A few of my many radio controlled vehicles
spanky117ab
Registered Users Posts: 263 Major grins
This is a small sample of my radio controlled vehicle collection I have built and collected over the years, I have many more than what is shown here. Photography is not my only hobby, im into many different things just to keep life interesting. You wont find these vehicles in the local toy store as they are all hobby grade and most cost upwards and beyond $1000. Canadian. I have built many of these from a kit and added extra upgrades to most as well. My racing vehicles can go over 100mph but I also enjoy slowing down with my crawler trucks and my son and I have built a crawler course in the yard as well. I also have Radio controlled boats, airplanes and helicopters that I will show in another post if anyone is interested. If these photos look darker than normal it's because I did that on purpose, thousands of regular photos of these are on line and I wanted to play with the lighting to be a little different, that's one of the reasons why ive started this post . We are fortunate/unfortunate to live on 20 acres with a large slough so we are able to continue to make use of the land and water since we are no longer a hobby farm. the average length is just over 21 inches with the largest being 35 inches long. Anyways enough talk here are a few of my favorite ( toys ).
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It was a little tricky getting the light just right.
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The working winch is able to pull 50 pounds. Toyota land cruiser.
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The inside of the land cruiser.
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1979 Chevy pick up truck. This truck has a working winch, working turn signals, high/low beam headlights, working brake lights, hazard lights, rear back up lights under carriage rock lights, cruise control, high and low range gearing and a two speed transmission.
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26cc 2 stroke gasoline engine 35 inches long. I built this from a kit that cost as much as one of my best lenses.
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4 wheel drive racing buggy's, able to do over 100 mph. Built the silver one from a kit.
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Got wires ?
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2021 Ford Bronco, full custom lighting and sound as well.
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Mercedes Benz G-63 6x6. Custom lighting and rock lights as well.
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Turning the wheels into pizza cutters.
Thats all for now I will show another post with different types of radio controlled models I also have.
My Smugmug galleryhttps://mikemcneil.smugmug.com/
Comments
I hardly know what to say, Mike. Your photography in presenting some of your creations is beyond stellar. It's as good as I've seen at any professional level.
There was a time when I also enjoyed enjoyed radio controlled cars, boats, and planes. But my exposure was at a real amateur level.....nothing remotely approaching the level of your involvement. I eventually dropped the car and boat stuff and focused on the planes. That eventually led me to getting a pilots license and moving into the ultralight realm of aviation. After that, I shared ownership of a Cessna 172 for a while. Tiring of that arrangement, I bought a Piper J-3 Cub just to enjoy some low and slow flying. The plane was sound but needed some love and attention. Some friends and I brought it back to a high degree of restoration and I enjoyed it for a long time. Some health issues arose and I deemed it wise to sell the plane and I surrendered my license.
But, wouldn't you know it, a good fiend has opened up a hobby shop here in Jacksonville, Hurricane Hobbies, and he's strong in RC stuff. Damn....I'm feeling the pull.
I can't wait to see more of your collection and hear your stories. Good luck, my friend.
Thank you very much for the kind words Tom, the advancements in the RC hobby are amazing now, I have several hobbies that im into besides photography, that helps me to not get burned out with staying with one only. That is very cool that you can fly real airplanes, I know how nervous I get taking an RC plane up, a real one would be on another lever for me lol. The tech in the latest radio controlled airplanes make it very hard to crash as the planes practically fly themselves and some have landing assist built in that you can turn on or off. Same tech in the flight controllers for RC helicopters minus the landing assist. Electric models keep the noise levels very low so your not disturbing others and run times are beyond what nitro fuel offers ( I can get up to 2 and a half hours on some of my crawler trucks ). Just like photography gear, you get what you pay for and I would rather spend $500. on something that I will have for many years rather than waste $200. on something that will probably break first time out and has no replacement parts available. I just bought some parts for a 12 year old radio controlled truck and they were in stock, cant do that with a department store unit. If you take a stroll through a RC hobby store you just might be amazed at what's new out there. It can be a costly rabbit hole mind you, much like photography can be if you let it.
My Smugmug galleryhttps://mikemcneil.smugmug.com/
Tom I forgot to mention back in the 90s I built a 6 foot Piper J3 cub, it was a very forgiving aircraft to fly, that is up until I took it out in winds I had no business trying to fly in. Now its just a distant memory.
My Smugmug galleryhttps://mikemcneil.smugmug.com/
Hey. Mike.
You made a comment that I found very interesting concerning flying RC as opposed to flying the type of aircraft I flew. I was much more nervous flying RC airplanes. I think I felt more in control of the situation in the real planes. Even considering that a mistake in RC flying might only result in a damaged or destroyed aircraft, as opposed to a mistake in my flying that could be fatal, it was just a more comfortable environment for me. I just fed off of the enjoyment of what I was doing and kept the bad thoughts as suppressed as possible. I scared myself only once and you can bet the house that I never made that mistake again.
I've gone to my friends new hobby shop on several occasions recently and he has enjoyed a huge positive response from the RC crowd around here. Racing on the beach is real big ( huge knobby tires ) and that's probably the direction I would go in. There's another fairly large group that fly HUGE planes. I mean, Mike, some of those things could take up small children.....10 to 12 foot wing spans and gas engines putting out 20 to 30 HP. The next meet of that crowd, I'll get some shots and post them. Amazing.
Stay safe, brother.
Mike....
Beyond what Tom has said, i can only add ...Wow!
As the saying goes....these are not your father's RC cars. Certainly not the ones I remember from my youth.
Your images are wonderful and presented at a professional level. The lighting effect you achieved and the presentation is absolutely spot-on.
Your technical expertise in designing and constructing these vehicles is also amazing, and your images are certainly capable of drawing one into this hobby, this passion.
Very well done.
Thank you for providing us with a new and exciting view into radio controlled vehicles!
El Gato
www.globaltrekk-photos.com
Thank you so very much for the kind words, im glad you liked the models. Regards....Mike.
My Smugmug galleryhttps://mikemcneil.smugmug.com/