Tower Hobbies

No matter if you’re just starting to delve into the world of RC and bought your first ready to run truck or you’re well acquainted with your tried-and-true RC trophy truck (or have a fleet of them), from time to time you’ll need to perform routine maintenance on your vehicles. If you’re more advanced, you might even start making tweaks and adjustments to your race cars to improve their performance come race day. Whatever camp you fall in, no matter your experience, having a well-equipped toolbox or workshop will help make maintenance easier, save you from headaches, and ultimately improve your RC vehicle experience. Here are six essentials you should have in your workshop.  Screwdrivers For most RC applications, you’ll need Phillips head screwdrivers, although a flat head can come in handy from time to time. It’s also worth mentioning that not all screwdrivers are the same, and if you want to take RC seriously for the long-term, it’s worth investing in a qualit

After “nitro or electric,” one of the most common and passionate subjects of debate in the RC community is whether to go with a kit car or a ready-to-run (RTR) model. As is the case with most subjects debated, there isn’t a right or wrong answer. Which direction you should go depends on what you’re looking to get out of your RC hobby—and not just whether or not you want to play with fast RC cars or beefy off-road 4x4s. It depends on your time priorities and temperament too. Ready-to-Run The primary “pro” of an RTR RC vehicle is in the name itself: it’s ready to go, minus some probable battery charging or fueling, right out of the box. You don’t have to spend 3-5 hours putting a vehicle together, gluing tires, painting a body, and doing everything else that building an RC model from a kit entails. It also likely comes with most (though not necessarily all) of the components you’ll need for continuing to run it. Kit vehicles are often unpainted, though paint is not n

To clarify, the title here refers to adults looking to get into RC vehicles as a hobby. If you’re looking for an RC toy for a young child, picking up a $10 to $20 RC car or truck from the toy aisle of the closest big-box store is a perfectly legitimate option. However, for those looking to get into—or who are already into— remote control cars or trucks as a serious hobby, read on. Hobby Grade vs. Toy Grade For anyone unfamiliar with the terms “hobby grade” and “toy grade,”the distinction is fairly self-explanatory. Hobby-grade RC vehicles are higher-quality RC vehicles for enthusiasts. Toy-grade RC vehicles are what they sound like—toys. Among a number of other differences, toy-grade RC vehicles are considerably less expensive and generally considerably lower quality than hobby-grade vehicles. The Quality Difference As mentioned, hobby-grade RC cars and trucks are simply on another quality level than toy-grade models. One of the primary differences between the