Team Associated RC10 Evolution

   Designed and developed by Roger Curtis and released by Team Associated in 1984, the 2WD RC10 series have been arguably the most successful RC Buggy series of all time, winning a numerous ROAR National and IFMAR World Championships.

   In this series of articles I will endeavour to provide information to help identify any of the 1/10 Scale RC10 2WD series and where it sits along its evolutionary trail. With this knowledge, any RC10 owner should be able to decide if their model is just one of the many thousands that were produced, or is potentially a collectors "holy grail".

1984 RC10

   The RC10 self assembly model is gear driven, based on a formed heat treated aircraft alloy chassis tub, with matching bolt on nose plate and motor mount, coil spring over oil filled dampers, a ball differential, front anti roll bar, dogbone drive-shafts, servo-saver, pneumatic tires and either oilite bushings or a full set of 16 ball bearings.

Model Versions:

• #6000 Basic kit, less all electrical, less bearings
• #6010 Full kit, less battery, less bearings
• #6012 Full kit, less battery, body, wing, bearings
• #6016 Full kit, ball bearings, less battery
• #6020 Full kit, with battery pack, less bearings

Features:

• Heat treated, gold anodized aircraft aluminum chassis tub.
• Replaceable gold anodized nose (skid) plate.
• Adjustable wheelbase.
• Two spring sets, low and high rate.
• High volume hydraulic shocks, double O-Ring sealed, gold anodized.
• Adjustable, limited-slip ball differential.
• Servo saver, linkage, and universal servo mounts fit most radios.
• Prefabricated oilite bushings throughout (except ball bearing kits).
• Quick-change battery- and body-mounting hardware.
• High-traction pneumatic tires: knobby rears, grooved fronts.
• High-impact nylon rear rims fit Associated and Tamiya "Holiday" tires.
• Quick-change knock-off rear hubs are key-locked to the axle.
• High-impact nylon front wheels.
• Quality screws throughout. Allen cap, button, flat heat, and aluminum flat head.
• Step-by-step assembly instructions, with photos of every step.

In addition, some kits include all or part of the following:

• Yokomo stock class 05 motor.
• Heavy-duty throttle resistor, wiper, bypass, and mounting bracket.
• 16-gauge silicone wiring harness, with dropping diodes for radio.
• Durable clear polycarbonate body, with driver and adjustable wing.
• 6-cell NiCd pack and fast-charge cord.
• Precision ball bearing set, 16 bearings total.

"Edinger" and "Cadillac" versions:

   In 1984, after a riggerous period of design and development by Roger Curtis and Gene Husting, the first RC10 model kits were manufactured and packaged in a small building at 1928 East Edinger Ave, Santa Ana, California. As success in National and International events and sales increased, in 1986 Team Associated moved to more spacious premises at 3585 Cadillac Ave in Costa Mesa California.



   Enthusiasts and collectors of the RC10 now discuss the kit boxes as being either "Edinger" or "Cadillac" versions, but there was a third.

   Look at bottom right hand side of the side of the box for the adderss where your model kit was manufactured.

Edinger:

   The first two years of production were at the Edinger address. Besides the address printed on the box, the Edinger RC10 box can be recognised by the distinctive "Made in America" sticker at the bottom right of the lid.



   At the top left of the box lid you will also notice two lines of text refering to the kit requiring a radio system, and top right, about the RC10 being the ROAR and ORRCA National Champion.



   Early Edinger kits had the model number and type stamped directly onto the end of the box, but on later kits this was printed and pasted onto the box.



   Edinger Box Sides.

Cadillac:

   From 1986 all RC10 kits were produced at the Cadillac address. Other than the Cadillac Ave address on the box, it can be recognised by the "6 World Championships" impression imprinted at the bottom right of the lid.



   The top left of the lid now has 4 lines of text, referring to the kit requiring a radio system and not including an ESC, Top right, the ROAR and ORRCA National Champion statement has been replaced by IFMAR World Champion and ROAR National Champion. The "Customer Warning" sticker, shown on the image below, was often found on all three box versions, but an equal number did not have the sticker.



   Cadillac kits, from what I can find, all had printed and pasted number and type at each end of the box.



   Cadillac Box Sides. Note the address, bottom right, and the added piece of text below the chassis pic.

Early Cadillac:

   When Associated first started using the Cadillac addressd boxes, the early batches were sent out with the "Made in America" sticker alongside the "6 World Championships" impression on the lid. When these stickers were all used, all following batches were sent out without.

RC10 Chassis Stamp Marks:

   If you don't have the original box to help identify your model version, the best place to start is with the RC10 chassis "Stamp" mark. First Generation models did not have a mark, but later versions had a letter stamped on the chassis. "A" was initially stamped on the underside of the Edinger chassis for a short time (rare), then moved the stamp to the inside (see image below). "A" was supposed to be for the original Gold RC10 and CE models, but were found on Black RC10 Team Car chassis with extra holes (see 1990 RC10 Team Car page listed below), "AB" was a kind of transitional chassis, of chassis that had been originally drilled an stamped as "A" then re-drilled for the Stealth Gearbox than stamped with a "B" alongside the "A". "B" stamped chassis were found in the later RC10-CE kits, but were actually for the Stealth Gearbox RC10 Team Cars, and "C" for the Worlds and Championship Edition.

