[email protected]

I am interested in a specialized area of the R/C hobby: accurate R/C scale-models of real-world vehicles, not toys. Scale R/C trucks that look as sharp as some of the most expensive die-cast or plastic static models on the market today.

I am not certain as to which scale size is ideal for modeling such trucks as over-the-road semis.

My main interest is road or highway vehicles such as commercial trucks. Kenworth is my favorite OTR truck brand that I would like to scale-model and operate.
I have interest in semis, cement mixers and dump trucks. I have interest in serious, highly-functional hobby-grade models with working headlights, engine sounds and truck horn sounds. For a cement mixer, I would like a turning drum. For a dump truck, I would like a dump body that does it thing. I also appreciate nice-quality paint and decals.

By radio control, I would also like to be able to couple or uncouple a semi-trailer from the tractor and even remotely raise and lower its landing gear by servo action. My favorite semi-trailer models would be fuel tankers and cattle trucks as well as multiple-axle lowboys with nice scale-model earth movers loaded onto them and Oversize Load signs. Radios with lots of channels for multiple functions are in order with the type of sophistication I seek.

The trucks should also be reversible to be backed up in a "digitally-proportioned" manner.

My scale vehicles would be only electric, not gas.
I want accurate speed control and accurate digital-proportioned steering.
Not a truck that operates like some cheap toy.

I want trucks with realistic-looking suspensions and ride heights too. Not a common sight on R/C wheeled land vehicles.

A couple questions: what forum here best fits what I have interest in?

Are there any hobby-grade Kenworth scale-model OTR or construction truck kits on the market to note?

Would building quality scale commercial trucks require much kit-bashing or custom fabrication?

Is interest in the hobby for serious scale-model highway cars and trucks rather rare?
Most RC vehicles seem to be buggies, racers and off-road mud trucks that look unrealistic.

I have had experience with cheap digitally-proportioned toy R/C cars, tanks, boats and trucks as well and non-DP ones.
I tried gas R/C planes years ago and failed miserably. I was more successful with an R/C sailboat I built years ago
and even custom painted.


Speaking of earth-movers and heavy equipment, how about a scale-model RC road roller, a CAT dozer or a grader that could even be driven on and off the scale lowboy by radio! This is another aspect of the RC hobby that seems rare: scale hobby-grade RC construction equipment.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

I've moved this thread to the RC Car forum where it is more likely to get more interest in the discussion.

Ken

mattster1971

You should check out some of the scale construction equipment that RCSparks uses on his YouTube channel. You might get some insight there. I do not have knowledge of these things but have seen many of what you speak, scale semi's that could pull amazing trailors with even people standing on them. They had working smoke stacks and look like the real deal.

cumquat

when i'm daydreaming about being a millionaire, i often browse this website http://www.vcshobbies.com/. wedico is one of the high end brands for rc tractor trucks and tamiya is the one most can afford. another company that dabbles in scale trucking is http://store.rc4wd.com/. while they are better known for offroad performance components, they have a decent stock of scale road-going vehicles as well. if you cant find the vehicle you want anywhere, they are the people to go to for parts to build your own.

overall, this isnt the forum for you. truth be told, this forum is pretty much dead. you might have better luck over here http://www.rctruckandconstruction.co...isplay.php?f=3

[email protected]

Thank You, Mr. Cum. That is exactly what i am looking for. A website for a more specialized area of RC. For boxed kits, I am disheartened that Tamiya does not offer my favorite heavy truck brand in scale: Kenworth....nor even Peterbilt. No Macks, White Freightliners, GMC Generals or International Harvesters either. I am an American truck traditionalist. Classic long hood conventional cabs mainly.

No, sir, you are correct....racing and muddin' ain't my style.

Looking at YouTube videos, I see serious scale on-road trucks and earth movers. These tend to be mainly Scandinavian or German. I know the Europeans of the Old World are mad, bat-***** crazy nuts about quality precision craftsmanship.

mattster1971

It really bothers me when you say this. I have seen you tell people to go elsewhere before. I agree he could find some more information on other sites but there is no need to describe this site as dead. I visit this site every day of my life because no one here makes me feel stupid or little for liking a certain vehicle or maybe not getting the answer correct the first time. That is the difference between the other "expert" sites and this one. And I will always recommend this site.

cumquat

i wouldnt say it if it wasnt true. this place has less than a tenth of the active users it used to. it used to be that you could check the general discussion section 4 times a day and never see the same thread twice. now, you can see the same threads for a month straight. yes, i do recommend other forums, WHEN THE PEOPLE ARE ASKING ABOUT NICHE SECTORS OF RC WITH DEDICATED FORUMS!!! i never recommend other forums when the ask about "mainstream" rc. the fact is, this is still one of the best. that doesnt change the fact that it's dead.

mattster1971

I think that referring someone to a niche forum for a specific issue is cool but telling them in the same breath that this board is DEAD is telling them this place is a waste of time. And that offends me. I imagine for some of the dedicated few still here its offensive as well.

