Pretty lousy quality for $250.00

[SteveK]

almost forgot this.

It's interesting after all the comments about Chinese quality that most of the problems are to do with the USA made chassis.

That's why everything is made in China.

Yeah, it all depends on the company and what standards the will accept from their suppliers. How many Apple products fail, as a percentage? Very few, because they are strict about quality control (they sell so many devices that even a fraction of a percent can mean tens of thousands of failures).

[RC104ever]

Well I started mine last night with my son and it seems to be quite well made. Green ball cups notwithstanding

Actually, I will admit its weird, but its nothing to get bent out of shape over, IMO.

So far everything is going perfectly, just finished the front end and working on the tranny now.

[bully]

Can't believe all the talk about quality from experienced modellers on an rc10 apreciation forum ragging on the new kit, i am just glad it was made an even on my crappy laybuy everything budget $250 buks is nothing nowadays. Every kit i have ever had an cpl of rtr's have all needed a wise calm head an hand to extract the best, it's just part of it.. sheesh

[R/Cat]

Can't believe all the talk about quality from experienced modellers on an rc10 apreciation forum ragging on the new kit, i am just glad it was made an even on my crappy laybuy everything budget $250 buks is nothing nowadays. Every kit i have ever had an cpl of rtr's have all needed a wise calm head an hand to extract the best, it's just part of it.. sheesh

Well, the objective discussion about quality is actually what I would expect from experienced modelers who know the difference so I think it's perfectly ok to discuss both the positive and negative aspects of the kit. Afterall, it's "RC10talk.com" not "RC10appreciationtalk.com."

That said, I'm with you as far as feeling very fortunate to even have the opportunity to build a NIB re-re gold pan especially considering the reasonable price tag and I say that as a more recent fan of the RC10 rather than a guy looking to relive his childhood memories of the original. That's probably why I'm one of those who has a problem with the imperfect fit/finish.

[TheSpeedway]

In 84 the rear arms had a built in down travel stop... the limiters probably came later when this was probably found to be a bad idea.

Chris

The instruction manual I am referring to is dated 1984 but is a Cadillac addressed document. That means that the rounded Worlds arms werent available yet and they were still using the arms with the squared off bottom corner and downstop.

[clm]

What I mean by bad idea was suspension action probably ate up those steps on the arm so they added the limiters for the cadillac so it wouldn't eat up the step.

Chris

[badhoopty]

im not trying to troll here... but the rc10 wasnt made for experienced modelers, it was made for racers.

racers who wanted more performance and tunability than the current rc buggies at the time could deliver.

[Dirtdiver]

I wasn't planning on buying a new RC-10 but after hearing all the comments, I'm headed to my local hobby shop to buy one (and see what the actual kit quality is like). I can remember assembling my gold pan at 12 yrs old and having to deburr gears and trim plastic; however my biggest issue was getting two front arms (right side?) and having to write Associated and ask them for a left front arm so I could assemble my car. They sent me a fresh pack of front arms and I've been a happy RC-10 owner ever since. I also still have the un-used arm in my original box.

[vsefiream]

I didn't order a kit but I have a few thoughts after reading this thread...

First of all, I am very excited the re re is hitting the shelves and I get to see you guys build 'em up. It was said earlier, and I agree that we should feel very fortunate that the car was re-released in the first place. It's an exciting time.

As far as the price goes... Lets not forget that the RC10 is built out of durable engineering materials unlike Tamiya who tends to make everything out of cheaper ABS plastic. I had a ton of Tamiya vehicles back in the day and I know for a fact I spent more time fixing them than I did fixing an RC10.
The plastics are all glass filled nylon on the RC10 and are made overseas in brand new molds. However, from what I have read, the aluminum and fiberglass parts are all made here in the US and the spares prices show it! $250 For this kit is honestly a bargain for what you get, especially since we have all been craving it's arrival for years.

If the plastic parts had better QC and process control techniques, I'm sure they would fit better. But if you read that last sentence right, you would have heard the re re price click up a few notches!! I honestly feel we got a good kit at a good price from everything I have read so far. I know this may come as a shock to many newbies or owners of other makes but the RC10 was always a higher skill level kit that required a bit of craftsmanship.

For example, Have any of you bought Testor's Model masters premium kits?? These are limited release plastic model kits of vehicles not commonly available in plastic kits. These kits are expensive and require a lot of hand finishing to make the parts fit properly. They also have fewer parts than most kits but may include things such as real rubber tires, aluminum rims or laser etched metal parts. I see these as very similar to the RC10, both made for a higher skill level, both require a lot of work to complete, both have unique parts in their class and both have a hefty price tag as they cost more to produce. In Tamiya's case, you are spending the money on ABS plastic parts they are spitting out of a mold as if it were a PEZ dispenser. Nothing unique there!

