RC Car Action February 2021

Now that we’re firmly planted into the New Year, have you had any thoughts on what your next projects are going to be? We’re excited about all the new releases we’re going to see this year and we’re sure we’ll get our hands on many of them to share with you throughout the year. To kick the year off right, we have a fantastic and jam packed issue for you. One of the biggest emerging subjects in recent times are full-sized electric cars. You see them on the street and can even see them racing competitively in race series such as Formula E. The younger sibling of Formula One, FE is the electric equivalent, bringing open-wheel racing excitement to the electrified automotive world. As fans of electrically powered RC vehicles, we are…

1. Tamiya Buggy Light Pod Set for LEDs Tamiya’s Buggy Light Pod Set are perfect to use to add LED lights to your Tamiya Comical or other off road buggy. For those into scale details, add these light pods to further you vehicle’s lighting details. P/N: 54972 MSRP: $10.50 tamiyausa.com 2. Pro-Line PRO-Series 32P Transmission for Slash 2WD and Stampede 2WD This is a Pre-Built PRO-Series 32P Transmission for the Slash 2WD and electric Stampede 2WD trucks. Pro-Line helps you upgrade your Slash and Stampede 2WD by making it even stronger and more capable of handling extreme power systems. P/N: 6350-00 MSRP: $124 prolineracing.com 3. Traxxas Heavy-Duty X-Maxx Suspension Arm New heavy-duty X-Maxx suspension arms utilize Traxxas’ latest proprietary composite material for extreme durability. Traxxas designed this composite specifically for high loads and hard landings with just the right amount of…

A few years back Wes reached out to his friend who runs the RC Everyday YouTube channel to see if he wanted to do a collaboration with his channel Wesmade Builds. They kicked around a few ideas and settled on a chopped Peterbilt Hot Rod. As you can imagine, they looked at a lot of pictures trying to narrow down their selection but Wes kept being drawn to Cab Over Engine (COE) trucks. There were several which caught his eye, but the one that really stood out was the Fermented Fruit build from the TV show “Welder Up.” He decided he wanted to build a tribute to it and started collecting parts. One of the first was a diecast diesel engine he found on eBay which came mounted on a…

Matt wanted to build his own RC interpretation of a Volkswagen Microbus funny car, and the Maisto Tech RC 1:10 Volkswagen Samba body proved to be the ideal starting point. He cut it to create sort of an extended cab pickup and sprayed it in a burgundy red metallic paint finish. For the chassis he created his own using an aluminum base plate and then custom-built his own full-ength frame rails and cage painted in a contrasting bright orange. For a front axle he turned to Tamiya, while the rear end and gearbox were sourced from a Traxxas Rustler. He used the Rustler’s suspension arms and driveshafts too, but narrowed them to get the proper width. A set of Mod 1 gears transmits the power from a Castle 4600kv motor…

Andrew tells us he always wanted to have a mini-size E-Maxx but Traxxas never built one from the factory so he decided to build one himself. He had cobbled together a couple versions but wanted design one properly on his computer and then 3D-print it, and 2020 was the year to make it happen. It took him hundreds of hours of development—designing the parts, printing them, testing them, and then repeating the process over and over again until he had a vehicle that functioned the way he imagined at the start. The chassis upper and lower, front and rear arms, bumper supports, shock towers, receiver cover, the front, rear, and center skid plates are all 3D-printed in either carbon-fiber infused nylon (NylonX) or regular nylon material. The center chassis braces are…

Scott was having a tough time early this year after the passing of his father in February and his friend Chris Spears was determined to give him something positive to focus on. Chris he handed him this Pro-Line Jeep Gladiator body with the paint and graphics all done, along with a set of RC4WD Black Rhino wheels and told him “You do so much for others, it’s time to do something for yourself.” Those two pieces served as the anchor point for Scott’s build, which he started with a freshened up SCX10 style chassis from Green Mountain RC. It rides on a SSDRC 90mm scaler shocks connected to a set of SSDRC 60-series axles with Vanquish chubs, knuckles and lockouts. Those Black Rhino wheels are wrapped in Pro-Line Grunt tires,…