Why the Radio Controlled Cars

This is a hobby that I return to in the winter. It might be cabin fever, it might be that I secretly want to be Jay Leno and have a car museum. I think the other reality is that I like fixing cars in a warm house rather than laying on a concrete floor. The funny thing is that I wanted to get into this because it looked fun to race, and found out I am not that good at racing RC cars for a variety of reasons. I moved to a new place where there is no RC track and so my race skills do not rally matter all that much. In all honesty, I still build them, drive them, and bash them.

So, why is this hobby so much fun? Personally, I love putting the car together. I love the Tamiya kits because the directions are easy to follow, the kit is not much money, and eventually you get to the stage where you plug the battery in do some programming and you feel like Dr. Frakenstein or Franken STEEN…. You decide! Back to the point…. time to program the speed control and viola! The car is running and you have the satisfaction of building something that really works!

Then boom! Then you drive it in the snow, CRASH…. well, now you get to fix something. Usually, the first body I buy gets destroyed. So I tend to buy two bodies. You paint one for bashing (That is the one you do a rush with overspray because you want the car to move…. and make the other one look nice.

(CC02 build with my son before downstairs light upgrade)

The other reason I like the hobby is it gives you something to do with a kid. The wife sees you as a good dad, but the reality is… well, I’m just a big kid. On a serious note it keeps the kids away from too many video games which I think is a good thing. it gets you outside, and making an RC car do donuts can bring out the kid in all of us. Don’t we all need more kid these days?

If you have not picked one up or played with one well, it might be time to treat yourself.  I just resurrected my Tamiya DF03 which is basically a buggy.  I also finished the TT-02RA.  This is a Rally Car….. oh you have to watch WRC….. The only problem is you will want a nitro car.  Yes, the electric is fun, but an electric does not capture the rally experience…. MORE BRAAAAP!

Check back to see the build on this car.  I am redoing the body.  I plan to finish the DF-03 as a tribute to Batman!  Check back and in the mean time get an RC car.  May the Lord’s blessing and peace rest upon you!  Thank you for reading!

(Below is a photo tribute of some of our projects over the past few years. Hover over the pics to read a description.)

Crawling Contest

My son and I see if the CC02 can out crawl the CR01. Spoiler alert: the CR01 beat it. However, my son has been upgrading his CC02 into a pretty impressive scale rig!

Lexan Cover

The cover fastens with very sticky velcro. Spider man would be jealous of how well this velcro sticks.

Lexan Cover

Once you apply the velcro you can keep the snow out of the TT02RA. Pretty nice as the steering tends to jam up with ice or rocks.

tt02RA Mod

This is a lexan cover for the TT02 Rally Car. I highly recommend this if you plan to run in rocks or snow! Build review coming!

TT02RA Build

This is my finished build on the tt02RA. This car was fun to build! There are a ton of upgrades to make it a real performer. It is pretty much stock kit with a couple of upgrades. Build report coming!

TT02RA

Another shot of the final build. This really is a great car!

DF03 - Dark Impact

This is a buggy I built to race against Short Course Trucks. The reason: i was too cheap to buy a short course truck, and I really loved the buggy. I pulled out the Losi Xleron brushless system and went back to brushed Tamiya Sport Tuned motor. Not as fast as it was, but more fun to run against my son’s TT02B buggy.

CC02 Bronco

This is the beginning build of my son’s Bronco body. Tamiya does a great job of making a scale model!

CC02 Bronco

Here we are applying some decals. The cat crap has alcohol… so my son can stay calm while decaling…. I kid…. I kid…. It is to clean the body so the decals stick. Another trick is to use windex so you can slide them around a little before they fully stick.

CC02 Almost Finished

This is my son’s bronco or the CC02 almost finished. We still need to add the roof rack and decals. It is a really fun build even if you are not a Ford fanboy…. which I am not. However, I will concede that the new Bronco in the 2 door looks phenomenal.