EXT2Rob

My Feedback: (1)

I agree with mattster. Don't tell newbies this forum is dead. You'll only hasten its demise! I too come here every day. Mostly. Yeah, it's a little disheartening that the activity level is down. I have no explanation for that. Unless your premature obituaries have been contributing to that.

BTW, Mr. Bailey, Greetings from Placerville!

cumquat

i can tell you the exact reasons, and i'm not one of them. the server issues spanning from late 2009 through early 2012 started it. back in the summer of 2009, there was no bigger rc forum. seeing 20+ active users in a single thread was commonplace. then the servers started acting up. there were whole days that the site was down. often, select people could manage to log on but no one else could. i seem to recall whole weeks where i could log on for all of a half hour.

then, when the servers decided to work, there were massive amounts of fanboys and trolls. i will forever remember mr. goodbar... the fanboys mostly spilled over from traxxas' forum. by fanboy, i dont mean someone who thoroughly enjoys the brand, i mean someone who relentlessly promoted them regardless of the poster's criteria for their first rc and bashed anyone who bought a different brand. i stuck with it, 99% of the rest didnt. i can only think of 2 other members that i've seen recently that were around through it all other than the mods, syco venom and supertib. there are probably others but those are the 2 that stick out.

the 3rd problem is the stagnation of the market. the traxxas slash was release about 4 months after i got into the hobby and joined here. while many wrote short course off as a fad it proved to be the killer of st and buggy racing at many tracks for a period. then not long after, brushless and lipo came to prominence. they became affordable and the safety issues were resolved, making people willing to try. here's the problem, it kind of was a fad. a fad that the market was all too eager to cater to. there hasnt been a new class of rc to sweep through the hobby since. rally was a thing for a minute and the scale market still has a flame going but nothing has drastically altered the market anywhere near what short course did.

the fourth problem as i see it is the death of kits. used to be everything was a kit, but sometime in the mid to late 80's some company began selling pre-assembled models. still needed your own electronics but the vehicle itself was complete. skip ahead to today and 80% of models are RTR only, many of which come with crappy batteries and chargers that most people will never use. rather than fix them when they break, they get put in the closet and forgotten. if you ask why, i imagine many would say something to the affect of "i dont know how to fix it", something no one would say if they built the model from a kit. to put it in simple, perhaps harsh words: while many "true" hobbyists dont build kits, virtually all kit builders are "true" hobbyists.

mattster1971

Great so you identified some reasons at to why the board is lacking in active members. Bravo... but telling people the board is dead is still STUPID and a way to further its demise. I am done arguing with you about this. You are obviously the type of person who is never wrong so I will leave it at that, I found your statement negative and nonproductive to this boards moderators and participants.

EXT2Rob

My Feedback: (1)

I hear ya Cumquat. I remember the time when the site was hosed up. That was a bummer.

Market stagnation? Maybe. Axial has been doing well with lots of off road platforms. The Yeti is huge. Now there's the Yeti Score truck and the new Bomber. And they offer kits!

I imagine if you've been in the hobby many years, today could seem like things aren't progressing much. But it seems to me that we've reached a sort of pinnacle. When something works well, you don't change it, you refine it. Look at the buggies. They've looked the same for years, but now they have mid-motor chassis, they tweak suspension arms, now they are getting front wings... Short course trucks allow racers to rub fenders without going for a flight, and they tend to right themselves on a rollover, definitely a plus. So I understand their popularity. Fender rubbing racing is way fun!

I would have loved to see Rally racing take off, as I'm a big fan of WRC. But low-slung front bumpers tend to catch the dirt on landings. Probably frustrated people trying to run them on buggy/sct tracks.

I would have also loved to see a short course buggy class get going, but I guess the race buggy class already had open wheel covered.

Did Traxxas ever offer a kit? They are probably to "blame" more than anyone. Definitely the 500lb gorilla of RC. Sure, I'd like to see more kit versions of models offered, but that's not apparently what the market wants. Blame that on our "instant gratification" culture. The people who toss their RC in the closet cuz they don't know how to fix it aren't serious enough about the hobby, or think of it as a toy and are just lame.

Hey if you remember the names of those good folks who used to be around, try messaging them and encourage them to come back.

Jeez, did we hijack this guy's thread, or what?! 😯

DieHarder

Lmao!