Team Associated RC10 CE - Championship Edition (1990)

   Introduced by Team Associated in 1990, the RC10 CE, Championship Edition, with a number of updates and refinements, was in production for the following 6 years. Initially, many of the improvements came from those developed for the 1989 RC10 Graphite, less of course the chassis and the UJ drive-shafts.

   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".

1990 RC10 Championship Edition (CE)

   The 2WD RC10 CE came as a self assembly model kit, and is gear driven, based on a gold anodised formed alloy chassis tub, with a bolt on nose plate and motor mount, coil spring over oil filled dampers, a ball differential, dogbone drive-shafts, servo-saver, pneumatic tires, Protech II bodyshell, 3 piece wheels and either oilite bushings or a full set of 16 ball bearings. Many of the changes to the model over the years are discussed below.

Model Versions (same numbers as 1984 RC10):

• #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:

• Wide-track front suspension arms
• Zero-offset front kingpins and stub axles
• Longer travel, high-progression front shocks and tower
• Turnbuckle tie-rods and links
• 3 Deg. rear toe-in blocks
• New three-piece low-profile wheels and tires (no gluing required)

Standard Features in all CE Kits:

• 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, precision hydraulic shocks, double O-Ring sealed
• Adjustable, limited-slip ball differential
• Servo saver, linkage, and universal servo mounts that fit most radios
• Prelubed oilite bushings (except ball bearing kits)
• Quick-change battery- and body-mounting hardware
• High-strength, nylon and glass-filled suspension elements
• Step-by-step assembly instructions, with photos

Additional features in full kits #6010, #6016, #6020:

• Yokomo stock class 05 motor
• Heavy-duty throttle resistor, wiper, and bypass
• 16-gauge silicone wiring harness, with provision for radio power
• Durable clear polycarbonate body, with driver and adjustable wing
• 6-cell NiCd pack and fast-charge cord (#6020 only)
• Precision ball bearing set, 16 bearings total (#6016 only)

RC10 CE:

   The RC10 CE - Protech II bodyshell.

RC10 CE 1990 Box Art:

   A brand new box was designed for the RC10 CE.



   Box Sides.

RC10 CE Wheels:

   One of the features of the new RC10 CE were the three piece wheels (#6854), described by Associated as eliminating the need for gluing.



   Each wheel is held togeather by three set screws.

RC10 CE Dampers:

   Early RC10 CE kits came with the old dampers that had been used for all previous versions. Later kits had the new dampers, originally with gold plated caps, later with black plastic caps.



   The old dampers had the O-ring assembly fitted from the bottom and held in position by a C-clip. In the new design the O-ring assembly was mounted on a special tool and placed inside the damper housing from the top.

RC10 CE Gearbox and Wheelbase:

   The gearbox of the RC10 CE is the same as that used for the 1989 RC10 Graphite.



   Wheelbase adjustment is achieved by simply moving the rear arm mounts (#6360) backwards or forwards.

RC10 CE Shock Mounts:

   An extra hole was made in the rear Shock Tower to provide more setup adjustment. The part number - #6378 - stayed the same.



   The front Shock Tower of the RC10 CE came originally with 4 holes, but later versions came with 6 holes ... again, same number - #6231.

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).

   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.

Getting into RC

   When I first got into racing RC, all I had was a three year old clapped out Tamiya Boomerang, a silver can stock motor, three step mechanical speed controller, two 1400Mah stick batteries and basic Acoms stick transmitter.

   I was the newbie and most of the guys I was racing against had all the latest models, modified motors, matched batteries and top spec radio equipment, but I was still beating them easily. Why? The answer is simple:

Servos for RC Models

   Servos are found on all kinds of Radio Controlled Models. RC Touring Cars, Buggys, Trucks, Truggys, Monster Trucks, Rock Crawlers, Airplanes, Helicopters, Boats and Ships for Steering, Throttle Control, Rudder Operation and Wing Flaps.

   For complete RC beginners, choosing the right servo can be confusing, so here are a few tips to point you in the right direction.

   The standard, plastic bushed (bearings) type servos are fine to start with but come with plastic/nylon gears that can break easily in collisions. So, to protect your servo gears to some degree, make sure you have a good "servo saver".