. AE puts everything else you'll need in the box. And I mean everything, they even give you odds 'n ends like glow ignitors and fuel bottles. Taken directly from the Tower page for the RC10GT2:

REQUIRES: Transmitter Batteries: Eight AA size
Receiver Batteries: 4 AA size or 5-cell rechargeable
Glow Starter Battery: One D size
Fuel: 2-cycle glow fuel with 10%-15% nitromethane, 16% lubricant

The Brushless RC10T4 is a bit different. You literally only need to buy batteries.

REQUIRES: AA Batteries: Eight for transmitter
Battery: 6-cell stickwith Deans Ultra Female Connector
Battery Charger: Peak type for selected battery
Building and track equipment


Oh, and yes, the ESC on the T4 does support Lipos natively, so you can just throw any 2S car pack in it and be off to the races. Literally. Just remember to set the cutoff first.


Now I'm a nitro guy to the core, so I'd go for the GT2. But I can tell you that for most uses a 2s 35C 5000MAH lipo pack will be more than ample for the T4.
 
I am mainly looking at electrics right now. Would nitro be too much of a handful for a beginner?

How about something "equivalent" from hpi? I'm a little bit concerned about buying a truck from the USA due to spare parts and warranty, thats all. Unfortunately not many hobby stores around my area seem to stock RC cars.
 
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If you're looking for something reliable, decently quick, and has a HUGE amount of parts support, look into the Traxxas Slash series. I am personally not that much of a fan of Traxxas, but I do own one, and it's held up to enormous crashes that would have destroyed a lesser built vehicle.

I believe Tower Hobbies has a pretty good selection of parts as well, so ordering off there should be no problem. You can almost build an entire truck out of the option parts they have on there.
 
I am mainly looking at electrics right now. Would nitro be too much of a handful for a beginner?


Not if you buy a good, high quality one. AE and HPI are both excellent choices in this regard.

Glow engines have less moving parts than you have fingers. If the glow plug is good, the carb well adjusted, the engine internally healthy, and the tank full, the engine will happily run all day long.

Put it to ya this way: I went from wal-mart toys and Mini-Zs straight to nitro and never looked back. Still have the worn out remains of that truck, too.
If you're looking for something reliable, decently quick, and has a HUGE amount of parts support, look into the Traxxas Slash series. I am personally not that much of a fan of Traxxas, but I do own one, and it's held up to enormous crashes that would have destroyed a lesser built vehicle.

I believe Tower Hobbies has a pretty good selection of parts as well, so ordering off there should be no problem. You can almost build an entire truck out of the option parts they have on there.
Tower is amazing...but they don't stock ANYTHING Kyosho. That bugs me. They also don't stock anything Losi.
 
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I'm an electric guy, but for all-day outdoor, primarily off-road running, nitro is the way to go unless noise is an issue. The Traxxas Slash(assuming that's the nitro version) is a good idea, given support and part/aftermarket, but depending on the surfaces you might be driving on, a truggy might be even better.
 
If I can drive on something like this as well as grass that would be ideal:

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Obviously I'd avoid the larger rocks, but the general idea is there.
 
I'm an electric guy, but for all-day outdoor, primarily off-road running, nitro is the way to go unless noise is an issue. The Traxxas Slash(assuming that's the nitro version) is a good idea, given support and part/aftermarket, but depending on the surfaces you might be driving on, a truggy might be even better.
I have any outdoor RC run nitro, indoor ones electric for pretty glaringly obvious reasons. Hack hack, cough cough, dead dead.


Oh, and just my two cents on the Slayer.....Ignore TRX's breakin method. It's 95% of why the 2.5 and 3.3 have a reputation for failing during or shortly after break-in. TRX wants you to idle around with it so rich it barely runs, this doesn't allow the sleeve to expand properly. Instead, substitute a good heat cycling method instead. I like to set my engines where they're rich enough to not hit max RPM and belch out enough smoke to worry Greenpeace, but lean enough where they still run smoothly and don't stall when you apply throttle. Then, I drive them around to get them warmed up and keep them there, gently of course. I smoothly roll into and out of 1/4 throttle for first two tanks, 1/2 throttle for next one, up to 3/4 on the fourth, and on the fifth I'll roll into full throttle. I burn about 95% of each tank up, and between each tank I shut the engine off by plugging the exhaust or mechanically stopping the flywheel, set it to BDC, refill the tank and have a coke. When the exhaust is cold to the touch I fire it back up and do the next.


Broke in my .18 CV-RX that way, runs like a top two gallons later.
If I can drive on something like this as well as grass that would be ideal:

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Obviously I'd avoid the larger rocks, but the general idea is there.


RC10GT2 is more than capable. I would advise a bit of a lift, though, and some far more aggressive treads. Perhaps if you can find them, something with a monster truck style chevron tread, but with roughly the same tire diameter. The stock tires are good for a groomed, hard packed dirt, but they might as well be racing slicks on a loose surface like that.

If you still want chevron tires but can't find any in ST size, only MT size, then you can put a smaller clutch bell or bigger spur gear on to compensate. The speed and acceleration should remain roughly the same and you won't burn the clutch out.

As for running in grass, IMO nitro is still pretty king. It puts a lot of load on the powertrain, and with electrics this can very very quickly overheat things. Batteries, motors, speed controllers, they're all quite temperature sensitive. You have to have your gearing absolutely spot on. With nitro, as long as airflow is ample and you have a good oil blend and percentage(I suggest 16-18% oil), you won't cook the engine. These engines are also amazingly durable, the only reason we have a temp considered overheating is because they can and will boil the fuel in the carb if they get too hot. There's nothing inside the engine that is temperature critical once you hit 200F.
 
Just checked out the price of Nitro fuel in Australia - damn its pricey :lol:

I imagine a 4L container would last a while though?
 
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If you run yours as often as I run mine, roughly 5 tanks every week and a half, then you'll get 9 months or so out of a US Gallon.
 
Hobbyking has the Losi LST2 RTR for $494

Problem is, the parcel is apparently too big to ship to Australia :lol:

Anyone got some good tuning guides? One of the concerns for a noob is tuning the engine to run sweet and knowing how to take good care of it, and even just general maintenance of the whole car. I've been doing a lot of reading today to determine whether I want to go electric or nitro, and it really comes down to:

Electric

  • Easier to maintain
  • Quieter than nitro, so more places to run them
  • Slower than Nitro out of the box, but can be made insanely quick later on for a price.
  • No need to run around constantly to get nitro fuel
  • Will probably burn though a ton of batteries throughout its life

Nitro
  • Quicker out of the box
  • The noise of a nitro engine
  • Tricky to maintain (Engine tuning which I have no idea how to do, lots of cleaning, etc)
  • Probably more rewarding than electric due to fiddling around with an IC engine
  • Have to go and buy fuel. No LHS at all, so I'd have to drive out a fair way to get fuel

Sorry if I seem like I'm asking a lot of questions, but I'm someone who likes to thoroughly research things before buying. At the moment I think the RC10GT2 is the more likely purchase if I go the nitro route, and now I need an electric one to consider. Once I factor in shipping TH is about $40-$50 cheaper than these guys if I purchase the combo pack with the batteries and charger.

One thing I'm noticing is that, unlike most planes, very few RC car RTR kits are coming with 2.4GHz tx/rx systems. I'd prefer a 2.4 system if possible, and the Traxxas Nitro rustler comes with one. That kit would set me back about $430 from a hobbystore not too far from me.

Also got sent this link from a friend: http://www.rchobbyestore.com.au/RC Trucks/
 
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