RRCi
FINAL COMMEMORATIVE PRINT ISSUE... www.radioracecar.com
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770268 333141
Issue 385
£4.25
DECEMBER 2015
RC Retrospective CELEBRATING THE LAST DECADE OF RRCI
SETTING THE PACE IN RC JOURNALISM SINCE 1981 COVER_RRCDEC15.indd 1
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REVIEWS
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10
August 2012
‘EXPLORING SCALE-ISM’
RC4WD Trail Finder II 1/10th Hard Bodied Kit Build
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September 2012
THE VERY BEST OF BRITISH TO YOU! Schumacher Racing Supastox 1/12th Kit Build
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December 2014
KYOSHO REGRESSION THERAPY
Kyosho Scorpion 1/10th 2WD Electric Racing Buggy 2014 Retro kit
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July 2010
BUG JAM
Tamiya Sand Scorcher 1/10th Electric Retro Buggy
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November 2012
THE 'REAL' RALLY GAME
Thunder Tiger EB-4 S2.5 WRC Mini Countryman
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August 2010
THE COMMENDATORE
Kyosho Mini-z 2WD 1/28th Enzo Ferrari
FEATURES
CONTENTSRRCi
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FINISH LINE Divergence... April 2011
AMERICANA
December 2015 Issue 385
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RRCi Goes Stateside with an interview with the legend that is Ken Block!
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UK RC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIPS RRCi Trackside Report: Stage 6 Weymouth: The Southern Counties RC Rally Club March 2011
RRCI HITS THE 90’S HEAD ON! RRCi Retrospective: We revisit the 1990s!
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62 A Trip Down Memory Lane!
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rrci /DECEMBER 15
20/10/15 09:22:36
radio race car international
RRCi FINISHLINE DIVERGENCE… It’s 6.30 am, I’m sitting at my desk (as I often do at this time), triple shot Espresso steaming away, having just spent the last hour looking through a decade of RRCi magazines. Since its birth on a kitchen table in 1981 Radio Racecar International has always been a part of the UK and global R/C scene. It’s progressed from its original A5 ‘Rag Mag’ format into the glossy magazine that we know today and over the years since has brought countless hours of joy and inspiration to its thousands of readers across the globe. It’s had many editors, including Traplet’s own MD Tony Stephenson and the unforgettable Dez Chand, who I (and everyone who knew him) miss each and every day. It’s evolved over time it’s had to, as the Internet brought with it a medium for offering you, the reader all sorts of information within minutes of an event happening. Sometimes that’s a good thing, other times not. But RRCi has always been there. Month in, month out it offered reviews and insight into the most exciting products, from the most diverse range of brands, and each month gave you food for thought about a future build, your next race chassis or that RTR that has caught your eye and will become your next bashing platform of choice. But things have changed in the magazine world. Advertising is in decline, with brands, distributors and retailers putting their budgets into digital and online advertising instead of glossy adverts in print. And that’s been a major factor in the decline of many print magazines in the last few years, and it’s finally caught up with RRCi. Sadly, this will be the last issue ever in print. It’s a sour pill to swallow for the whole team, and you the reader, but it’s something we have no control over. This issue celebrates the magazine. It offers the best of the last decade’s articles and showcases what made us truly different and so unique. We always went that bit further with our reviews. We interviewed the most interesting people (my 2 hours asking Ken Block questions about his life, R/C and Gymkhana was a personal highlight for me!), and we always championed the niche, innovative, fun and most inspiring products out there. That’s what this hobby is about after all! I want to offer a huge thanks to our loyal readership for being part of our ‘journey’ in the last three and a half decades, and the whole of the contributor team, past and present for making it happen every month. Lastly, to the manufacturers, distributors and retailers, thank you for supporting the magazine and me as its editor. I cannot mention you all individually as it would take far too many pages. You know who you are, and you know how much I appreciate what you have done for us over the years. Lastly, that word: ‘Divergence’. It’s worth a Google as its meaning is quite significant. This isn’t the end of RRCi; no, we simply don’t roll like that. It’s about to evolve from its current form and become something much stronger, faster and vibrant. I have a great team and full global industry support and RRCi will continue ‘Setting the Pace’ for a long time yet… See you soon! Want to know more? Keep an eye on the magazine’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RadioRaceCarInternational, my Twitter feed: @rrci_madpete and Traplet’s main website: www.thehobbyhub.com RRCi, Setting the Pace in R/C Journalism Since 1981
PETER GRAY Editor RRCi
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EDITOR Peter Gray
peter.gray@traplet.com CONTRIBUTORS Mark Christopher, Andy Moore, Ian Pecket, Wayne Taylor, Matt Tunks MANAGING DIRECTOR Tony Stephenson OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Tom Stephenson DESIGNERS Nick Powell, James Scott ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVE Mel Penkoks Tel: 01684 588510 email: melanie.penkoks@traplet.com MARKETING Tel: 01684 588599 email: marketing@traplet.com ADVERTISING COPY CONTROLLER Cindi Griffiths Tel: 01684 588517 email: adcopy@traplet.com TRADE SALES EXECUTIVE Angela Price Tel: 01684 588568 email: angela.price@traplet.com PRINTED BY Warners plc PUBLISHED BY Traplet Publications Ltd Traplet House Willow End Park Blackmore Park Road Malvern WR13 6NN UK
Tel: 01684 588500 Fax: 01684 578558 email: info@traplet.com
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2015 Traplet Publications Limited. All rights reserved.
