Plastic models to R/C??? Heck yes... I had a coast guard cutter ( forgot the brand) used the radio from a 'firefox'-cheap R/C car. Had a 'Blue Devil" ( fletcher class destroyer) that was not only converted to R/C, but had motorized squirt guns fitted to the forward turret. I had a plastic PT-109, with several different setups-both dual rudder ( per the kit) and differential twin drive ( surprisingly, both manuvered equally well). ESC is nice, but back then I was working with Rheostats. the first was for R/C use, had both forward and reverse, with absolute proportional control. Being cheap, when I went to diff. drive, rather that buy another expensive rheo, I went to home depot. the Rhestats used for controling 'dimmer' lights( used to ) work just fine. I had to use a pull, pull ( push-push?)system, and 2 rheos one forward and one rev. for each motor, was 3x as heavy, and cost 1/4 as much. ( on 30in of PT I did not care about the weight), but I could afford it and it worked. Use your imagination. You don't have to use R/C stuff for a lot of things. Non R/c items can be made to fit your applications. Try. Your imagination is the limit...no, there is no limit, but try to find it anyway. Try this, before you build, think of at least 3 different ways to solve every 'problem' ( drive train, steering, etc) and go with the ones you like best, or fit your pocketbook best, or fit your skill level best. Every Engineering problem has at least 3 viable, workable solutions, you anly need to find one! Good luck!!! SEan