Readers Ride December 2023

C10 Dually Bed Spinner
Scott Lempert « Commerce Twp., MI

Scott takes us on the journey that created his customized mini-truck style C10: “I had seen plenty of these growing up and stumbled on a bed spinning truck on Instagram by @nikaidocustoms and was smitten! I went out and got some brass, fab’d up the scissor lift, found a Hitec rotating servo for the bed, and started experimenting! The truck can also raise and lower its front and rear suspension.” It’s a unique and fun ride for sure, exemplary work, Scott!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: Custom fabricated
– Body: RC4WD modified dually bed and cab
– Motor: Hobbywing 17T brushed
– Speed Control: Hobbywing 1060
– Battery: GensAce 1000mAh 2S LiPo
– Wheels and Tires: Hydraulic Hobbies wheels with generic on-road rubber tires.
– Shocks: Generic shocks, 60mm
– Axles: Rear is Inorja, front is part HPI RS4 and fab’d upper A-arms
– Paint: Tropical Glitz Galactic Silver, Candy Red and Candy Green
– Lighting System: Custom LED system
– Radio System: Flysky GT5 6-channel
– Other Options: 1960 Chevy Impala dash, custom scissor bed lift, custom spinning bed

Gladiator Truck Camper
Wyatt Pettigrew « Eagle Point, OR

Wyatt takes us on the journey that resulted in his customized Jeep Gladiator camper. “This build started when my dad bought a 1995 Alpenlite truck camper for his 2021 Ram 3500,” he says. He was so inspired by his dad’s real-life pickup truck and camper combination that he went ahead and created his own in RC form. He adds: “Instead of making a Ram with a truck camper, I used an Axial Gladiator as my truck. I then started creating a truck camper out of plexiglass—yes that’s right, plexiglass—and since there weren’t many photos online of a real Jeep Gladiator with a truck camper, I literally had to scale down my dad’s camper to 1/10 scale. It quickly became popular on Instagram and YouTube, and then at my first-ever Axialfest event this build took first place in the Adventurist Class at Axialfest 2022.” Wyatt tells us that the entire build consists of the Axial Gladiator and custom truck camper along with a KSP utility trailer and Axial Can-Am Maverick. It’s a great-looking ride for sure, exemplary work and congrats on your award, Wyatt!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: Axial SCX10 II
– Body: Axial Jeep Gladiator and custom-made camper
– Motor: Spektrum Smart Firma
– Speed Control: Spektrum Smart Firma
– Battery: Spektrum Smart 5000mAh 2s LiPo
– Wheels and Tires: Element Method Ocho wheels, Pro-Line Super Swamper TSL SX tires
– Shocks: Axial Racing
– Axles: Axial Racing
– Paint: On-point blue Chrysler minivan paint
– Lighting System: My Trick RC
– Radio System: Spectrum DX3
– Other Options: Kustom Scale Printing Yeti cooler, gas cans, propane tank, pots and pans, as well as Kustom Scale Printing custom utility trailer based off my dad’s real ATV trailer

True Deuce
Mark Petroski « BURBANK, CA

We love scale detail, but Mark takes it to another level with his kitbashed hot rod build. Mark tells us about his custom build: “My wife surprised me with Monogram ’32 Ford and Lindberg Big Red 27 T-Bucket model kits she found at a flea market. I purchased random chassis pieces, got out the Dremel tool and started cutting. I used a lot of leftover 1/14-scale truck pieces from my previous builds. The frame was put together with various M2 and M3 pushrods and connectors.” Mark completed his detailed Axial SCX10-based hot rod build with a great-looking rat rod appropriate paint job, detailed dashboard gauges, plenty of RC4WD accessories, 3D-printed parts and real fabric upholstery. It’s a great-looking ride for sure, congratulations on the exemplary work, Mark!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: Axial SCX10
– Body: Custom kitbashed from 1/8 Monogram ’32 Ford and Lindberg Big Red 27 T-Bucket model kits
– Motor: RC4WD 540 Crawler brushed motor 35T RC4Z-E0005
– Speed Control: High-voltage waterproof 320A brushed
– Battery: Venom 7.4 2s 2000 35c XT60 plugs
– Wheels and Tires: RC Black Wheel 26x52mm, 1/8 Monogram ’32 Ford Deuce Firestone Champion “Big n Littles” tires with 1/14 semi-truck inserts
– Shocks: Leaf spring suspension, stainless
– Axles: Front—Custom CNC alloy front end steering axle upright for Tamiya 1/14 tractor truck; Rear—CNC metal front axle rear axle
– Paint: Rustoleum Flat Enamel Brown (body and grille), Tamiya Black TS -14 (frame), Alclad II 5114 Chrome for Lexan (headlights)
– Decals: Monogram ‘32 Ford kit, Monster Vintage decal from ’80s in trunk
– Radio System: Flysky FS-GT5 radio with Flysky FS-BS6 6CH receiver
– Other Options: Motor—1:8 3D-printed custom headers for the small block Chevy, Revell/Monogram 1:8 set of E and J style headlights with separate fluted lenses, 1:8 custom vintage Weiand Dragstar 6-carb intake, 1:8 custom Lindberg Big Red T carburetors and fuel lines, RC4WD Z-S1043 1/10-scale aluminum V8 engine replica, RC4WD Trail Finder 2 V8 engine mounts, RC 4WD Pulley Kit w/Belt for V8 scale engine, RC4WD eistributor and rubber tube driveshaft, metal driveshafts, RC4WD Mojave Body bench seat, Exclusive RC MSD 2 step and Blaster coil

