I’ve been in and out of the RC hobby but it all started back when I was 16. In my early teens, there was a Thai restaurant my family and I used to go to with an RC car track out back that you could see from the window while eating. I used to watch people racing at night for years until I picked up the hobby myself.

I had a broken Radio Shack car lying around the house and wanted to try and get it back up and running. I was always kind of a tomboy and never really like the girly things. I brought it into my local hobby shop, Hot Rod Hobbies in Santa Clarita, CA and met Jimmy Babcock. Apparently he was a big deal in the RC racing world, I’d soon come to know! They quickly let me know that those cars are not upgradeable or easily fixable (and probably not worth my time to do so!). I was introduced to the Team Associated B3 Buggy team kit and fell in love. My dad bought me the B3 buggy, some entry-level electronics, 1800 mAh NiNH battery, a few decent allen wrenches and I built the kit from the ground up. My friend at the time Britt also got a buggy and we would run our cars around the track at Hot Rod Hobbies and around our neighborhoods. We’d break parts (as we learned was common) and spend time learning about our cars as we fixed them.

As I moved away for college, my cars were packed away in a storage bin and forgot about. It was about 3 years ago that I found my cars again and started learning about the progression that the hobby has made since I first started.

Nope, just for fun in my spare time. I know that some people can make a living off of it, but it’s a ton of work filming, editing, posting, etc., so I keep it in the hobby arena for now. It is fun to get products in the mail to review, and I do make a (small!) amount from ads, sticker sales and affiliate marketing but it basically goes back into funding the hobby.

For people looking for tips to get started on YouTube (or make a living off of it), there are a ton of great resources out there so I’d say definitely do your research. It’s not just about the quality of your filming and editing, but building your own “brand.” What niche do you fill? What is your value add to the people in the RC community? If you were going to the YouTube search bar, what information do you look for? That is how to attract people to your channel. It’s also a lot of self promotion (which I don’t particularly like!), but it’s part of getting the word out there.

WHAT’S YOUR BUDGET?

First figure out what your budget it. This hobby can be a money pit for sure (but doesn’t always have to!), so understand what you’re comfortable putting down on your first car. You can spend anywhere from $50 (toy grade) to upwards of $1000 for a high end hobby grade kit. 

WHAT KIND OF CAR?

Then figure out what type of car you’re looking for. There are both on-road and off-road cars. Are you interested in club racing? Just messing around at the park or in your backyard? Bashing? Slow maneuvering over rocky features? On-road drifting or racing? Here are a few options to consider :

• Rock crawler/racers
• Buggy
• Stadium truck
• Monter truck
• Drift car
• Rally car

KITS VS. READY TO RUN

Are you interested in building the kit from scratch and picking out all your electronics? If so, the kit is perfect for you. However, if you want something that is ready to go out of the box, consider cars that are ready to run (RTR) – you just need a battery – or almost ready to run (ARR) which just need a receiver/radio and battery. These will likely have all you need to get started without having to pick out additional electronics. Kits are great if you’re looking to learn a ton about how the car works – the transmission, the bearings, gears, electronic setup, etc. They also take some knowledge, tools and technical ability. There are kits out there that are very beginning friendly (e.g., ECX Barrage), so don’t be scared to take on your first build!

 

BATTERIES

Also figure out what kind of batteries you’d like to use. There are a few types out there (NiMH, Lipo, NiCd). Some speed controllers can handle a few battery types. I run lipos in most of my cars (make sure you’re running the right number of cells based on your electronic setup!). Lipos can be a bit dangerous if mishandle or charged improperly, so do your research. Investing in a decent balance charger will extend the life of your batteries.

The RC community has been very welcoming to me for the most part. Most people are very positive, encouraging and respectful.Yes, I’ll get the occasional inappropriate comment. No inappropriate photos yet, just of RC collections ;). My experience has been more of guys wanting to “show me how it’s done” a lot and not trusting my expertise. However, I think guys actually want to encourage more women in RC, so it’s been a very positive experience for me. Guys really want more women and girls to take up the hobby. I think being a girl has given me an advantage for growth on social media since I’m in the minority, but it also takes a lot of hard work. There will always be trolls and naysayers in any community, but I’ve been really impressed by the RC people on YouTube and Instagram.

As to why there are fewer women in RC… that is probably a long, complicated answer. There is often a big divide in more of the mechanically-inclined hobbies, as well as just technical jobs in general (e.g., mechanics, construction, electricians…). It probably starts at a young age, where girls are taught to play with dolls, and boys are given trucks and cars. There have been psychology studies that show babies don’t actually prefer one or the other, but it’s adults that encourage the gender role behaviors early on. I’ve always been sort of a tom-boy, interested in what the guys were doing, and challenging gender roles. Why do you think there are fewer women?

• Video: Sony A6400 (primary), and also a GoPro Hero 10 and Pixel 4XL phone for B roll
• Audio: Lapel mic on a Zoom H1N Audio Recorder
• Lighting: Just got an AMAZING new softbox light setup from amazon here. Seriously, lighting is so important in vidoes and a  pretty inexpensive setup can go a long way. I spent about $75 on two great softboxes.
• Gimbal: Have not had a ton of experience using this yet, but it’s the Zhiyun Smooth Q 2 3-axis gimbal.
• Tripod: Just a standard tripod with a phone mount attachment. Also a great flexi one for filming down low.

I’m a marine biologist! I help bring scientific information into the decisions that policymakers and natural resource managers make around our coastal and ocean resources. My co-workers know about my rc car hobby, but not sure that they totally understand it. Haha!

Oh boy, this is tough. I love all my RC children, but if I HAD to choose, I’d say the Traxxas TRX-4. It’s just so much fun on the trails, it looks really scale, is highly upgradeable and has a ton of accessory options.