Baby steps into RC

I've been a fan of RCs for as long as I can remember. My dad used to have a red Tamiya buggy, whose name eludes the both of us, when I was about four or five. That's when I caught the bug.

I owned a lot of toy RCs growing up but my first foray into hobby grade RCs was a Traxxas Nitro4Tec in 2000. I did well for my exam the year before and my dad surprised me with a visit to the hobby store. I lacked knowledge at the time, all I knew was I wanted something nitro and it should come with a pistol grip.

I settled with the nitro4tec because of its looks and the colours on the boxes. I brought it home and followed the instructions to break in the engine. It ran great for a few weeks... and then I started running into tuning issues. The Trx.12 engine back then was a notoriously hard to tune... especially for someone still in highschool. I also struggled to set the car up properly. My dream of owning my first RC turned into a nightmare and the car was sold about a year later. Unfortunately I do not have a single picture of the car... as this was before digital cameras were a thing.

My next attempt at getting into RCs came in 2006 (based on dates on photos). I was now studying at Murdoch College in Perth. My schoolmates and I came across a hobby shop one day and we decided to check out the place. I was struggling with living alone in a foreign place at the time and just needed something to entertain me and take my mind off things. We (three of us) pooled our money and picked up a couple of Team Losi Mini Ts. These things were great but I'm guessing the technology wasn't there at the time or it could have been as popular as the Kyosho Mini Zs of today.

I don't have pictures of the Mini Ts either but my schoolmates wanted to keep the cars when we graduated college so they bought my share off me. By now I was again bitten by the RC bug and I used the money to get my second Traxxas. The mighty Stampede.

The awesome Pede in all its blue glory.

I loved this car and decked in out with upgrades as time went on. I bought all the RPM parts I could find and beefed up the drivetrain and electronics. It drove great and was plenty of fun. This Stampede was one of the few cars I regret selling. I loved it so much that I decided to get its racier brother, the Rustler just as I was entering Uni.

The Pede's not so awesome but still pretty cool brother...

I also gave the Rustler all the RPM upgrades I could get my hands on but it wasn't as fun as the Stampede. It was around this time when an on-road track opened near my area. I checked it out and got interested in racing. The cheapest way to start racing at the time was the Tamiya TT01 class so I got a used car. It was a car that was already racing in said class so I was assured the car was competitive... the driver was another story.

I wasn't good at driving yet so I struggled to keep pace and this bummed me out, to the point where I never mustered up the courage to join any of the races. I would show up at the track and waited until everyone left before putting my car on the track. I could have really benefited from some help back then but I did not get any, which is why I am so keen to help newcomers to the hobby nowadays.

Looks good but the pilot lacked the skills needed to drive this Tamiya TT01 properly.

In the end, I never once raced my TT01 but I made a promise to improve my driving and upgrade to a better car next season. It was at this time (2008) where I invested in my first 'proper' competition RC car, the Hot Bodies Cyclone Sport.

My romance with the HB brand was short lived.

I built the car up and gave it the electronics designated for my race class but once again I couldn't get the car running right. I had no idea on how the car had to be set up and no one was around to guide or teach me. Looking back, I can definitely say the car wasn't built right and suffered from horrible chassis tweak. It wouldn't drive straight no matter what I tried.

I shelved it and sold all my cars about a year later - including the awesome Stampede - when it came time for me to return to Brunei.