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This publication is printed by Warners 01778 395111 This magazine is sold subject to the following conditions: that it shall not without written consent of the publishers be lent, resold or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in excess of the recommended maximum retail price. All rights strictly reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way without the prior agreement of the publisher. All letters must be accompanied by the sender’s full name and address. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited correspondence nor some of the opinions expressed. All material and artwork originated by Traplet Publications Ltd., photographs, drawings, plans used in this magazine become the publishers copyright under Copyright law. Some photographs may have been digitally re-mastered. The Company reserves the right to suspend or refuse any advertisements without giving reasons. Whilst every care is taken to avoid mistakes, Traplet Publications Ltd. cannot be liable in any way for errors or omissions. Nor can the Publisher accept any responsibility for the bona fides of advertisers. ©2015 Traplet Publications Limited ISSN 0268-3334
rrci /DECEMBER 15
16/10/15 13:09:27
KIT REVIEW RC4WD TRAIL FINDER II 1/10TH HARD BODIED KIT BUILD WORDS AND IMAGES: PETER GRAY
EXPLORING
'SCALE-ISM' I HATE TO PIGEONHOLE BUT…
There are different types of scale build, and while all can be entered in comps like the Nationals, some are far more ‘competitive’ than others. Lexan bodied rigs tend to have less outright detail and scale realism, but are the lighter once built, tend to have a lower centre of gravity and therefore are the more performance orientated designs out there on the market today. This genre seems to be dominated at the moment by rigs based on the SCX-10 platform by Axial, and as either an affordable RTR or custom kit builds they are hard to fault. But when put side by side with true ‘hard bodied’ scale rigs, the compromises in the fine-detail start to become very apparent. You see, traditionally if you wanted true scale looks you only had two choices… You went for a Tamiya kit, for example the Toyota Hi-Lux or Tundra, or you scratch-built from the ground up a rig based on your own choice of axles, a custom made ladder chassis, a modified injection moulded bodyshell and then spent tens of hours finishing the project to your satisfaction. While the Tamiyas have a place in many people’s hearts (including my own), and the finished rigs always look amazing, the words ‘robust’ and ‘trail tough’ aren’t exactly the correct ones to use… after being carefully run, most end up on shelves, and instead of gathering mud in their tyre treads, they tend to end up gathering dust. But there is another far tougher alternative, from our friends over at RC4WD… namely the Trail Finder II.
is clearly identified, and each step of the build laid out in a logical and well thought out order, and there’s even a list of suggested available RC4WD hop-up and upgrade parts! I next noticed that everything was very neatly packaged, with the Mojave Toyota Hilux body and all its accessories in one inner box, and the chassis, transfer box, main transmission and metal accessories in
FUNCTIONAL SCALE REALISM I’ve built and owned five other RC4WD products over the last six years, and have always loved their backyard engineering approach to design, their often ‘work it out for yourself’ lack of instructions, minimal packaging, tough raw materials and outright durability their products always exude. Historically, most vehicles are made from a combination of alloy and steel, with an emphasis on ‘functional scale realism’ as opposed to ‘performance plastic fantastic’. Yes they may cost a little more than say an Axial or Tamiya, and you sometimes have to wait a few weeks for your order to be manufactured and shipped, but that’s part of the appeal, it’s not a hugely mass produced product, it’s always made in small batches and just feels more exclusive than many other brands out there. The brand has a huge worldwide client base, and once bitten by the RC4WD bug you tend to end up as someone that follows the brand and all new product releases with great interest. Well, it’s been at least two years since the last RRCi product I reviewed for RRCi, and I was very interested to see what had changed from my last encounter. Well let’s just say lots…
GETTING PRETTY SLICK For a start the packaging has gone from a plain white or brown box (with sometimes just a minimal logo) to a full colour and very professional looking package that would look perfectly at home on any hobby store shelf anywhere worldwide. Another thing that nearly made me faint when I saw it sitting in the top of the box was the clear and concise manual. Every part
“Looking at the diversity and sheer standard of builds, it gets more intricate and interesting with the passing of every year”
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RC4WD
KIT REVIEW
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ere at RRCi, the team don’t just race and bash, we also enjoy unwinding with other forms of vehicle related R/C like point to point trail running and even the odd full-on scale project. Many of us started as static model makers, and the beauty of rigs like this is that they actually actively encourage true model making techniques as well as what’s traditionally seen as just kit ‘building’. Scale rigs are built for a variety of reasons; some builders enjoy the whole involved process, from the basic construction of the chassis and running gear, to the painting of the shell, and then the intricate detailing and those small touches that take these builds from ‘just another R/C vehicle’ into a photorealistic work of art. Others choose to re-create an iconic vehicle that they have always dreamt of owning, or more realistically, one that in real life they may never get the chance of owning. Some builders even replicate a 1:1 vehicle they run themselves in real life. The latter may be a small (but lucky) minority, but as you can see in this month’s mag, and the blow-by-blow account of the 2012 UK Scale Nationals, the former seems to be an ever-growing part of the R/C scene. Looking at the diversity and sheer standard of builds, it also gets more intricate and interesting with the passing of every year. layers of high density foam nestled in the other, with cut outs for each component to help keep them protected during transit. Lastly, in a void space under the foam and larger components comes all the hardware. This was the other noticeable change from previous kits. Each bag is clearly labelled with the contents hardware type and dimensions. This helps no end during the build and corresponds with clearly identified hardware needs during the construction of each sub-assembly.
Above: The new style box shows just how the RC4WD product has progressed... very slick looking
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