The RC Deep Dive

When you upgrade your ORV (Off-Road Vehicle) chassis R/C car, buggy, or truck gearbox with the MIP (Moore's Ideal Products) Super Ball Diff, you are limited to only using a 16t pinion gear. However, with an adjustable motor mount made specifically for the vintage or rere (re-release) ORV chassis, you can increase your options. But which options are safe and which one is best for your radio control...

Does Tamiya have a history being involved in education? How does R/C fit into all the parts of the new education focuses?  Was it intentional or unintentional? In this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast we uncover how Tamiya's radio-controlled model vehicle and tool kits became an integral part of the modern educational focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and STEAM (...

The Tamiya FAV (Fast Attack Vehicle) was a popular 1/10th scale military desert buggy that attracted two very distinct differences to the kit. While it obviously attracted those in the radio control car, truck, and buggy enthusiast community, it also brought in members of the military static modeling hobbyist community too. How did this one R/C buggy to bring two communities together to unite in T...

One of the myths in the online R/C hobbyist and reseller communities is that the CRP (Custom Racing Products) #1602 rear adjustable coil-overs for the Tamiya Frog, Wild One, and BRAT do not fit the rere (re-release) models. However, this is not true and we prove it with not only physics and geometry but our personal experience. We get out our calipers and get you the measurements of every part on...

Excelsior! We have previously identified the radio-controlled model vehicles of the DC Comics Universe's JLA (Justice League of America) and so now we are doing this for the Marvel superheroes. We match not only the looks and the colors of these R/C cars, trucks, vans, buggies, and jeeps, but their shared souls in this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast because with great radio control power come...

While Tamiya Club is an indispensable well of knowledge and advice on all things Tamiya R/C, some people, especially those from Gen X and the Alpha Generation, find these respected forums to not be as welcoming as the r/Tamiya subreddit on Reddit. Why is this so when Reddit is known for it's snarky trolls and most members at Tamiya Club are heavily invested veterans in the radio-controlled model v...

What hop-ups are available for the vintage Tamiya Fox and rere (re-release) Nova Fox 2WD (Two Wheel Drive) 1/10th scale racing radio controlled buggies? We go through all the various hop-ups options and rank them in order of importance for making your Fox or Nova Fox freaky fast and fastidious in this foxy episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast. 

For many Europeans and North Americans, going to Japan for R/C car racing, going to the Tamiya Festival, or touring Tamiya HQ (Headquarters) is a lifelong dream come true. But there are many customs and expectations for how you should act that is different than the ROTW (rest of the world). We teach you the Japanese radio-controlled hobby etiquette and culture that you need to know before heading...

When Tamiya made a rere (re-release) of their vintage 1/10th scale 2WD R/C racing buggy, The Fox, they oddly renamed it the Nova Fox. But this isn't the only thing that they changed about this re-released radio controlled racer. In this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast we disassemble both radio control buggies and tell you all the differences made in the rere Nova Fox compared to the classic, v...

We previously connected WWF/WWE professional wrestlers to their soulmate R/C cars, trucks, vans, jeeps, and buggies, so we also wanted to do the same with the 2nd largest pro wrestling company in the world, AEW (All-Elite Wrestling). But this time we are using both Tamiya radio controlled vehicles and cars from their esteemed competition, Kyosho! Can you pin the wrestlers to their radio control ta...

The Frog, Grasshopper, and Hornet were 3 of the most iconic radio controlled buggies of the R/C golden age or ever. However Tamiya's second wave of 2WD (Two Wheel Drive) radio control buggies, that included the technologically advanced Fox and the new beginners model, the Falcon, weren't nearly as popular. Why? We study the construction, economics, and late 80s competition to get the definitive an...

As we get to the end of the Gregorian calendar year, many people start thinking about buying new desk calendars or wall calendars for their home and office. Which brings up the question, does Tamiya, or a licensed 3rd party offer a calendar with Tamiya's iconic radio controlled model vehicles? Why or why not? We flip through the pages of time and answer these timely questions and more in this new...

Did you know that Vintage and ReRe (re-release) R/C model vehicles are secretly a master class in CI (continuous improvement) methodologies like Lean Kaizen, Six Sigma DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control), Agile Sprints, and Lean Startup BML (Build-Measure-Learn)? Learning about these process improvement methodologies can make your MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and it's run, break, fix, u...

