PROJECT VAULT

The Rival Enters The Monster Jam Arena! As we all know, monster trucks are big, burly behemoths with king-sized tires, flashy bodies and ridiculous power plants. Up until this point, monster trucks have been separated into their own classes at many venues, running on the same off-road tracks as their smaller, off-road counterparts. While there is some enjoyment to this, …

While I’m a racer at heart, there is a segment of RC that has successfully wedged its way into my RC timeline – scale trucks. I’ve been wheeling around a stock Axial Racing SCX10 II now for some time, enjoying it’s incredible ability to make it’s way up or over almost any (scale) obstacle. Then there’s the fact that I’m …

I have been around large scale for a relatively short time, but have been into RC for quite a while. For me, this is what I would call my first large-scale build with all new parts. The large scale aftermarket manufacturers have been around for a few years now and the transition to a new brand was a quick jump. …

Words and Photos: Don Almeido Desert Land Shark The first written account of a shark attack is found in Herodotus’ (c. 484–425 B.C.) description of hordes of “monsters” devouring the shipwrecked sailors of the Persian fleet. Until just recently, another very rare encounter was reported a remarkable 273 miles inland from Newport Beach, California all the way to Las Vegas, …

Words and Photos: Don Almeido Why build a pan car since the introduction of Speed Passion’s LM-1 back in 2014 never took off in the USA? My ongoing obsession with the 24 Hours of LeMans could be a valued answer. Truth be told, after flipping through an old 2014 November issue of RC Driver magazine, I noticed the cover shot …

Scale Trail Toy for the Axial West Coast Challenge 2011 Back in 2011, I was invited to attend Axial West Coast Challenge (AWCC) in Cisco Grove, California. I was there to both cover the event (I was working for RC Driver Magazine at the time) as well as participate in the activities; rock crawling (with an Axial XR10) and G6 …

MTV = Multi-Terrain Vehicle We do lots of projects all the time, and some take quite a while to ‘put together’. Your initial idea ends up being nothing like you thought, requiring even more time and parts but still resulting in more headaches. Then there’s the ones that just fall into place. When I first received my Traxxas Stampede 4×4 …

Short Course for the Road Course There are some definite advantages to living in Southern California; one of the biggies being the weather. Because it rarely ever changes from 70 degrees and sunny, there are times I like to get away from the hardcore, purpose built indoor tracks for a nice, relaxing day in the sun. My buddy Charlie runs …

Big Car, Big Power, BIG fun! A new and interesting class has popped up in my neck of the woods … 1:8th Scale Onroad GT (or GT8). This class is basically 1:8th scale offroad buggies that have been converted to onroad cars. These cars use the same running gear as their offroad counterparts but use 1:8th scale rubber onroad tires …

California Style Super Slash – AKA Project ‘Van Phalen’ This Traxxas Slash 4×4 Project was a result of a little West Coast vs East Coast competition between Mr. Vogel and I. When I found out about this, my girlfriend and I sat down and discussed what the West Coast is all about…Disneyland, Hollywood, rock stars, etc. Well, I wasn’t too …