DOUBLE D
Jeremy Kilburn « Havre De Grace, MD

Here’s an incredible Ultimate Scale Truck Expo (USTE) worthy rig that’s built by a well-respected scale RC-er. Jeremy won a Team Raffee D110 station wagon body set at USTE 2022 and set out to customize it to bring to the 2023 event. “I thought about how to customize it for quite a while by looking at Land Rover internet pages and found inspiration from an old military conversion to a dually pickup style,” Jeremy tells us. “Creating a single-cab, longbed dually Defender D130 was daunting, as no such thing existed in the real world or in RC. It took me about five months to plan and collect parts.” Jeremy converted it to a two-door single cab first, then created fender extensions from styrene layering to cover the dual wheel adapters and dual tires. Additional scratch-made styrene parts were added, along with a bed-mounted toolbox that also serves as an easy-access battery door, a bench seat for the cab, and a scale GCM Racing Toyota 22R motor. He looks forward to running and presenting this ride at USTE 2023 in Florida. We’re sure it will attract plenty of attention, as it’s a great-looking ride. Congratulations on the exemplary work, Jeremy!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: Boom Racing BRX02
– Body: Customized Team Raffee
Defender 110 Wagon
– Motor: Castle 1900kV Slate
– Speed Control: Castle Mamba X
– Battery: Pitbull RC 2200mAh 3S
– Wheels and Tires: Boom Racing wheels
and Pit Bull Temco 1.9 x 3.65 tires
– Shocks: Boom Racing
– Axles: Boom Racing
– Radio System: Spektrum SR515 receiver and DX5 Rugged Transmitter
– Other Options: Custom-made styrene plastic accessories, GCM Toyota 22R scale motor, Reefs RC Raw 500 – Operation 11 Charlie edition servo, Reefs RC micro 99 servos

Rocky Yota
Joseph Rocha « Adelanto, CA

Simply put, Joseph tells us that, “I wanted to build a Toyota race inspired livery SR5 truck to look like a weekend crawler.” And so he did. This Axial SCX10 II features plenty of upgrades including a Rock Pirates Interceptor chassis, plenty of Pro-Line parts including an SR5 body, custom paint, Castle Creations electronics, Vanquish axles, and it runs on a Gens Ace battery. It’s a great-looking crawler for sure. Fantastic job, Joseph!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: Axial SCX10 II
– Body: Pro-Line SR5
– Motor: Holmes Hobbies Puller Pro 2700kV
– Speed Control: Castle Creations Mamba X
– Battery: Gens Ace Adventure 4300 mAh Shorty Pack LiPo
– Wheels and Tires: Pro-Line Class 1 Trenchers G8 compound with Crazy
Crawler heavy duty foams and CNC – Custom Method 705-style wheels
– Shocks: Pro-Line Big Bore Scaler 90mm
– Axles: Vanquish F10T
– Paint: Tamiya PS-1 white, PS-6 yellow, PS-7 orange, PS-15 metallic red
– Lighting: Pro-Line 5” curved LED, eBay special light kit, KC HiLites rectangle light housing
– Radio System: Spektrum DX5 Rugged radio with Spektrum SR515 receiver
– Other Options: Scale By Chris tote and tool box, Pro-Line tow strap, RC4WD Maxxtrax boards, eBay special tools, gas can, fire extinguisher and air tank, Exclusive RC gas tank filler neck, RC Plate Shop license plate, Knight Customs SR5 grille, headlight lenses, taillight lenses, taillight buckets, RC4WD Hilux rubber mirrors and scale front Yota hubs, SSD rear hubs, Pro-Line cage, Scaler Fab front bumper, sliders, rear bumper, In The Works high-clearance links, Vader Products skid, Team Garage Hack 2.Low transmission, Incision driveshafts, Vanquish scale hardware

