Novice

antler · 03-12-2007

Hi all,

I am TOTALLY new to this forum, and to the hobby itself as a matter of fact. Could some people give me some tips on this hobby please?

Ive just been surfing the internet and havent really seen much, and ive just watched some videos on youtube of some guys driving ferrari enzo rc cars, which look cool.

Do you need to be very patient, skilful like in this hobby like you need to be to do things like small miniture figures? And do you also need to be brainy, as in like know a lot of electronics. Or is it like using spraypaint or something?

As you can see by the questions I have just asked, you can probably see that I am a novice

EDIT: Oh sorry, I just realized that this is in the wrong place

**Bluewavestudios** · 04-12-2007

Hi Antler and welcome to the Forums,

Novices are always welcome......we all started out the same way at one time or other. As for the Hobby, It does depend on what side of the Hobby you want to get into, be it plastic kits, Radio Control, Model Engineering or even Card Modelling....we have the lot on here.

Which ever part of the hobby you choose, there are many hours of enjoyment to be had, certainly patience is required. A little skill goes a long way but don't worry as there is plenty of advice and tips to be found on here as well as the Tutorials...all will help improve your skills. You don't necessarily have to be brainy, you will be surprised at what ideas & skills you will pick up on the way...this is a Hobby for enjoyment.

If you have a little electronics knowledge, that may come in handy for some projects should you need to include it in your modelling at some stage, but it is not necessary. There are always plenty of people on here who can point you in the right direction if you get stuck.

Let us know what sort of models you fancy and maybe we can point you more towards what you need to know. Certainly have a look at the topics to be found on here, there is plenty that will interest you.

Regards.......Mark.

antler · 04-12-2007

Hi,

Well, I am mainly interested in scale models cars, as in the rc cars that you can drive.

Would I need to buy these cars or make them?

P.S: I would also love to be able to have some of the robots that are of characters in films, such as K9 in doctor who, or R2D2 in star wars.

alan2525 · 04-12-2007

Why not combine the two - i.e. radio control cars and the K9 from doctor who? A straightforward r/c control chassis would be a great basis for the K9 and there are plans for the robot doggie from places like:

http://www.tardisbuilders.co.uk/

You'd only need basic woodwork skills for the bulk of the K9, A fair bit of filler, sanding sealer and some nice metallic car paints. It'd be fun trying to soucre varios parts, washers, bits from old vcr's and things to add some of the high technozotzits to the finished model. Then you could always pull some old kids toys apart for coloured lenses, lamps and things. A basic battery circuit with a switch and a bulb for the lamps wouldn't be too tricky!

Plus I'm sure a lot of the members here would be happy to help you along the way if you started a build thread for it!

Also by using the r/c car chassis you could always swap it over for a bodyshell if you got sick of the K9! Gearing might be a little bit of a puzzle getting the motor geared down to a suitable dog walking pace, but there a whole host of small gearboxes available for rs380 and rs 540 (r/c car) type motors.

Edit: Personally I always wanted to model a full size Dalek from plans I downloaded but couldn't justify the cost of materials or time involved and the pure Geek factor I'd be weighted down by upon completion! Maybe if it was for a comission it'd be different :P

**Bluewavestudios** · 05-12-2007

In Answer to Alan's post above, there are a couple of good videos on youtube from people who have built full size Daleks. I too would love to do one of these. There used to be one in the Hanger where my Dad used to work, The Army Air Corps Guys built it from scratch, Full sized and very accurate too.

And for Antler,
you have come to the right place for cars, both electric and Nitro...as you can see from my sig pics I do Nitro Cars...I have built electric too before now. These can be bought ready built or as kits to build yourself. They are not difficult to do as they usually come with full instructions.
Normally ready built ones are more expensive than the kits but not always. There are some bargains to be found out there. I have seen a particularly nice full outfit on ebay for a bargain price.

This one is worth checking out as you get everything except the fuel:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-10-RC-GP-15-...QQcmdZViewItem. This is for the bid version, there is a Buy it now option on the shop page if you check, slightly dearer but still well worth it for the extras you get. It looks to be a quality car from the pics on there.

Normally you would pay £200 - £300 for a set up like this....so with the price of this one and the postage costs, you are still getting a bargain. They do other cars too so check out their shop.

As for K9 etc, have a look at r2studios gallery on here, he has acquired one of the original BBC Models and has converted it to R/C....He has also done R2D2 from Star Wars.

Regards.......Mark