• No Stamp: 1st generation.
• A: 1st generation (light gold chassis).
• A: 2nd generation (darker gold chassis).
• AB: 2nd generation, with added holes for the stealth transmission (gold chassis).
• B: 3rd generation with holes for stealth transmission and longitudinal battery placement (black or gold chassis).
• C: Worlds light weight (milled black chassis).
• C: Championship Edition (gold chassis).

RC10 Shocks:

   The chassis pictures on the original box are actually of an RC10 Prototype, and some of the more obvious changes made to the parts that came in the kits are the shock absorbers, rear shock mount and no rear anti-roll bar.



   RC10 1984 kit Chassis.



   RC10 1984 Shocks.







   Front Shock Mount.



   Rear Shock Mount.

RC10 Tires:

   Over the early years of the RC10, a number of different tires were provided in the kits, and can be another way to help identify your model version.

   For a short time the earlier kits came with front tires having 7 ribs and "Good Year" molded on the tire walls, soon after the kits came with 7 rib tires without the tire wall molding. The later "Edinger" and early "Cadillac" kits then changed to Proline 4 rib (#6866).

   The first #6865 front rib tires were in late "Edinger" kits, with plane sidewalls, later kits had "Team Associated" molded in.

   Team Associated front 4 rib tires #6868 came in later kits.

   Rear knobbly tires in the first "Edinger" kits were made by AYK (#6815) with no sidewall moldings, their kits later came with # 6818 rear tires, originally without sidewall moldings, but soon after with "Team Associated" moldings.

   At present, the RC Model Manufacturers, Brands and Distributors covered by us are: ABC Hobby, Academy, Acme Racing, Agama Racing, Amewi, Ansmann Racing, ARRMA, Team Associated, Atomic RC, Axial, AYK, Bolink, BSD Racing, Capricorn, Carisma, Carson, Caster Racing, Cen, Corally, Custom Works, Durango, Duratrax, ECX - Electrix, Exceed RC, FG Modellsport, FS-Racing, FTX, Fujimi, Gmade, GS-Racing, Harm, HBX, Helion, Heng Long, Himoto Racing, Hirobo, Hitari, Hobao, Hong-Nor, Hot Bodies, HPI, HSP, Intech, Integy, Jamara, JQ Products, Kawada, Kyosho, Losi, LRP, Maisto, Mardave, Marui, Maverick, MCD Racing, Megatech, Mugen, New Bright, Nichimo, Nikko, Nkok, Ofna, Pro-Pulse, Protech, PTI, RC4WD, Redcat Racing, RJ-Speed, Robitronic, Schumacher, Seben, Serpent, Smartech, Sportwerks, Step-Up, Tamiya, Team-C Racing, Team Magic, Thunder Tiger, Tomy, Top Racing, Traxxas, Trinity, Tyco, Vaterra RC, Venom, VRX Racing, WLToys, X-Factory, Xmods, Xpress, Xray, XTM, Yankee RC, Yokomo, ZD Racing and Zipzaps.

   This is an ongoing project, with new and "lost in time" RC Models and Brands being added as they are found and although most of those listed above have been covered in relative detail, some are still being researched and will be completed in the near future.

Information and Advice

Electronic Speed Controllers

   ESC were originally developed to be used in conjunction with brushed 27T stock and modified motors in the late 1970s, early 1980s. Compared to modern day Controllers, they were Bulky and heavy, constructed using basic resistors, rheostats, capacitors and transistors, crammed together on a simple circuit board, to provide stepped but smooth acceleration when compared to the old mechanical, servo operated sweeper Speed Controllers. An Electronic Switch to change the direction of current flow was used on some of these early ESC to give reverse operation. Although they were a vast improvement on the old mechanical speedos of the time, they were expensive, jerky to control, and prone to burn out if not carefully looked after.

   As new technology became available, improvements were slowly made, and with the introduction of the new FET (Field Effect Transistors) and some basic mass produced silicon chips, ESC were made smaller and their reliability gradually improved.

   By the mid 1990s, "regenerative breaking" was developed. This meant that energy that would have been lost slowing down the car by effectively turning the motor into a generator, was harvested and put back into the battery. This of course was long before F1 had KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) and adjustable anti lock breaking was introduced.

Electric Motors for RC Models

Q/  What does 15x2 or 17x3 mean?
A/  The first number relates to the number of times the wires are wound round each of the 3 armature segments, the second number relates to the number of wires side by side. So a 15x2 would have 2 wires laid side by side and wrapped around each segment 15 times.

Q/  What is the difference in performance between a Low Turn motor (eg 11x1) and a High Turn motor (eg 27x1)?
A/  A Motor with Less Turns like an 11x1 means high current draw from the batteries which corresponds to less runtime, but More Power (Torque or Punch) Best for tracks with lots of corners and short straights where fast acceleration is needed. (use a small pinion)
Motors with More Turns like a 27x1 give you More runtime, but Less Power. So you get a smoother response and are therefore easier to drive. Better for less experienced drivers and Long straight, sweeping corner tracks. (with a large pinion). This is correct for Brushed, Modified and Stock Motors as well as Brushless Motors.

Q/  How do the number of winds effect a motor?