Jeep Golden Eagle
Alec Grossman « Winston-Salem, NC

Alec informs us that he initially wanted to paint the entire body of his Rochobby Mashigan, but once he saw how nice it was right out of the box, he decided to keep the stock color. He went ahead and customized it to create a “what-if” model instead. He posed the question, “What would a Jeep Golden Eagle model of the late ’80s be like?” One look at Alec’s Mashigan and it’s easy to picture what a late ’80s Golden Eagle would have looked like. It’s a great-looking vehicle, fantastic job, Alec!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: Rochobby Mashigan
– Body: Rochobby Mashigan
– Motor: Rochobby 35T 550 motor
– Speed Control: Hobbywing Quicrun 1080
– Battery: Sunpadow 3S LiPo Battery 11.1V 40C 2250mAh
– Wheels and Tires: RC-Hub Heavy Duty Version 1.9” aluminum wheels
with stock Rochobby Mashigan tires
– Shocks: Rochobby Mashigan
– Axles: Rochobby Mashigan
– Paint: Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black, Krylon Fusion Gloss Khaki, Angelus Direct Vachetta and Capezio Tan
– Decals: MCI Racing Golden Eagle decals, RC-Crawler.it emblems
– Lighting: Goolsky 12 LED lighting system kit
– Radio System: Rochobby
– Other Options: Injora winch, Hot Racing Skull “Don’t Touch Me” spare tire cover, CGRC metal grill cover, whip antenna and dice by Twisted Tree RC, custom front bumper and roll cage by Scott Lempert, Bob Ross figure by NECA

Kenworth Logger
Michael Zwicke « Palatine, IL

Michael tells us that his goal was to build a “go anywhere” logging truck and it looks like he succeeded. This rig is a 6×6 armed with a two-speed transmission, locking transfer case and locking axles. The chassis is from an RC4WD Overland with the front axle moved 1 inch forward. The logging frame and trailer were built from steel and aluminum channel with a generous helping of parts from Cross RC and Lesu. Michael proudly informs us that the truck is 1/14-scale and it hauls around 30 logs with any problem. It’s a great-looking logger; fantastic job, Michael!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: RC4WD Overland
– Body: Custom Kenworth C500 made from a Tamiya Bullhead modified with styrene channel and sheets
– Motor: RC4WD
– Speed Control: RC4WD
– Battery: Goldbatt 5200mAh 3S LiPo
– Wheels & Tires: Custom-painted beadlocks from eBay with added scale hardware
and RC4WD 1.9 military tires
– Shocks: RC4WD shocks, Lesu leaf spring suspension front and rear
– Axles: RC4WD/JDM locking axles
– Paint: Krylon primer and spray paint
– Decals: Boom Racing custom graphics
– Lighting: RC4WD lighting controller, homemade wiring harnesses
– Radio System: Spektrum DX6e
– Sound: RC4WD sound unit
– Other Options: RC4WD winch, Lesu fuel tanks, Cross RC logging trailer parts, Garden Trucking accessories

Island Style C Cab
Matt Topas « Kapolei, HI

Now this is a truly unique full custom build and we are really digging its look. Underneath that beautiful custom-made styrene body is a scratch-built brass frame and aluminum plate chassis along with plenty of Traxxas parts. It’s a great looking rod—fantastic job, Matt!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: Custom, brass frame rail and aluminum plate chassis
– Body: Scratch-built out of styrene
– Motor: Traxxas Titan 12T
– Speed Control: Traxxas XL-5
– Battery: Goldbatt 7.2v
– Wheels & Tires: Kyosho front with Traxxas tires, Traxxas rear drag slicks
– Axles: Jazz Rider straight front, Traxxas transmission rear
– Paint: Createx Pearl Plum, Pearl White
– Radio System: Flysky 3-channel
– Other Options: Dark Dragon Wing 3D modified motor, RC4WD PRP pro seats, hop-up option surfboard

