We just had to get one, it was inevitable. I’ll be the first to admit that after the Traxxas Slash was released I thought the short course race truck craze was nothing but a fad that would soon be all but forgotten. After all these are nothing more than stadium trucks with different tires and a larger body. What could really be that great? Then one day at the local hobby shop I saw one sitting on the shelf begging to be bought and the rest, as they say, is history. Here goes, our Team associated SC10 build.
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The Tamiya Jeep Wrangler hard body has to be one of the most sought after Tamiya lids ever made. It first appeared on the CC-01 chassis as an ultra scale R/C truck, but when that vehicle was discontinued those looking for one of these bodies had no choice but scour ebay for one and sell their first born child to be able to afford it. Then late last year Tamiya announced that it would yet again release this body but this time it would be included with the CR01 rock crawling chassis. I can only imagine how many people must have bought that kit just for the body. Thankfully earlier this year Tamiya decided to yet again release this awesome shell back on the CC01 chassis. We bought one and the build begins…
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Just as we look back at the Tamiya Bruiser with great fondness I think years from now we’ll also be looking back at the Tamiya F350 High Lift as a kit we all wish we could have had. Personally I’ve been wanting to build one of these from the second I laid eyes on one so when the opportunity came up for us to acquire a brand spanking new High Lift kit we just couldn’t let it slip away. So follow along with us as we build the Tamiya High Lift aka Project Three Speed with a little customizing along the way.
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I guess it was inevitable. From the second I saw my first 1.9 scale crawler I knew I would eventually build one of my own, the only question was when.  Although I was apprehensive at the thought of cutting up our AX10 project truck, possibly ruining a good thing, with all of the aftermarket upgrades available for the truck I knew it would make the perfect platform for this project. Meet the latest iteration of Project Scorpion, Project Blazer?
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Here is a video of Project FJ40. It includes the Tamiya Land Cruiser 40 hitting everything from trails in the woods, to piles of sand, and of course rock crawling. Keep an eye out at the end for our in camera view!!!

We finally got the truck assembled, painted, and detailed so what’s left to do? Beat on it! We’ve been eagerly awaiting our chance to take the Tamiya Land Cruiser 40 out and see how she compares to the various other crawlers on the market, most notably our Axial Scorpion. How will she fare? What will break? Only way to find out is to read Part 3 of Project FJ40. After the jump we’ve got the full scoop on what we thought of the CR01 and a bunch of pictures from the trail. Go check it out.
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Part 2 of our project Tamiya Land Cruiser highlights what we find to be the most enjoyable part of this hobby, the build. I know a lot of people these days would rather it be built for them, but we were glad to hear that Tamiya would keeping up with tradition and offering the CR-01 only in kit form. Not only does that allow us the pleasure of building this beast from start to finish, but we also get to document it all for you along the way.
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Finally got our hands on one! Ever since Tamiya announced the CR-01 Land Cruiser 40 I, as well as thousands of other enthusiasts, have been clamoring to get ahold of one. We thought about it and decided that there would be no better way to celebrate this site’s one year anniversary (today!) than to buy one, build it, beat the heck out of it, and let you know what we think along the way. So follow along as we document the build of Tamiya’s first rock crawler, the Land Cruiser 40.
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After completing Part 4 of Project scorpion we wondered whether there were any cheap mods we could do to our truck to improve it’s performance. Sure we could have went out and started buying aftermarket parts for the AX10, but we thought it would be much more interesting to see what low cost modifications were possible and to document their performance improvements for all to see. In this installment of our project truck build we’re going to do just that. Follow along with us as we add weight to the front wheels, modify the shocks for a lower stance, and star cut the tire foams for better traction. Read the rest of this entry »

Back in 1987 Tamiya introduced a phenom in the R/C world, the Clod Buster. It’s popularity spawned a huge aftermarket following that still thrives to this day. One of the original manufacturers to create parts for this beast was ESP Hobby Mfg. They made everything from a simple lift kit to full cantilever race suspension systems for the Clod. Heck they even made a snow plow for it! One of the first kits they produced was the Clodzilla II. When I was a kid there was nothing I wanted more than this kit. It would literally call my name as I read the ad in RCCA magazine. Unfortunately lack of funds resulted in me never getting my hands on one…until now that is. Follow along as we document the build of a Clodzilla 2 on my brother Brian’s Clod Buster.
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After spending nearly eight hours building this rig and another couple painting and trimming the body it’s finally time to take her for a spin. We originally meant to take our project truck out on the rocks to do what it was intended for, however a large snow/ice storm hit our area a few days before it’s maiden voyage so we were limited to testing it in those conditions. Fear not! We were still able to break something.
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I’ve always felt that the best part of the R/C hobby was in the build. Sure I’ve bought ready to run models before but it’s just never the same. There’s just something about staying up to the wee hours of the morning building a kit that really makes this hobby special. It’s finally that time, time to build our Axial Scorpion project truck!
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Today we’re going to look at the electronics we chose for Project Scorpion. Like we stated in Part 1 the main purpose of this build was to evaluate what a very low budget Axial AX10 Scorpion could do. With that in mind I can guarantee that you won’t be seeing any high dollar brushless motors or Spektrum radio systems here. Instead we chose to go with a simple 2 channel AM radio system, and Integy lathe motor, and an LRP electronic speed control. After the jump you can read all the info on each one.
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When Axial Racing introduced the Scorpion AX10 Rock Crawler last April the r/c rock crawling world was turned upside down. Previously if you wanted to build a competition level crawler you usually needed to scrounge up parts from various other vehicles and build your own custom frame, but with the advent of the AX10 things got much easier. All you need to do was build it, add your electronics and hit the rocks. However just like everything else in the R/C world guys started dumping huge sums of cash into their AX10 to get that edge over the competition. The problem with that is we’ve taken a relatively low buck crawler and turned it into a big dollar money pit. That’s the point of this build. We wanted to buy a bone stock AX10, build it, add budget electronics, and document it’s performance. Meet Project Scorpion!
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One of the best ways to get instant rock crawling performance out of your truck is to lock your differential. The differential is a device built into your truck’s gearbox that allows the wheels to turn at different speeds when you go around a corner. Its purpose is to allow the vehicle to make tighter turns with less strain on the drivetrain. Although the diff is great for road cars it’s very detrimental in offroad situations. That’s because when you’re climbing one wheel is likely to lose traction and in that situation the differential transfers all of its power from the wheel that has grip to the one that is slipping; basically stopping the vehicle in it’s tracks. This is where locking the diff comes into play. By locking both sides of the diff together you force both wheels to turn at the same speed at all times. This increases your truck’s climbing ability by a ton!
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Are your gears grinding? Have you noticed a recent decrease in performance? Or has it gotten so bad that the truck doesn’t even move anymore? We’ve all been there. Usually we get so caught up with flinging our rides over the biggest gnarliest jumps we can find that we neglect to think of all the abuse we’re throw at the transmission. These things aren’t usually sealed so if you’re running through sand, water, or mud you’ve likely got a gearbox full of crud and needs serious attention. In our case however we noticed a slight clicking sound on a new Traxxas Stampede when jumping large obstacles. If you’re in a similar boat or haven’t touched the gearbox in the last millennia then this article is for you.
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