Scale & Motion - RC Crawlers, Micro Upgrades, Model Kits & Scale RC Guides

FMS Hobby covers a much wider part of the RC world than its crawler range alone suggests. The same manufacturer behind FCX24, FCX18 and FCX10 scale trucks also produces beginner aircraft, scale civil aeroplanes, warbirds, EDF jets, gliders, seaplanes, replacement parts, electronics and a growing catalogue of crawler upgrades.

The FCX18 II Ford F-100 has already developed into a serious custom platform, but FairRC's latest brushless Mod RTR builds take a different approach from buying a stock truck and upgrading it one component at a time. The Sunnyside Up Highboy and Wheel-Spinnin' Black and Silver builds arrive with their visual direction, raised stance and larger wheel-and-tyre package already defined.

Airfix military vehicles give scale modellers several very different ways into the hobby, from compact 1:76 British Army trucks and classic armour to larger 1:35 vehicles built for detailed painting, weathering and diorama work. If you already know the type of project you want to build, choosing the right scale — and the right kit — becomes much easier.

The FMS FCX18 II Ford F-100 already arrives as a highly developed 1:18 scale crawler, particularly in the brushless version shown here. Its second-generation LCG chassis, 1312 brushless power system, two-speed transmission, straight axles, metal chassis components, oil-filled shocks and licensed BFGoodrich KO3 tyres give it a strong factory baseline. BATRAZZI therefore makes most sense as a way to tune the truck around a specific goal rather than as a list of parts that need to be replaced.

ROCHOBBY sits in a particularly interesting part of the RC hobby because several of its vehicles are not trying to be the most capable rock crawlers possible. They are scale vehicles first: realistic proportions, narrow tyres, working details and mechanical layouts that preserve some of the limitations of the full-size machines they represent. For me, that is a large part of the appeal.

> Choosing the best model paint is less about finding one universally superior brand and more about matching the paint system to the job. A modeller brush-painting cockpit details, airbrushing a 1:48 aircraft, finishing a 1:24 car body or weathering armour can legitimately arrive at four different answers.

Road vehicles can make an OO model railway feel far more complete, and Corgi's 1:76 Original Omnibus range is particularly useful because it matches the scale of British OO scenery. Buses, trams and railcoaches can turn a station forecourt, town centre or roadside into a believable transport scene instead of leaving the railway isolated from the world around it.

Hornby bundles sit between a traditional boxed train set and buying every locomotive, coach, wagon or scenic item separately. Some build a complete passenger formation around one locomotive class, others create a freight rake, and the larger expansion packs combine trains, track, buildings and scenery around a specific railway theme.

Military modelling becomes far more interesting when the next project is already waiting on the shelf. Instead of choosing one isolated tank at a time, a well-planned backlog can develop into German armour, British vehicles, US fighting vehicles, Soviet subjects, Cold War machines and complete diorama projects that can keep a modeller building for years.

The Axial SCX24 is one of those platforms that can remain a compact trail crawler or become the starting point for an almost completely custom build. MEUS Racing approaches it from both directions, offering individual upgrades for steering, clearance and drivetrain performance alongside chassis, body and electronics components capable of changing the character of the entire vehicle.

The FMS FCX18 II Ford F-100 is now available with two very different electronics packages built around essentially the same scale crawler platform. One uses a conventional 180 brushed motor and compact 2-in-1 ESC/receiver; the other combines a 1312 brushless motor with a dedicated 10A ESC and separate receiver. The question is not simply which technology is newer — it is which version better matches the way you intend to use, modify and keep the truck.

The FMS 1:18 FCX18 II Ford F-100 Brushless is not interesting simply because FMS has replaced a brushed motor with a brushless one. The more important change is that the new 1312 motor sits inside a separate ESC-and-receiver architecture while the truck keeps the low-centre-of-gravity FCX18 II chassis, straight axles, two-speed transmission, magnetic hard body and detailed sixth-generation Ford F-100 identity.

The FMS 1:18 FCX18 II Ford F-100 could easily have been another attractive classic pickup built around familiar micro-crawler hardware. It is more interesting than that. Beneath the officially licensed Ford body sits the second-generation FCX18 chassis, giving this small truck a new mechanical foundation as well as one of the strongest scale presentations currently available in the FMS crawler range.

The Pocher Ducati Panigale V2 Superquadro Final Edition is not simply a large motorcycle model. At 1:4 scale, with more than 700 engineered components and a finished weight of around 5kg, it turns one of Ducati's most significant modern superbikes into a substantial mechanical building project. The subject matters too: the real Superquadro Final Edition was created as the closing chapter for the 955cc Superquadro V-twin that defined an important era of Ducati performance.