MISSOUR YOTA
Jonathan Moffat « Pacific, MO

Jonathan Moffat, the creator and owner of this rig, said it best when he told us, “This is a one-off custom rig that gets taken out on the trail quite often. Everything works so well together it’s a pleasure to drive!” The Axial SCX10 II-based crawler sports a realistic-looking RC4WD body and looks at home on the trail scaling hills or romping through the river. It’s a great-looking truck, Jonathan, fantastic job!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: Axial SCX10 II
– Body: RC4WD Mojave
– Motor: Homes Hobby 2700kV
– Speed Control: Castle Creations Copperhead
– Battery: Ovonic 2200 short pack
– Wheels & Tires: Spec-RC wheels, Pro-Line BF Goodrich KM3 Class1 tires
– Shocks: Incision 80mm
– Axles: Vanquish RC Yota
– Lighting: Owner-made
– Radio System: Spektrum DX5C
– Other Options: Cage by Blue Line Fab, custom 3D-printed interior, VFD transmission, 1tenth scale RC steering servo

A-Team Rock Van!
Alec Grossman « Winston-Salem, NC.

Alec isn’t new to Readers Rides; he submits plenty of great builds. We were particularly excited about his latest submission. It’s perhaps we’re children of the 80s that the A-Team van hits hard for us. It sounds like Alec is of like mind, he tells us, “As a kid of the late-70s/early-80s, every time I see a VW Beetle I want it to be Herbie and every time I see a van, I want it to be the A-Team van. So, when I saw that Hobby Plus had released a builder’s kit version of their CR18P Rock Van, I knew what I had to do! I think it turned out pretty nice! And with the 370 motor and transmission from RCAWD, this thing takes off like a bullet! It will do wheelies from a standing start and will catch air over a small root! What a fun little rock van! I think B.A. Baracus would be proud to drive this one!” Well said Alec! We’ll add: We pity the foo’ who don’t like this van! Fantastic job!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: Hobby Plus CR18P
– Body: Hobby Plus Rock Van
– Motor: RC4WD 370 Motor 34T
– Speed Control: Hobby Plus Stock ESC
– Battery: Hobby Plus Stock Battery
– Wheels and Tires: Injora 1.0 Beadlock Wheel 8-Spoke CNC Aluminum Wheel Rims and Injora 1.0 S5 Mud Terrain Crawler Tires
– Shocks: Hobby Plus CR-18 Aluminum Shock Set
– Paint: Tamiya PS-5 Black, Tamiya PS-2 Red, Tamiya PS-63 Bright Gun Metal
– Lighting: Hobby Plus Optional Spot Light Set
– Radio Hobby Plus Stock Radio
– Other Options: JoRcs Rock Van Sun Visor and Wing, RTR Hobby Store Inner Fenders, Sliders, Rear Bumper, Fuel Tank, and Exhaust

Bobbed Power Wagon
Jacob Johnson « Fair Play, MO

Jacob’s Bobbed Power Wagon sure is a head turner. It’s a custom build that had a lot going for it. We’ll let Jacob fill us in on it in his own words: “This is my Axial SCX10.3 builder’s kit. I’ve been seeing Power Wagon builds and decided to do one of my own. I picked up a Pro-Line Power Wagon body. I sent my chassis to Blue Line Fabrication RC to have a rear cage built. Scotty Bolin of Blue Line did an amazing job. He built new floorpans with rock sliders to fit the cab, a new front mount for the body, the custom rear cage with rear winch mount. He also refinished the front bumper he built for me awhile back. Once I got it back, I painted it pearl tangerine and black, added a Harley-Davidson logo and chrome window trim. I then ordered a 3D toolbox to put the battery in for the front- and rear-mounted RC4WD Warn winches so each has its own power source. The winches are controlled by the RC4WD wireless system. I really liked the bobbed Power Wagon look.” Fantastic job, Jacob!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: Axial SCX10.3
– Body: Pro-Line Power Wagon
– Motor: Hobbywing 1800kV Fusion System
– Speed Control: Hobbywing 1800kV Fusion System
– Battery: Ovonic 3S 2200mAh
– Wheels & Tires: RC4WD Interco TSL Super Swamper Iroks on unbranded aluminum beadlocks
– Shocks: Axial
– Axles: SSD Pro44
– Paint: Createx
– Graphics: Harley-Davidson decals
– Lighting: Unbranded LED headlights and rear light bar
– Radio: Airtronics MT-4
– Other Options: RC4WD Warn winch front and rear, BlueLine Fabrication RC rear cage and front bumper