Readers Rides – February 2024

FRANKENSPIKE
Ken Sutherland « Florence, OR
Now this Readers Ride is a real head-turner. Completed with parts and accessories from many different kits and brands, this car is a true road warrior. Concerning this unique build, Ken explains: “I named it FrankenSpike because it was built using parts from 12 different manufacturers—including myself. This is my third submission to RCCA, the other two were both voted Readers Ride Monthly Winners. Thank you all for that. I now have framed magazine articles in my garage RC shop.” Truly fantastic job, Ken, keep on building them!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: Traxxas Slash 2WD
– Body: Pro-Line Desert Eagle
– Motor: Tamiya 27T silver can
– Speed Control: Traxxas XL-5
– Battery: Various 2S and 3S LiPo batteries
– Wheels & Tires: Front—2.2/3.0 Proline Trenchers on Proline wheels / Rear—6.3 x 2.8 Exceed Racing tires on Exceed wheels
– Shocks: Front—Axial SCX10 / Rear—Traxxas Slash
– Axles: Traxxas
– Paint: Tamiya and Krylon 5-stage painted inside and outside, partially sanded through
– Radio System: Flysky RX and TX
– Other Options: G.I. Joe machine guns, hood spikes are “Cat Claw” metal studs, roof spikes are speaker cabinet carpet spikes and inserts, engine intakes are plastic cigar tubes stuffed with black foam, side window grates are made from plastic strawberry market baskets, rear circular saw blades are from Speed Racers Mach 5 racecar, Sidewinder missile was homemade with aluminum fins and turned-wood fuselage, grille guard and windshield guard also homemade.

BUGGING OUT
Jeremy Kilburn « Havre De Grace, MD
We love seeing ultra-clean builds, and Jeremy’s Bug sure is a great example. Jeremy fills us in on his build: “When Spare Time Hobbies announced the Bugger V1 chassis kit for the Axial UTB18, I knew I had to build it. The kit is specifically designed to use all parts of the UTB18 and extend the wheelbase to fit the Tamiya Sand Scorcher body set. The kit includes a scale engine and a chassis-mounted servo for the ultimate trail Baja Bug conversion. My build began with buying an Axial UTB18 while at the Horizon RC Fest and being handed a set of TGH gears for it by Jeremy Griffith over at Big Squid RC to get things started. I documented the build in an 8-episode YouTube event under my At_Ease_Rc channel. As the Treal hobby upgrades continued, I waited for the chassis kit to be released and toured a few events with the UTB to get a good feel for its capabilities. When the preorder was announced I was among the first 10 units sold and ramped up collecting parts. Electronics are handled by the trusted Castle Creations Mamba Micro X2 controller, BEC and a servo bypass unit to fully power a Reefs RC 422HDv2 servo at 8.4 volts. The brushless motor is an outrunner 380 Holmes Hobby unit at 2000kV to get the trail speed I was hoping for. I added the lighting units from the stock UTB18 for rock lights to include using the lightbar for the rear engine bay lights. The build also uses the Spare Time Hobbies interior set for the Tamiya body, which completes the scale look, and it’s the icing on the cake for a scale trail and performance vehicle. I’m really looking forward to running this Bug build for a long time to come and continue to add to it. Future plans are for adding the optional winch mount for a Reefs RC Micro 99 winch and making some front and rear metal bumpers and roof rack.” Great work, Jeremy, we really like the highly detailed and super-clean-looking Bug that you’ve created!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: Spare Time Hobbies Bugger V1
– Body: Tamiya Sand Scorcher
– Motor: Holmes Hobbies 380 2000kV brushless outrunner
– Speed Control: Castle Creations Mamba Micro X2
– Battery: Helios 600mAh 3S LiPo
– Wheels & Tires: RC4WD 1.9 steel wheels with scale brake rotors and hardware, Boom Racing Mud Terrain Trophy 1.9/3.6”
– Shocks: Axial UTB18
– Axles: Treal Hobby UTB18
– Paint: MaxFlex – Home Depot
– Lighting: Stock UTB18 lighting
– Radio System: Spektrum SR515 receiver and DX5 Rugged radio
– Other Options: Spare Time Hobbies interior set, Team Garage Hack transmission underdrive metal gear set and portal gears, Reefs RC 422HD v2 servo, Castle Creations 20-amp BEC.

FFast-Hopper
Justin Surace « Newington, CT
Is this buggy running backwards or forwards? We like fun builds, and this one sure qualifies as fun. Justin tells us more about his fully customized buggy: “I love old-school RC ideas and trying to re-create them to see how they would drive. Once I heard the story of the FF-style buggy I was hooked, and I jumped on Soldiworks to design it. I use a Traxxas drivetrain so I won’t have to worry about the gearbox and just focused on the chassis side of the design. From the start I wanted the rear to have lay-down shocks like the original FF buggies, so I made sure to utilize that in the design. The central tub is one part to keep it as strong as possible, and it has held up well after three battery packs driving at full RC madness. It is very sharp on turn-in, and also on breaking the rear lift-up. My first time out I ended up flipping over the front, so to prevent that I added some stick-on weights to it so it won’t flip over. It jumps great and it is amazing out of the corners, able to corner faster than my Losi 22 buggy. It was a fun project and it’s a lot of fun to drive.” It sure looks like a fun buggy to race around, great job on the design work. Thanks for showing it to us, Justin!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: JRC-03FF.R custom 3D-printed
– Body: Custom Tamiya Neo Scorcher
– Motor: Hobbywing Xerun Justock 10.5T motor
– Speed Control: Hobbywing Xerun Justock XR10 60A ESC
– Battery: Onyx 2s LiPo
– Wheels & Tires: Schumacher wheels / Front tires—Pro-Line Prism front 4WD / Rear tires—Pro-Line Wedge Gen 3 front 2WD
– Shocks: Front—Tamiya CVA / Rear—Traxxas Bandit fronts
– Axles: Traxxas 2WD
– Paint: Tamiya PS-59 Dark Metallic Blue
– Graphics: Tamiya Neo Terra Scorcher decals
– Radio System: Futaba 3PRKA radio, Futaba R203GF receiver
– Other Options: JX Ecoboost shorty servo

Son Uva Digger Fan
Rob Boone « Waynesboro, PA
This Readers Rides submission comes from Rob Boone. Regarding this great-looking monster truck, he tells us: “My wife Melody has been a huge Son Uva Digger fan since the truck’s debut, and a few years ago she was so excited that she finally got to meet Ryan Anderson at Hagerstown Speedway. Recently she’s been getting into driving RCs with me, and her favorite trick to pull off is the backflip. I decided to make her her own SMT10 Son Uva Digger. I’ve been slowly getting it upgraded for her as her skills improve. She’s getting really good at driving!” We’re glad to hear that Melody is having fun with RC, and thanks for sharing you guys’ story, Rob! Keep on doing those backflips!

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS
– Chassis: Axial SMT10
– Body: Son Uva Digger
– Motor: Hobbywing EzRun 3652 SD G3
– Speed Control: Hobbywing EzRun Max10 brushless ESC
– Battery: Zeee 5200mAh 2s 80c LiPo
– Wheels & Tires: JConcepts Tribute wheels / JConcepts Firestorm tires
– Shocks: Pro-Line Power Stroke
– Radio System: Spektrum DX5 radio
– Other Options: Incision lower links, custom modified rear sway bar, Steel CVDs in the front, Hot Racing transmission gears, Hot Racing spur gear, Hot Racing servo saver