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The AX10 is a very good choice, mutt2jeff. Plenty of stuff available to hop it up and spend more of your money. Put weights in your front wheels and mount your battery on top of the front steering servo for vastly improved crawler performance. If you have not yet, lock the rear differential too. This thread is definitely for me. I've worked in the RC industry for a long time. I currently am a project manager for a RC car manufacturer. I found a few things I've developed in some on the pictures in this thread, which I get a real kick out of. Anyone have any questions about the industry? Would be happy to answer as long as it doesn't violate my non-disclosure agreement with my employer. IVnic8or fucked around with this message at 02:11 on Apr 29, 2009 |
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Apr 29, 2009 02:02
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SGT. Squeaks posted:YAY! I just got an email from the senior editor of a popular RC magazine, guess my Vette posted above will be in a future mag. I won the Concourse competition in the IGT class at the MONTONICA GRAND PRIX in vegas over the weekend. Sadly the racing didn't go so well. So that is really you who is painting those fantastic bodies. I sheepishly admit that I was skeptical that those pics were really your models - I see too many people present the work of others as their own but by the tone of your posts, it's pretty apparent it's you. I'm a big fan of your work. It's VERY bold and perfectly clean in it's execution. Want to design a trim scheme for me? I'm serious. You're one of the top designer/painters out there right now. It's great that you're getting your work into one of the magazines. If you are looking to increase your notoriety and the amount of business you get coming in, offer to paint a few bodies for one of the magazines for free to gain some national exposure. If I really knew what's going to happen in the industry in the next few years, I'd be in a position to make some serious coin for my employer. I do have access to some of the best sales and marketing information on the industry and that puts me in a position to know what products sell well even if I don't exactly understand why. There are a few trends that I see; The first of which is the dominance of brushless motors and Lithium Polymer batteries. For the first time in the history of this industry, electric power is on par, or superior to fuel power in terms of power, speed, and runtime. The popularity of electric powered vehicles is going to increase. This is particularly true with 1/10 scale or smaller. 1/8 scale electric powered vehicles have some technology hurdles to get over - namely costs for the necessary batteries, motor controller (ESC-Electronic speed control) development, and some heat issues. Another trend is obvious to you as well: the trend towards scale or at least scale-looking vehicles. Performance has trumped scale looks for years. The industry is well developed now and it's technical progress is measured in terms of refinement rather than revolution. No longer are rather unattractive, but top performing vehicles going to sell because one manufacturer doesn't have much of a performance edge over the next. The dividing factor is now how it looks. Who doesn't want their RC vehicle look like something that you see driving on the street or full-scale racetrack? Especially if it's something you couldn't possibly afford in full scale, like a Formula One car or a off-road racing truck. For your perspective of which specific vehicles are going to be popular, it's always going to change. Newly designed product is what sells, whether it's the first vehicles in a new class or the next version of an existing type of vehicle. The real challenge to manufacturers is how to keep your product line fresh and new given the massive costs and huge amount of time required to design, tool, test, and manufacture them.
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Apr 29, 2009 07:08
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Atom1klad posted:I've been wanting to pick up a Mini Z for a bit, I spent many evenings wrenching on 80's R/C's and would love to pick up a car or two to screw around with. I think the Mini Z's are really cool. I have one that's many years old and I have not ran it for a long time. Be aware that the only suitable places to run them are indoor and a perfectly smooth garage or basement floor. It has so little ground clearance and it's tiny amount of suspension travel (will not take anything more than a slight bump) keeps it inside for the most part. If you want to run it outside, I'd look at a larger scale, say 1/18th or bigger. Besides bearings, I don't know enough about them to tell you which parts break easily and need upgraded. I'm guessing that most people would put in a ball differenial, tighten up the steering, and buy a faster motor. I generally hear that they're pretty durable in stock form FWIW. The MR-02 is their second generation chassis. The MR-15 is a new chassis and is more adjustable to fit different sized bodies. There's some info here: http://www.kyoshoamerica.com/miniz/index.php?category_id=16
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Apr 29, 2009 07:43
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krushgroove posted:What's your company's initials? I certainly didn't expect to see another goon in the industry. It's entirely possible that we've met. It's a small industry in many ways. I'd rather not say who I work for to protect my honesty. I'd like to help out a goon or two with product advice and since there's plenty of excellent equipment that I/we don't make, I'd like to be able to recommend it to goons. I do not want to be perceived as a shill for my employer and one way is to not say who it is. I post as 'the company guy' in the RC forums. Here I'd like to be a regular Joe with a decent amount of product knowledge that you can take advantage of. I'm not particularly well-known unless you are into a niche category or two that I do. Are you going to be at the show in Shanghai in June? Perhaps Chicago in Oct? Maybe we can find a way to meet up. What do you do; R&D, marketing.. ** I don't think that Nitro will go away, particularly in 1/8 scale off-road. It will still have it's ardent fans. The US 1/8 off-road nationals filled all 350 slots in less than two days this year. I don't recall a sell-out of any 1/8 Nats. This is also a 'down year' since it's not a World's qualifier race this year. Noise issues are getting more serious, especially in Europe. IFMAR is trying to make new exhaust noise rules - something like 85dB. The current regulation is 92dB.
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Apr 29, 2009 14:44
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hell, we may know each other IRL...
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krushgroove posted:I hear ya I have it down to a few companies at least. It depends if our definitions of how we determine the ranks match up. I usually go by sales dollars and sometimes unit sales. As a car manufacturer we rank a little further down the list than your company, by both measures. If my first guess is right about who you work for, you guys have some top notch marketing, judging by print ads, website, and promotions. I'm probably giving away too much info but I'm not so-cal based. I know, either personally or by reputation, a good portion of the so-cal based industry people since that's the center of the RC universe in many ways. I don't have plat either but we'll find a way to meet. Perhaps I'll create another account on RC Tech, give you the name here at SA and then we can exchange e-mail addresses or talk about industry stuff. How's the EU market these days? Seems that they are 'catching up' to US trends and follow them fairly closely. I want to go to Nuremburg at least once in my career. My company does attend that show every year but they've never sent me. I hate the shows if we're attending as an exhibitor but I'd suffer the Nuremburg show just for the opportunity to go to Germany. Every year, I attend the Chicago show and usually either the Beijing or Shanghai show. Occasionally some of the smaller shows but not much any more. I travel enough for my job and I need to be at the office as much as I can so I can get some 'real work' done. Kuffs, get the GT2. It's a great car, a good value, lots of fun, and the new McLaren body they just announced for it is amazing. Sell one of your lesser used cars to partially fund it.
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Apr 30, 2009 00:48
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krushgroove posted:EU market is actually pretty good, it's expanding as the former Soviet states (Ukraine, Slovakia, etc.) get more money and stronger economies. The global slowdown hasn't helped but it's not catastrophe time by any means. Tried to email you through your profile. That feature has been disabled. I'm too lazy to create a new account on RC Tech right now but I'll do it soon. My first guess of who you worked for was right and if my wild guess of who you are is correct, we've met once I recall. You guys make some excellent stuff. I LOVE the new orange scale car and the others in the series and your 1/5 scale stuff is off the hook. In the US market, Traxxas is #1 by a wide margin.
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Apr 30, 2009 06:19
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