Why should you throw away your old Phillips crosshead screwdrivers and only use JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) screw drivers for all cross head screws now? 99% of the time you should use a JIS cross head screw driver for both JIS screws and Phillips head screws both inside and outside the R/C model vehicle hobby. The ultra rare 1% exception is, in fact, exceptionally unlikely for most. However...

"First in Quality Around the World", "Toys They're Not", "Smart, Fast, and Accurate", "The Pro Standard", "Developing Better Tires and Wheels", "Toyshop We Are Not", "American Innovators", "Serious About Having Fun", "Champions by Design", and "No RC Car is Safe", are famous foundational mottos in the radio controlled hobbyist community, not just corporate marketing branding slogans. We go beyond...

Welcome to a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) episode made just for you! While what is 'best' is truly subjective, in this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast we let you know what the strengths are of a variety of R/C car forums that have a focus on Tamiya vintage and rere (re-release) radio-controlled model vehicles. Then, based on your focus, you will be able to create your own list of which radio control f...

The Frog, the Fox, most members of the HotShot family and the Thunder Shot family have horizontal damping on the front of the radio-controlled buggy. However, many R/C model vehicle enthusiasts won't upgrade them to dual upright shocks. Why? We uncover the desire to keep the soul of these vintage and rere (re-release) radio controlled model buggies intact and period correct in this episode of the...

A listener asked us to investigate what the racial demographics of the radio controlled model vehicle enthusiast community was, as being a European expat in North America, he saw mostly white men involved in the hobby with a smaller amount of Asians, Indians, Africans, and Latin Americans involved. In this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast we took a census not only of the near past and current s...

What are the maximum and minimum temperatures that your radio controlled model vehicles' greases can withstand? The chemistry and physics behind these lubricants is fascinating. We put the most popular greases from Tamiya, Hudy, MIP (Moore's Ideal Parts) and AE (Associated Electronics) FT (Factory Team) lubes to the test and share our results with you in this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast. 

The rere (re-release) Tamiya HotShot 1/10th scale 4WD (Four Wheel Drive) radio controlled buggy has two dummy heat sinks, while the vintage original's heatsinks were functional and served a purpose more than good stylistic looks. Why? We go into the philosophy of this rare fashion over function decision when Tamiya rereleased their first ever 1:10th scale 4WD R/C car in this episode of the RC Deep...

Tamiya discontinued it's tubes and pots of it's standard ceramic grease and replaced them with Cera Grease HG. Many R/C model vehicle hobbyists in the community and in club forums claimed it was the same thing just now in a bigger 10 oz. tube rather than the previous 1, 3, and 5 ounce containers just to charge more money. However, these uniformed rumors are not accurate. We mind the knowledge gap...

Mirage RC makes craft bespoke aluminum hop-up parts for many vintage and rere (re-released) Radio Controlled model vehicle kits, most famously for the HotShot, HotShot II, and SuperShot/Super HotShot 1/10th 4WD (Four Wheel Drive) R/C buggies. If you aren't in the UK (United Kingdom) or EU (European Union), is it worth the very long time and extremely high cost to have these made to order and to th...

Do you love your Tamiya 1/10th scale Grasshopper and/or Grasshopper II radio controlled buggy but hate how serious bashing can break the hard ABS body shells? In today's episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast we dig deep into how to convert your GH1 to body clips and cotter pins and how to get clear Lexan polycarbonate bodies for both your original Grasshopper and Grasshopper 2 R/C model vehicle kits...

Punky Brewster was played by actress Soleil Moon Frye who helped normalize girls building, collecting, bashing, and racing radio controlled cars, trucks, buggies, jeeps, and vans. But does Soleil Moon Frye still drive R/C model vehicles? How did her joining the radio control hobbyist community affect her life? We dig into her biography and give you these answers s and more in this episode of the R...

There have been many complaints online that the old heads in the radio control hobbyist community from Generation X are implementing new age divisions in vintage and rere (re-release) radio-controlled car, buggy, and truck races because they are tired of the younger generations like Gen Z and the Alpha Generation smoking them in races. While this is a rumor, it isn't actually factual at most R/C r...