TOPIC:

Post them here:

My first RC memory was when my parents bought me my Sand Scorcher for my birthday (12th or 13th I guess) and then the radio gear for Christmas. Thing is... my birthday is in July
So I built my SS then spent 5 months pushing it around the bedroom floor making brrrm brrrrm noises. I later learned that they actually bought the lot as a package and kept the radio gear in a cupboard for 5 months. Although it frustrated me at the time, it did mean I took my time building and painting the car.
When I finally got the radio, I installed it and charged the battery for 12 hours with the Acoms slow charger and took it out in the garden. Of course after 15 minutes the battery was flat. I thought that 1.2 amp hours on the battery meant that it would run for 1.2 hours! We actually took it back to the shop and complained. When the bloke told us that it was normal, my Dad took pity and bought a fast charger.

A friend of mine had an XR311 which I remember being a pile of junk. He seemed to be constantly fixing it, mainly because it had eaten the gearbox. He eventually fitted an SRB gearbox to it and tried to make a chassis/radio box out of a Tupperware box. This was surprisingly rigid so long as the lid was fitted properly.
I guess this was the original version of the Tamiya Lunchbox!

Another friend had a Holiday Buggy which also seemed to eat gearboxes on an almost daily basis. I suppose his choice of running venue in an old sand pit didn't help

A bit later I got into racing 1/8th scale IC stock cars at Chessington Radio Car Club at Chessington Army Camp - I guess this wouldn't happen these days. I think the army camp may be the site of Chessington World of Adventures now.
I recently contacted the friend I used to race with on Facebook and rekindled his interest. I've just sold him a Mardave Marauder! He used have one as well as the stock cars. He is now a semi-professional model maker and makes some stunning military dioramas.