The RC Deep Dive

In the iconic 1980's Punky Brewster episode, "Girls Will be Boys", the backyard R/C racer boys, as well as Punky Brewster herself, wore racecar driver racing jumpsuits when racing their vintage Tamiya 1:10th scale radio-controlled model vehicles on their backyard bashing racetrack. Was this normal for children and adults too do when racing their radio controlled model vehicles or did they wear any other type of uniform? We look back in time to the golden era of R/C and give you those answers in this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast. 

In 1983 Tamiya created 3 very different radio-controlled model vehicles on the same chassis; the Lancia 037 Rally Car, the Subaru BRAT, and the original racing vehicle, the Frog; and would later continue to make more, including the Black Foot and the Super Beetle, on that same chassis that Tamiya simply called a "sturdy ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) space frame" originally. In this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast we look into why that sturdy ABS space frame universally came to be known as the ORV (Off-Road Vehicle) chassis. 

In a previous episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast we covered the last 2 surviving English language print radio-controlled model vehicle magazines. But in this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast we cover the RotW (Rest of the World) and detail the unique survival strategies of print versions of R/C magazines in Japan (who had 2 mags in 2025 but only 1 remains in 2026), Germany (who boasts an amazing 3 surviving print magazines), and France. 

Many 3rd party aftermarket manufacturers since the 1980s to the present have made vertical shocks for both the front and rear of the Mighty Frog. However, a large contingent of the vintage and rere (re-release) R/C hobbyist community has rejected them completely, saying that they take the sleek and stylish Mighty Frog and turn it into just another generic, soulless radio controlled buggy, stripping it of it's iconic, classic character.  In this episode of the RC Deep Dive we tell you why we agree with those vintage Tamiya radio control enthusiasts. 

Pro-Line and CRP (Custom Racing Products) made white dyable nylon bumpers for the ORV (Off-Road Vehicle) chassis R/C model vehicles, when it came to the Frog the radio control hobbyist community decided that the best color choice was to just keep it white. Why? We dig into the surprising answer to that question in this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast.

This is a call to arms and scrub for the radio control hobbyist community: we need our own radio-controlled model vehicle specific holidays like other hobbies and cultures have. Listen to this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast to find out the details. In brief, we are proposing 2 holidays, a "Go RC Day" and a "R/C Hobby Shop Day" each with a different focus. One is going out in the community, make friends in the hobby, and fire R/C to be seen by the public in a positive light. The second is R/C Hobby Shop Day, a day where we make an effort to go and support our friendly local R/C hobby shops. 

The lifecycle of a radio-controlled model; vehicle from building to running to repairing to upgrading or hopping-up to rebuilding to retiring your R/C car, truck, buggy, jeep, van, bus, or tank to be a shelf queen; surprisingly mirrors the foundational philosophies of Buddhism and karma. How exactly do these things line up? In this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast we open the tripitaka, spin the wheels, and explain how the radio control hobby can lead to enlightenment. 

Many people don't think about it, but by lawn mower regularly wrenching on your R/C model vehicle, you become an amateurs engineer and have a better understanding of your car, truck, jeep, van, or bus that you drive daily. Likewise, it makes you better able to repair things like your lawnmower at home or a copier machine at work. Why? In this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast we look into how your mind rewires itself each time you build, tune, hop-up, or repair your radio controlled model vehicle at your hobby workbench. 

Bashing, Crawling, Racing, and Drifting a radio-controlled model vehicle can actually make your a much better driver in your full scale car, truck, jeep, van, or boys that you drive every day. How is this possible? There is actually a scientific reason behind this fact. In this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast we dig into the psychology and physics behind R/C enthusiasts being better drivers than others on the road. 

R/C wrenching isn't just using a Tamiya box wrench t-tool. It's the building, tuning, hopping-up, and repairing your radio controlled model vehicles. But how did wrenching come to contain all of these actions in the radio controlled model vehicle hobbyist community? In this episode of the RC Deep Dive podcast we open the dictionary and history books and explain the etymology, semantics, and lexicology of wrenching.