Everybody’s Scalin’ – Body Musings

A body is everything in r/c these days, especially when it comes to an RTR. Compared to, oh I dunno, say 15 years ago when almost everything came with a generically striped & painted unlicensed lid, today’s stuff is downright mind blowing.

Manufacturers all across the board, whether makers of touring cars, off-road buggies, or (of-course) scalers, are all trying to out-do each other in an effort to have the coolest looking ride on the hobby shop shelf.

One of our pieces of review criteria is “Car Show Rating” and it’s become extremely common for vehicles to nab an A. This isn’t because we have gone lax, it’s because, well, everything just looks great! And while some vehicles still look sort of bland, it’s a rarity for something to look actively bad.

So if everything looks so great, why is it that no matter what I buy, I have to make sure I leave the LHS with a new body in tow as well as the vehicle?

I’m not even a great painter, but yes, I’d rather have a new, possibly blemished rattle can job over the stock RTR getup, no matter how intricate or beautiful it looks. I just gotta give something my own look. I suppose it’s just another type of madness I suffer from.

My only exception to this is when hard body trucks come into play (such as an RC4WD Trail Finder 2 or the old Trail Honcho caged SCX10) as even with the factory paint job you can do some pretty wild stuff to customize them utilizing scale accessories, lights, winches, etc…or just get out a can of plastic model paint and go to town doing your own job. That’s the beauty of ABS!

Fantastic looking RTR bodies are great for the hobby and most hobbyists. For me? Even if the paint is slightly runny, the decals not quite straight, and in certain sunlight you can see a thin spot, I’d rather have my own look.

So who else out there is with me? I know I’m not the only one that factors the price of a new body into the cost when looking at purchasing a new ride…am I?