Construction Kit, Almost Ready to Run oder Ready to Run

Car model construction is fun and also conveys basic knowledge in the field of vehicle technology. If the future model car driver has decided on a kit model, many different small parts must be assembled and screwed together. But the kits have good assembly instructions that guide you through the assembly step by step. And if you have already assembled a differential in a remote-controlled car, you can also understand how it works and why it is absolutely necessary in the model car as well as in the big models.

But the Ready to Run car models (RTR), which are offered ready to drive, also offer plenty of learning potential. At the latest, if parts have to be replaced on the remote-controlled car in the event of a fault or for repair purposes. When a car model is offered as Almost Ready to Run (ARR), it is mostly pre-assembled. Unlike the RTR models, however, the remote control, motor, battery and charger are missing.

A model vehicle is built from so many individual parts.

Not every flight model , which looks just great, can also be flown just as easily. A sleek line and the great color unfortunately do not say anything about the actual flight characteristics of a model.

Beginners in particular can often be fooled by the first optical impressions. It often takes years of practice to fly a sleek jet or a fast artificial flight model true to the original or to land gently and safely again.

How good that there are now models that are much easier to fly for beginners, which are also extremely robust and look really good.

Also advantageous: Beginner models are often offered as RTF (Ready to Fly) in complete sets including remote control.

A very popular model flight segment is the gliding flight, in which the thermals are used in the plane or in hilly terrain hill winds. In optimum weather conditions, flights without drive are possible for hours.

However, since not every model airplane has a suitable hang flight area on its doorstep, model towing aircraft or electric drives are often used in the flatlands to ascend to thermally suspicious heights with glider models. 

The electric drives offer the advantage that one can climb several times per battery charge without external help. The challenge then is to recognize even the weakest upwind fields, to circle skillfully and to sail even when others have landed for a long time.

So that the propeller at the tip of the fuselage of an electric glider does not generate any unnecessary air resistance during gliding, it folds backwards when the motor is switched off.

Helicopter flying made easy

Until a few years ago, remote-controlled helicopters were considered the unrestricted king class in model flying circles. No wonder, because the complicated mechanics with all the levers and linkage rods scared off many model flyers and were more designed for absolute specialists. In addition, the control of a helicopter required a lot of experience and even more sensitivity.

However, with the advent of the dual-rotor helicopter, the blade changed. These beginner-friendly model helicopters are simply designed and fly extremely stable.

Many of the surface flyers discovered his talent for helicopter flying with these helicopters.

The development did not stop with the RC helicopters or aerobatics helicopters either. Ever better stabilization systems enable paddle-less rotor heads, which are much easier to set up.

Thus, the model helicopter flying is not child's play, but it makes it much easier .

Meanwhile, it's no surprise that turbine-powered model jets have pushed the helicopters out of the premier class.

Nevertheless, powerful aerobatics model helicopters or prototypical scale helicopters are still absolutely eye-catching on our model aircraft flying sites and are equally popular with pilots and spectators.

Model ships or RC-boats are the great fun at and on the water. Whether you are a speed boat, a true-to-life luxury yacht, or a crabbing boat or an elegant sailing boat: there is almost nothing in the area of remote-controlled ships that was not available.

For model ship builders, the focus is not only on outdoor driving fun in the fresh air. Even the fun of building and building in hobby cellars is not too short.

Especially prototypical model ships are lovingly designed, thanks to extensive accessories the ships are provided with many details and also equipped with switchable special functions. There are virtually no limits to creativity, at most due to the number of channels on the remote control. But here, too, there are now practical solutions.

Nowadays, there are quadcopters or drones in a wide variety of designs and sizes. Many of the entry-level quadcopters or drones are already equipped with cameras. At the push of a button on the transmitter, images or videos are then recorded during flight.

The high-quality quadcopters, which are partly equipped with high-resolution HD cameras and gimbals (camera stabilization systems), deliver significantly better results. Movements of the quadrocopter or drone are thus compensated for and the videos are absolutely free of wobble . By the way: The video signals will be transmitted to the pilot's smartphone or tablet in some cases.

In FPV mode (First Person View), the camera signals are transmitted to the pilot's goggles so that he feels he would be sitting in the cockpit of his Copter himself . A flight experience of a very special kind. 

In addition to model cars, model airplanes, model ships, model helicopters, copters and the like, there are many other devices and vehicles in the functional model making sector that are really fun to play with on a smaller scale.

Especially in the construction site area with excavators, caterpillars, trucks and other machines and vehicles, there are many interesting role models that are very popular with young and old in model scale.

In addition to the faithful replica, the focus is, as the name suggests, on comprehensive functionality. And the dump trucks, for example, are really heavily loaded.

But agricultural utility vehicles with all the different attachments and other accessories are also very popular with model-making fans.

Fortunately, the times when analogueue model remote controls have worked at 27 MHZ, 35 MHz or even 40 MHz are over. What was this for a drama every time, because of a double channel occupation, arrow-fast car models rushed through the area uncontrollably and model planes suddenly fell from the sky.

Modern remote control systems now operate at 2.4 GHz, are digitally coded and offer maximum operational safety thanks to LBT* frequency hopping. Even if, for example, several transmitters are operated simultaneously on a racetrack or a model airfield in the narrowest of spaces.

In addition, many systems use the return channel for the telemetry function to display values such as motor temperature, motor current, speed, receiver voltage or flight altitude directly at the transmitter. The user only has to decide whether he wants to use a rotary knob or pistol grip, remote control system or rather a hand/console transmitter for his model.

*Listen Before Talk: Before the transmitter and receiver automatically switch to another channel, a check is first made to see whether the new frequency is really empty. The frequency hopping technology originally comes from the cordless telephones, where the required interference and monitoring safety has been achieved by fast frequency change between the base station and the handset.

Damit die Steuerbefehle des Senders im Modell in eine mechanische Bewegung umgewandelt werden, setzen Personen, die sich für Modellbau begeistern, schon seit Urzeiten Servos ein.

Aber auch bei diesen unverzichtbaren Modellbau-Komponenten hat die Digitaltechnik Einzug gehalten.

Waren analoge Servos in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten noch eher langsam, träge und kraftlos, verwandelten sie sich dank digitalem Motormanagement und hochwertigen Motor-/Getriebe-Kombinationen zu wahren Kraftprotzen mit Sprinterqualitäten.

Und das trotz kompakter Größe und geringem Gewicht. Und mit der Erhöhung der Betriebsspannung von 4,8 V auf 7,4 V gab es bei der Kraft und der Geschwindigkeit noch einmal einen Extrazuschlag.