Radio-Control-Model.com - The best information on model cars

Model Car

A radio control model car can give you all the thrills and spills of racing without the expense or danger of the real thing. Model cars come in a large number of styles and sizes, the sizes of model car are referred to as its scale - the most popular being 1/10th, 1/8th and 1/5th. A 1/10th scale model car is exactly ten times smaller than the real car on which it is based, so if you were to put ten of these nose to tail you would have the length of the full size car.

The styles of model car are varied, but they can be generally divided into two groups - on-road model cars and off-road model cars. Each of these groups have their own disadvantages and advantages, for example on-road cars require a flat hard-surface on which to race while the off road model cars can be driven on most surfaces. If you want to race you will find that there are far more tracks catering for the on-road model cars, and they are also faster and more precise to race.

The means of propulsion for model cars will also fall into two broad categories - electric and internal combustion. The electric powered model cars use an electric motor to provide the drive, which uses a battery pack to provide the electricity needed, the advantages of these types of model car are that they are quiet, clean and easy to use. The internal combustion models typically have 'nitro' engines which are small two-strokes that run on special glow fuel, these make a 'real' engine sound and are faster than the electric models, however they are harder to use and can be messy.

Static model cars aim to be faithful representations of their full-scale counterparts, these are generally die-cast model cars - whereby they are manufactured by casting the metal of the model in a preformed die. Model cars of this type are purely for display purposes, and range in scale from the small 1/43rd models up to 1/18th scale large models.

The larger model cars tend to have more intricate detail and will be a more true representation, often featuring opening doors, bonnets and boots. The top-range cars will have authentic features such as leather seats, a fully detailed underside of the chassis and an accurate model of the engine and other such components. In the extreme authentic scale models you will even find working scale engines complete with gearboxes, these are very specialist models and carry a very high price tag - it's not uncommon for such models to cost tens of thousands of pounds!

A wide range of scale model cars are available, with representations of cars from every concieveable manufacturer from Aston Martin to Volvo and everyone in between. The models cover standard road cars to full-blown race replicas, and even concept cars that never see production of the real thing.

This is just a general overview of the types of car on offer, see the specific rc cars and die cast model pages for more details of each of these types of model car.