The RE RE replacement parts are going to make it easier to fix up a few cars I have kicking around so I am glad about that as well. I have yet to see the influx of parts and re re kits affect the price of complete cars. I don't part cars out but I am sure it's hurting sales for the chop shops, I really do feel bad about that... not really Luckily for the purists the parts all look a bit different and can be told apart using a keen eye.

I may still get a re re kit if I sell a few vintage RC10s to cover the cost. I really look forward to building a sealed kit just like I did back in '88. Dunno if I'll keep it after I build it though. We'll see, you guys are really pushing me to get one

[R/Cat]

I didn't order a kit but I have a few thoughts after reading this thread...

First of all, I am very excited the re re is hitting the shelves and I get to see you guys build 'em up. It was said earlier, and I agree that we should feel very fortunate that the car was re-released in the first place. It's an exciting time.

As far as the price goes... Lets not forget that the RC10 is built out of durable engineering materials unlike Tamiya who tends to make everything out of cheaper ABS plastic. I had a ton of Tamiya vehicles back in the day and I know for a fact I spent more time fixing them than I did fixing an RC10.
The plastics are all glass filled nylon on the RC10 and are made overseas in brand new molds. However, from what I have read, the aluminum and fiberglass parts are all made here in the US and the spares prices show it! $250 For this kit is honestly a bargain for what you get, especially since we have all been craving it's arrival for years.

If the plastic parts had better QC and process control techniques, I'm sure they would fit better. But if you read that last sentence right, you would have heard the re re price click up a few notches!! I honestly feel we got a good kit at a good price from everything I have read so far. I know this may come as a shock to many newbies or owners of other makes but the RC10 was always a higher skill level kit that required a bit of craftsmanship.

For example, Have any of you bought Testor's Model masters premium kits?? These are limited release plastic model kits of vehicles not commonly available in plastic kits. These kits are expensive and require a lot of hand finishing to make the parts fit properly. They also have fewer parts than most kits but may include things such as real rubber tires, aluminum rims or laser etched metal parts. I see these as very similar to the RC10, both made for a higher skill level, both require a lot of work to complete, both have unique parts in their class and both have a hefty price tag as they cost more to produce. In Tamiya's case, you are spending the money on ABS plastic parts they are spitting out of a mold as if it were a PEZ dispenser. Nothing unique there!

The RE RE replacement parts are going to make it easier to fix up a few cars I have kicking around so I am glad about that as well. I have yet to see the influx of parts and re re kits affect the price of complete cars. I don't part cars out but I am sure it's hurting sales for the chop shops, I really do feel bad about that... not really Luckily for the purists the parts all look a bit different and can be told apart using a keen eye.

I may still get a re re kit if I sell a few vintage RC10s to cover the cost. I really look forward to building a sealed kit just like I did back in '88. Dunno if I'll keep it after I build it though. We'll see, you guys are really pushing me to get one

Couldn't agree more about the reasonable price and justified excitement surrounding the re-re. It's really fantastic and we're all very lucky. I have to say that my experience with Tamiya kits has been more positive despite their mass production and I believe they largely remain highly regarded for their fit, finish and durability overall even though they're not up to the standards of stronger materials used with some other cars like the RC10. I've never had a major parts failure with any of my Tamiya kits in nearly 30 years. I broke an upright on my LB once after smacking into a curb back in the 80's but that's it. I never even broke the infamously weak body posts on that truck despite flipping on it's lid many times on the street.

I find it intriguing and can appreciate the fact that the RC10 was designed for a higher skill level and required/s a bit of craftmanship which would explain its imperfect fit/finish 30 years ago when it was an A-main contender/champion. For that reason, I actually look forward to applying my own knowledge and skill to the build overall (although wrestling with poorly fitting parts will annoy me a bit ) However, with the potential QC issues everybody is talking about, I wonder whether those imperfections on the re-re were intentionally kept for nostalgia's sake or just a result of poor chinese QC especially considering that they went out of their way to upgrade the car to accept lipo/brushless power and therefore removed some of the craftmanship needed to make the car fast. Now, when will you be ordering your kit?!!?

[Diamond Dave]

I agree, and I ordered mine. The down side of this is that my LHS got screwed by Tower/GP and we have not seen any here yet.

Anyone got a lead on a few kits? I will take a couple, if not three. I am looking forward to the tooling and fitment of the parts.

The fact that we can use today's BL motors and lipo's will make it a breeze to run and maintain. I have a few brushed motors and some period correct ESC's for the second runner as well.

[ra272]

My two rear hub carriers have ovalized holes. The bearings are moving and in result the rear wheels have horrible play...feel like a tamiya car.

I just throw them away and replaced them with old new parts: no more play.

[SnoopMaxx]

The front of my chassis was bent about 1/8" up, about 2" in
and there was a really sharp 3" long burr on the top edge

All fixed now

[marlo]

[clm]

Oooh Tricky! Confuse the people who can't read!

Chris